Oregon PERS Wins National Award for Annual Expo, Retirement Education

PERS recognized for campaign focused on raising financial awareness and retirement education

MEDIA RELEASE
July 21, 2020
Media Contact: Dean Carson, Senior Marketing & Communications Specialist

TIGARD, OREGON – A retirement education effort by the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) recently earned the agency an award from the National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators Inc. (NAGDCA).

The association recognized PERS with a 2020 NAGDCA Leadership Award in the Participant Education and Communication category for the agency's work developing and executing a marketing campaign in partnership with the Oregon Savings Growth Plan, a 457(b) voluntary deferred compensation program available to certain public employees to help them save more for retirement.

The campaign focused on increasing financial awareness and retirement education among PERS members, especially those earlier in their careers. A flagship of the effort was PERS Expo 2019, an annual event that aims to help PERS members learn more about their PERS benefits, how OSGP can complement PERS, and other general topics about preparing and saving for retirement. Other components of the campaign included new educational videos and an update to workshop presentations to help public employees understand how easy it is to save more for retirement.

Throughout its components, the campaign maintained a consistent look, messaging, and call to action focused on members taking an active interest in their financial futures and saving more for retirement. A key goal was to increase awareness of OSGP and remove barriers to enrollment in the plan, which can be used by eligible PERS members as a vehicle for additional retirement savings.

The campaign was the first time that PERS and OSGP, with the support of Voya Financial®, the third-party administrator for OSGP, implemented a major marketing strategy together, one that incorporated design ideas, photography, video production, and various communications vehicles.

Learn more about PERS and OSGP online.

The Oregon Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) serves the people of Oregon by administering public employee benefit trusts to pay the right person, the right benefit, at the right time. PERS, the agency, administers the retirement system in partnership with more than 900 Oregon public employers, including school districts, special districts, cities, counties, community colleges, universities, and state agencies. PERS engages with more than 374,000 current and former Oregon public employees or their beneficiaries. PERS also administers the PERS Health Insurance Program, a health insurance program for retirees, and the Oregon Savings Growth Plan, a 457(b) voluntary deferred compensation program.