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LOS ANGELES, Aug. 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Farmers Insurance Chief Executive Officer Robert Woudstra and President and Chief Operating Officer Jeff Dailey will welcome Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Los Angeles City Councilman Dennis P. Zine, Farmers agents, executives, and employees to the "Grand Opening" of the new Farmers Insurance Woodland Hills facility.

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20080605/LATH062)

"Farmers would like to thank Mayor Villaraigosa and Councilman Zine who have helped Farmers with this important move to Woodland Hills.  Farmers was founded in Los Angeles 83 years ago, and still occupies its headquarters office in the mid-Wilshire area of Los Angeles.  We are proud that through the years, Farmers has grown to be the third-largest insurer of personal lines auto and homeowners insurance in the United States.  We have over 900 employees now in the facility, and 400 more will move there next year," noted Robert Woudstra, Farmers CEO.  "This new facility is a continuing commitment to our employees in California."

"The opening of Farmers' new facility demonstrates our ongoing commitment to creating and retaining hundreds of good paying jobs in Los Angeles," Mayor Villaraigosa said. "During these tough economic times, we are proud that LA's very own Farmers Insurance has chosen to continue investing in Los Angeles and its workforce."

"I congratulate and welcome Farmers Insurance to Woodland Hills," noted Councilman Dennis P. Zine. "Farmers presence and growth in Los Angeles is significant, and we truly appreciate the dedication of the more than 2,000 local Farmers agents, district managers and employees who work in Los Angeles and provide quality service to nearly one million policies in the Los Angeles area. Growing jobs in Warner Center is a vital part of keeping Los Angeles a vibrant city and I am proud to facilitate bringing good-paying, high-quality jobs to the San Fernando Valley."

"Our goal was a first class facility that our employees and the community would be proud of.  At the same time we wanted a facility that was environmentally friendly.  We accomplished our goal," said David Travers, executive vice president of Operations. "The types of jobs in the facility include professional level positions supporting the Farmers Business Insurance corporate office, information technology and claims handling."

Woodland Hills Facility Facts

The Building – 6303 Owensmouth Avenue, Woodland Hills, CA.

Tenants – Farmers Insurance Exchange and Farmers Group, Inc.

Premises – Floors 1 through 8 for a total of 217,000/sq. ft.

Parking - The new parking structure being built is expected to be completed March 2012 and will add 302 additional parking spaces to the 1,103 spaces already available.

Employees - Moved approximately 800 employees from Simi Valley over the past 60 days for a current total of 930 Farmers employees in the facility. An additional 400 are scheduled to move by March 2012.

Facility Amenities - Campus provides secured covered parking, 2700 sq. ft. fitness center and central courtyard with water features and seating.

Design Features - Complete build-out with new collaborative dynamic workspace including an internet cafe environment with personal wireless connectivity. All offices and meeting rooms are located on a center core to maximize natural light to the majority of employees. Break rooms on each floor with monitors tracking current news issues, refrigerators and vending. Credit Union and a company store onsite.

Note to Media:  If you wish to take the tour at 9:30 a.m. with Mayor Villaraigosa, Councilman Zine and Farmers CEO Bob Woudstra contact Jerry Davies at 213-400-4459 or jerry.davies@farmersinsurance.com .

Farmers Insurance Group of Companies is the country's 3rd largest insurer of both personal lines passenger automobile and homeowners insurance, and also provides a wide range of other insurance and financial services products.  Farmers Insurance is proud to serve more than 10 million households with more than 20 million individual policies across all 50 states through the efforts of over 50,000 exclusive and independent agents and nearly 24,000 employees.

Farmers is a trade name and may refer to Farmers Group, Inc. or the Farmers Exchanges, as the case may be. Farmers Group, Inc., a management and holding company, along with its subsidiaries, is wholly owned by the Zurich Financial Services Group. The Farmers Exchanges are three reciprocal insurers (Farmers Insurance Exchange, Fire Insurance Exchange and Truck Insurance Exchange), including their subsidiaries and affiliates, owned by their policyholders, and managed by Farmers Group, Inc. and its subsidiaries. For more information about Farmers, visit its Web site at www.farmers.com or at www.Facebook.com/FarmersInsurance.

SOURCE Farmers Insurance