Valassis Named as Working Mother 100 Best Company

LIVONIA, Mich., Sept. 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Valassis (NYSE: VCI), one of the nation's leading media and marketing services companies, announced today that it has been named as one of the 2012 Working Mother 100 Best Companies for the fourth time. Valassis was recognized with this prestigious award in 2011, 2000 and 1999. Additionally, the company has been named to the Working Mother list of Best Companies for Hourly Workers for the last two consecutive years, and in 2012, as a "Top 50 Company for Executive Women" by the National Association for Female Executives.

"It's very gratifying to be presented with such a prestigious award," said Rob Mason, Valassis President and Chief Executive Officer. "Valassis recognizes the critical importance of working mothers whether they are our associates, clients or consumers.  We take tremendous pride in maintaining a workplace environment where our working mothers can make significant contributions to our company and can be in a position to also meet their responsibilities to what is most precious to them – their children."

Working Mother rewards companies for their wide array of progressive workplace programs, including flexibility, advancement, paid family leave, child care, benefits and work/life programs. This is the 27^th year Working Mother has recognized organizations for their initiatives.

With programs in place supporting work/life balance, Valassis offers flexible work hours, child care reimbursement, a complimentary car seat for newborns, college care packages and convenience services like on-site fitness centers, family rooms and dry cleaning services. Additionally, there is a resource and referral network available to associates as well as a host of discounts and giveaways to area events for associates and their families.

Valassis also offers an adoption assistance program, offering up to $5,000 toward the adoption of a child. For the sixth consecutive year, Valassis has been named to the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption's 2012 Best Adoption-Friendly Workplaces List. The company has been included on this prestigious list each year since its inception, and this year, ranked third on the advertising, marketing and public relations industry list.

"This year's 100 Best Companies are leading the way for the rest of the nation," said Carol Evans, President of Working Mother Media.  "They have created not only essential benefits, like flexible work options and telecommuting, but have also shown their commitment in new ways like elder care referral and legal assistance to help busy parents manage their personal lives as well as their careers."

"Valassis has afforded me opportunities to be as involved in my sons' education and after-school activities as I am involved and passionate in my desire to promote our brands, deliver value to families like my own and help promote the advancement of women in the workplace," said Lisa Reynolds, Valassis Vice President of Consumer Engagement, nominated as Valassis' Working Mother of the Year for the contributions she has made to the company.

Also known as Valassis' Mom Saver in Chief, Reynolds is continually gathering knowledge about the wants and needs of the brand's target audience – working moms 25-54 with children under 12 – and sharing how they can live the value lifestyle. She hosts nationally recognized experts on her monthly online radio show Viva la Value on BlogTalk Radio.

"These Best Companies know what it takes to keep all employees, but especially their employee moms, productive and engaged at work," said Jennifer Owens, editorial director of Working Mother Media.  "As the stress surrounding work-life integration continues to rise, so does the opportunity for creating a win-win environment for employees and employers. The Working Mother 100 Best Companies see the payoff from their programs and policies and are outstanding examples for companies to emulate."

To view the full list of Working Mother's 2012 100 Best Companies, visit http://www.workingmother.com/best-companies.  The companies will be recognized in the October/November issue of the magazine, and on workingmother.com. Additionally, all of the winners will be recognized at the Working Mother 100 Best Companies Gala Awards Dinner on Oct. 10 at the Marriott Marquis in New York City.  The event is part of the Work Life Congress annual conference to be held Oct. 8 – 10.

About Valassis

Valassis is one of the nation's leading media and marketing services companies, offering unparalleled reach and scale to more than 15,000 advertisers. Its RedPlum® media portfolio delivers value on a weekly basis to over 100 million shoppers across a multi-media platform – in-home, in-store and in-motion. Through its digital offerings, including redplum.com and save.com, consumers can find compelling national and local deals. Headquartered in Livonia, Michigan with approximately 7,000 associates in 28 states and eight countries, Valassis is widely recognized for its associate and corporate citizenship programs, including its America's Looking for Its Missing Children® program. Valassis companies include Valassis Direct Mail, Inc., Valassis Canada, Promotion Watch, Valassis Relationship Marketing Systems, LLC, NCH Marketing Services, Inc. and Brand.net. For more information, visit http://www.valassis.com, http://www.redplum.com and http://www.save.com. To learn about advertising opportunities with RedPlum, please call 1-800-437-0479.

About Working Mother Media

Working Mother Media, a division of Bonnier Corporation (bonnier.com), publishes Working Mother magazine and its companion website, workingmother.com, and the Working Mother Research Institute. The National Association for Female Executives (nafe.com), Diversity Best Practices (diversitybestpractices.com) are also units within WMM. Working Mother Media's mission is to serve as a champion of culture change. Working Mother magazine reaches more than 2 million readers and is the only national magazine for career-committed mothers; Workingmother.com gives working mothers @home and @work advice, solutions, and ideas. This year marks the 27th anniversary of the magazine's signature research initiative, Working Mother 100 Best Companies, and the 10th year of the Best Companies for Multicultural Women. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Pinterest.

Valassis Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-looking Statements

This document contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the following: price competition from our existing competitors; new competitors in any of our businesses; a shift in client preferences for different promotional materials, strategies or coupon delivery methods, including, without limitation, as a result of declines in newspaper circulation and/or increased competition from new media formats including digital; an unforeseen increase in paper or postal costs; changes which affect the businesses of our clients and lead to reduced sales promotion spending, including, without limitation, a decrease of marketing budgets which are generally discretionary in nature and easier to reduce in the short-term than other expenses; our substantial indebtedness, and ability to refinance such indebtedness, if necessary, and our ability to incur additional indebtedness, may affect our financial health; the financial condition, including bankruptcies, of our clients, suppliers, senior secured credit facility lenders or other counterparties; certain covenants in our debt documents could adversely restrict our financial and operating flexibility; fluctuations in the amount, timing, pages, weight and kinds of advertising pieces from period to period, due to a change in our clients' promotional needs, inventories and other factors, including, without limitation, high levels of coupon redemption rates; our failure to attract and retain qualified personnel may affect our business and results of operations; a rise in interest rates could increase our borrowing costs; possible governmental regulation or litigation affecting aspects of our business; clients experiencing financial difficulties, or otherwise being unable to meet their obligations as they become due, could affect our results of operations and financial condition; uncertainty in the application and interpretation of applicable state sales tax laws may expose us to additional sales tax liability; and general economic conditions, whether nationally, internationally, or in the market areas in which we conduct our business, including the adverse impact of the ongoing economic downturn on the marketing expenditures and activities of our clients and prospective clients as well as our vendors, with whom we rely on to provide us with quality materials at the right prices and in a timely manner. These and other risks and uncertainties related to our business are described in greater detail in our filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, including our reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q and the foregoing information should be read in conjunction with these filings.  We disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE Valassis