Flaherty to Succeed Keehfus as First Cardinal President, CEO

November 1, 2006

Latham, N.Y.-based First Cardinal LLC, a provider of third-party administrative services for workers’ compensation self-insurance groups, announced that co-founder and chief operating officer Richard S. Flaherty has been promoted to president and chief executive officer of First Cardinal and its affiliates, as part of the company’s succession planning.

Gary L. Keehfus, co-founder and president and CEO since the company’s 1994 inception, will now become chairman of First Cardinal and its affiliates.

In his new role as chairman, Keehfus will focus on strategic initiatives, identifying acquisition and partnership opportunities for First Cardinal.

Flaherty has worked in the workers’ compensation self-insurance group industry his entire career. As the company’s chief operating officer since its founding, he has supervised the development and growth of First Cardinal’s claims services and has led the company’s expansion into new states.

Flaherty is also president of the trade association, The Group Self-Insurance Association of New York.

First Cardinal LLC and one of its affiliates, First Cardinal of Texas, is the exclusive administrator for 23 self-insurance groups that provide workers’ compensation coverage to more than 9,000 businesses throughout New York state, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Texas.

An additional 7,000 businesses are covered through another affiliate, CardinalComp LLC, which operates a workers’ compensation general agent business in Williston, Vt., offering a fully insured policy through the A-rated insurance company, Praetorian Financial Group, based in New York. CardinalComp offers Praetorian’s workers’ compensation insurance products to licensed insurance brokers in the states of Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York and Vermont.

With reported reports annualized premiums or premium-equivalent of more than $250 million, it is one of the largest administrators of workers’ compensation coverage in the Northeast. First Cardinal distributes its products and services through independent insurance agents.

Source: First Cardinal
www.firstcardinal.com