News Room

March 26, 2003

Assurant Group Names Human Resources Manager for New Kingston, Ontario Operations Center

Job Fair Scheduled for April 8-9 at The Ambassador Resort Hotel.

KINGSTON, Ontario: Assurant Group announced that Donna J. Miller, a veteran human resources professional with over 20 years experience, has been named human resources manager for the 400-person operations centre that Assurant is building in Kingston.

Kathy Burke, Assurant Canada’s vice president, customer services made the announcement. Ms. Burke will serve as manager of the centre.

Ms. Miller comes to Assurant from the Ontario Lottery & Gaming Corp.  A resident of Kingston, she served as president of Ideal Professional Services for six years before joining Ontario Lottery & Gaming in December 2001.  Her human resources experience also includes five years as executive director of Kingston Area Training Advisory Corp. and 10 years with Manpower Services Inc. as an area manager.  She has a degree in human resources management from Queen’s University.

Assurant will launch its employee recruitment efforts with a job fair on April 8-9 at The Ambassador Resort Hotel, 1550 Princess St. Company representatives will be available from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day to discuss employment opportunities, conduct interviews and accept resumes and applications.

Ms. Burke said that despite a delayed start and the harsh winter the CDN$6.4 million construction project is on schedule for completion May 30.  Current plans call for the centre to begin taking calls from customers by mid-summer, she said.

The initial staffing plan calls for hiring about 175 employees locally over the next four to five months, Ms. Burke said. “We will use a phased-in approach to bring the center on-line.  Hiring for various functions will be done in groups so that we can properly train and prepare each employee to do his or her job and provide the quality service that our clients and their customers expect from Assurant.”

Assurant is a leading provider of specialty risk management programs, including creditor insurance and extended service contracts, for the financial services industry.  The company will use the Kingston centre to consolidate Canadian support operations now located at two sites in Toronto and service incoming customer calls for some U.S. clients.  Some Toronto managers and other employees will transfer to Kingston as part of the move.

The Kingston center will be housed in a 45,000 square-foot building now under construction at a 14.5-acre site on Gardiners Road.  Staffing will include a 254-seat call center, 80 claims associates and about 60 management and support staff. 

Assurant expects to collaborate with a local educational institution to use its facilities for training until the company can move into its own facilities.

Assurant is recruiting for a variety of positions, including supervisors and managers, to staff both operations and support functions.  However, contact centre associates, claim examiners and customer service representatives will make up the majority of the staff. Starting hourly wages for these positions will be in the range of $10 to $15.  Assurant also offers a comprehensive benefits package.  “It is our desire to become a employer of choice in Kingston,” Ms. Burke said.

Ms. Miller is temporarily located in the offices of the Kingston Economic Development Corporation (KEDCO), 67 Brock St., Kingston, Ontario K7L 1R8.

Headquartered in Atlanta and Miami, Assurant is the world’s leading provider of creditor insurance and related products, included extended service contracts. Its products and services are offered through banks, credit card companies, retailers, auto dealers and other businesses in the United States and Canada.  Assurant companies also operate in Argentina, Brazil, Denmark, Ireland, Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom.

Assurant is part of Fortis, an international financial services provider active in insurance, banking and investment.  At yearend 2002, Fortis had total assets of approximately US $500 billion.

Editors:  Fortis in headquartered in Belgium and the Netherlands and is not related to Fortis Inc. of Canada, a utility holding company in St. John’s Newfoundland.  A photo of Donna J. Miller will be provided upon request.

Media contact

James A. Sykes
Director, Corporate Communications
Assurant Solutions
260 Interstate N. Circle, SE
Atlanta, Ga. 30339-2111
Telephone: 770.763.1015
FAX: 770.859.4325
E-mail: james.sykes@assurant.com

Reference: 0307