TNSIA News

Gary Eastes, the risk and benefits manager for the City of Knoxville, Tenn., has been selected as a member of the inaugural Benefit Management Honor Roll, sponsored by Business Insurance, a news publication serving professionals nationwide who administer employee benefits, risk management and insurance programs.

“Gary Eastes has achieved significant milestones for the City of Knoxville through his innovative health and wellness programs,” said Regis Coccia, the Chicago-based editor of Business Insurance. “We are proud to honor him and his colleagues for doing what great benefit managers do: improving the lives of plan members and helping his employer to achieve its goals.”

Business Insurance has sponsored the Benefit Manager of the Year competition annually since 2005. Business Insurance created the program to recognize excellence and innovation in employee benefits management. In 2010, the publication launched the Benefit Management Honor Roll, to recognize outstanding employee benefit managers in organizational categories not represented by the Benefit Manager of the Year.

“Mr. Eastes is a shining example of a benefit professional whose leadership sets him apart from his peers. His efforts not only have helped the City of Knoxville to gain control over health care costs, but he and his team are making a difference in the lives of the city’s employees and their dependents,” Mr. Coccia said.

Any full-time employee of a corporation, nonprofit organization or government entity who oversees or manages employee benefit functions is eligible for the awards. Benefit managers anywhere in the world are eligible for consideration. The value or generosity of specific benefits is not judged; the award is intended to honor excellence in managing and administering benefit programs overall.

An independent panel of judges, representing prior honorees and benefits industry executives, selects the Benefit Manager of the Year and Benefit Management Honor Roll members from nominations submitted to Business Insurance.