Following John Hildebrandt's retirement after 22 years of excellent service as president, we completed our leadership change. Some other key accomplishments included the assumption of risk for the old Assigned Risk Trust Fund by American Re-Insurance, reconciliation of past member reapportionment resulting from the old Workers' Compensation Insurance Antitrust litigation and the successful conclusion of negotiations for the reporting of data by Self-Insureds to the MWCIA.

As important as these achievements were, I'd like to focus on the strides we have made in several other key areas, many of which fall under the general heading of Communications.

I was always impressed with the strength and effectiveness of the MWCIA as a data service organization. However, until I became a part of the employee team, I did not fully realize the tremendous potential that lay within this organization to provide additional valuable services and products to our customers. As I gained a fuller understanding I also realized that I shouldn't assume that others had a good understanding.

With this in mind, we began the process of identifying our strengths, our products and our services, and then focused on how we might better communicate their value to our customers. For an organization that has quietly played a key role in the insurance industry, we knew that finding ways to effectively communicate this message was an important and necessary step if we are to retain the respect and support of our customers.

Nor was it enough to just identify and offer enhancements to our products and services. We are an organization that exists in large part because of the excellent relationships we have built over the years.

The Minnesota Department of Commerce, the Minnesota Department of Labor & Industry, the Insurance Federation of Minnesota, the Minnesota Assigned Risk Plan, the Minnesota Independent Insurance Agents Association (MIIA), the PIA of Minnesota, the Workers Compensation Reinsurance Association and the Minnesota Self Insurers Association all benefit from the work we do. Therefore, as part of our external communication effort, we began, and will continue to seek out ways in which to strengthen these relationships today and into the future.

We also place a high degree of importance on our relationships with our member companies. If we truly expect the MWCIA to be their product and service source in an environment of such tumultuous change, we must continue to develop and deliver the technology, service and commitment that not only assures their loyalty, but helps them assure their competitiveness and stability.

Like all worthy goals, these will take time to be fully realized, but we have begun. What's more, we've made significant strides over this past year.

Among these:

• We found a way to advance the release of the 1999 Ratemaking Report by two weeks, giving member carriers and the Department of Commerce much needed additional time to make, evaluate and approve filings.

• To further expedite the release of the 2000 Ratemaking Report, we initiated a timing change for the MCPAP. Initial mailings are now sent in January of each year with April 1st as the final cut off date. The change not only benefits employers affected by this program, but allows us to produce more timely results.

• We instituted regularly scheduled meetings with the Departments of Commerce and of Labor & Industry to more effectively work on issues important to Minnesota workers' compensation. Among the fruits of these meetings was the Department of Commerce's approval of the assumption of risk for the old Assigned Risk Trust Fund by American Re-Insurance, providing an effective solution for all parties involved.

• On the national front, our excellent relationships with the other data service organizations and rating bureaus through the Workers' Compensation Insurance Organization (WCIO) and American Cooperative Council on Compensation Technology (ACCCT) continue to produce benefits industry-wide through our cooperative efforts in data reporting standardization and technology development.

• And, to further facilitate our external as well as internal communications, we introduced our MWCIA Newsletter. This publication highlights timely and significant issues and events that affect the MWICA and all of our customers.

It's been a busy year. A number of other important steps were taken in 1998, many of which are outlined in the following department reports.

Thank you for your strong support over the past year and for your taking the time to review this report. If you have comments or suggestions, we want to hear from you. Please call us anytime at 612.897.1737.

Sincerely,