State Farm Named One of the “Best Companies for Diversity” by Black Enterprise Magazine

State Farm CEO Ed Rust and VP Pam El on July Cover

Bloomington, Illinois, June 26, 2007 – State Farm® announced today it has been named one of the “Best Companies for Diversity” by Black Enterprise Magazine (BE). In its Third Annual Diversity Report, BE selected State Farm as one of the 40 Best Companies for Diversity. BE also recognized State Farm as being one of the 15 Best in Marketing Diversity and 15 Best in Senior Management Diversity.

“It’s an honor that State Farm is very proud of, to be recognized by an outstanding magazine such as Black Enterprise,” said Willie Brown, Executive Vice President. “I’m very proud of the diversity and inclusion efforts at the highest level of the organization. It’s a direct reflection on our senior leadership and the importance that they place on inclusion and diversity. I think we’ve worked exceedingly hard in that area.”

The honors were determined by analyzing the responses to a survey of major corporations to determine investments in key diversity activities. CEOs and diversity executives of the top 1,000 publicly traded companies and the diversity executives of the 50 leading global companies with strong U.S. operations were surveyed. The companies that made the list outperformed other corporations in four key categories: supplier diversity, senior management, board involvement and employee base. This was the first year State Farm participated in the survey.

State Farm is featured in a full page article, which highlights the fact that 13% of State Farm’s 68,000 employees are African American. In addition to that, around 14% of senior management positions are held by African Americans.

Edward B. Rust, Jr., State Farm Chairman and CEO, and Pamela K. El, Vice President of Marketing, appear on the July issue’s cover along with Dr. Ian K. Smith, developer of the 50 Million Pound Challenge. State Farm sponsors The Challenge, which encourages African Americans to lose weight and adopt a healthier lifestyle in efforts to reduce life-threatening health risks.

The complete report is available in the July 2007 issue of Black Enterprise, on newsstands June 26.

About State Farm

State Farm® insures more cars than any other insurer in North America and is the leading U.S. home insurer. State Farm’s 17,000 agents and 68,000 employees serve over 75 million auto, fire, life and health policies in the United States and Canada, and more than 1.6 million bank accounts. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company is the parent of the State Farm family of companies. State Farm is ranked No. 31 on the Fortune 500 list of largest companies. For more information, please visit statefarm.com® or in Canada statefarm.ca®.

About the 50 Million Pound Challenge

Dr. Ian Smith’s 50 Million Pound Challenge, sponsored by State Farm®, is a campaign supported and endorsed in name and deed by leaders across the African-American community and national civic and health organizations. The Challenge is an historic opportunity and commitment by the African-American community to come together and help people take control of their lives and health by getting fit, losing excess weight and fight the deadly health risks associated with being overweight, which threaten almost 50% of Americans and hit the African-American community particularly hard.