ERIE, Pa., March 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Erie Indemnity Company (Nasdaq: ERIE) announced today that its Board of Directors has accepted the slate of nominees recommended by the Board's Nominating and Governance Committee for election by voting Shareholders to the Company's Board of Directors. The Board also increased the size of the Board from the current 11 positions to 13.

The slate of nominees includes all current directors and two new candidates:

Current Directors: J. Ralph Borneman, Jr.,  Terrence W. Cavanaugh (the Company's President and Chief Executive Officer), Jonathan Hirt Hagen, Susan Hirt Hagen, Thomas B. Hagen (Chairman of the Board), C. Scott Hartz, Claude C. Lilly, III, Lucian L. Morrison, Thomas W. Palmer, Elizabeth Hirt Vorsheck and Robert C. Wilburn.

The two new candidates are Martin P. Sheffield, CPCU, owner of Sheffield Consulting, LLC, insurance consultants, since 2003, and Richard L. Stover, Managing Principal, Birchmere Capital, L.P., private equity fund, since 2000.

Mr. Sheffield has extensive insurance industry, business and executive management experience, including having served as CEO of Co-Operative Insurance Company of Western New York, which ultimately became part of the Erie Insurance Group, and as vice president of the Property-Casualty Rating Division of A.M. Best. From 2000 to 2003 he served as the Executive Director of Strategic Consulting with Ward Group, a management consulting group specializing in the insurance industry. Mr. Sheffield, who resides in Bath, PA, also served as a Director of Penn-American Group, Inc., from 2002 through 2005.

Mr. Stover's career has been concentrated in banking and finance. In addition to prior executive experience with financial institutions, including Mellon Bank, Bank of New England and GE Capital, he has extensive knowledge of investments, credit and corporate finance. Mr. Stover resides in Gibsonia, PA and currently serves as a director of Bliley Technologies, Safas Corporation and DMI Industries.

Members of the Board of Directors will be elected at the Company's 85th Annual Meeting of Shareholders scheduled for April 20, 2010, at the Company's headquarters in Erie, PA. Information on each of the nominees will be included in the Company's Information Statement to be mailed to Shareholders prior to the Annual Meeting.

According to A.M. Best Company, Erie Insurance Group, based in Erie, Pennsylvania, is the 14th largest automobile insurer in the United States based on direct premiums written and the 18th largest property/casualty insurer in the United States based on total lines net premium written. The Group, rated A+ (Superior) by A.M. Best Company, has over 4.1 million policies in force and operates in 11 states and the District of Columbia. It also writes life insurance and annuities through Erie Family Life Insurance Company.

News releases and more information about Erie Insurance Group are available at http://www.erieinsurance.com.

SOURCE Erie Indemnity Company

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