Archive for August, 2010

David A. Jones, Jr., Steps Down as Humana Chairman; Remains as Board Member; CEO Michael B. McCallister Elected Chairman

Thursday, August 26th, 2010

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – August 26, 2010 – Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) announced today that Chief Executive Officer Michael B. McCallister has been elected chairman of the company’s board of directors effective immediately. 

At its regular bimonthly meeting, the board voted unanimously to elect Mr. McCallister after accepting the voluntary resignation of David A. Jones, Jr., as board chairman. Mr. Jones, who is the founder and managing director of Chrysalis Ventures, a Louisville-based venture capital firm, will remain on the board.  Mr. McCallister will continue to serve as the company’s chief executive officer. 

The board also voted to establish the position of lead independent director and appointed Kurt J. Hilzinger to serve in that position until April 2012. 

“It’s been a privilege to serve as Humana’s chairman,” Mr. Jones said. “I am proud of the company’s growth, innovation and promise, and I’m confident in Mike McCallister’s leadership and strategic vision.”  

Mr. McCallister, who has served as chief executive officer and a member of the board since 2000, commented, “I am grateful for my board colleagues’ vote of confidence and I look forward keenly to fulfilling the additional responsibility of board chairman with their superb counsel and support.” 

Since Mr. Jones became chairman in April 2005, the company’s revenues have grown from $13.1 billion in 2004 to $31.0 billion in 2009. Net income, earnings per share and operating cash flow over the same period grew from $270 million to $1.04 billion, $1.66 to $6.15 and $344 million to $1.42 billion, respectively. 

During these years the company significantly advanced its reputation as an innovator in developing consumer-focused health benefit plans and services.  It also achieved national recognition for service excellence – to its members, through numerous J.D. Power awards; and to its physician partners, through the annual athenahealth physician survey in which doctors named Humana “easiest to do business with” among all major health insurers in each of the past two years. 

“Humana will celebrate the 50th anniversary of its founding next year,” Mr. Jones said. “The company is a great example of the power of entrepreneurial spirit and ingenuity, and I’m excited about its future. Meanwhile, I look forward to continuing to build the next generation of innovative companies through Chrysalis Ventures.” 

About Humana 

Humana Inc., headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, is one of the nation’s largest publicly traded health and supplemental benefits companies, with approximately 10.3 million medical members and 7.3 million specialty-benefit members. 

Humana is a full-service benefits-solutions company, offering a wide array of health and supplementary benefit plans for employer groups, government programs and individuals. 

Over its 49-year history, Humana has consistently seized opportunities to meet changing customer needs. Today, the company is a leader in consumer engagement, providing guidance that leads to lower costs and a better health plan experience throughout its diversified customer portfolio. 

More information regarding Humana is available to investors via the Investor Relations page of the company’s Web site at http://www.humana.com, including copies of: 

  • Annual reports to stockholders
  • Securities and Exchange Commission filings
  • Most recent investor conference presentations
  • Quarterly earnings news releases
  • Replays of most recent earnings release conference calls
  • Calendar of events (includes upcoming earnings conference call dates and times, as well as planned interaction with research analysts and institutional investors)
  • Corporate Governance Information

 


FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Regina Nethery                                                                    
Humana Investor Relations
502-580-3644
rnethery@humana.com 

Tom Noland
Humana Corporate Communications
502-580-3674
tnoland@humana.com

Foundation Radiology Group is Pittsburgh’s Sixth Fastest Growing Company

Thursday, August 26th, 2010

Foundation Radiology Group’s revenue grew 533.33 percent from 2007 to 2009, making it Pittsburgh’s sixth fastest-growing private company. The diagnostic imaging company ranked second on the health care list.

Here’s how CEO Tom Skelton described the company’s strategy for growth:

“We’ve done several things during this period that have helped us to continue our growth pattern. Our primary focus has been on nurturing the relationships that have generated our success. We’ve taken steps to strengthen our relationships within the FRG Team, and, also, with our valued customers.

Our secondary focus has been to invest in ourselves and find ways to continually improve the services that we provide. We have several initiatives in progress that are designed to streamline processes, and, ultimately, enhance the service level that we are able to offer.

We narrowed our focus to these two areas because in our field, having a strong, unified team and satisfied, referenceable customers is extremely important for sales growth. Much of our growth can actually be attributed to customer-to-customer referrals. The investments that we put back into our company continually improve the quality and speed of the service that we are able to provide our current and future customers.”

Read more: Foundation Radiology Group is Pittsburgh’s Sixth Fastest Growing Company – Pittsburgh Business Times

Investors Look to Fund Capital-Light Businesses

Thursday, August 12th, 2010

Low startup costs and cheap customer acquisition make web-based startups an attractive investment.

By Tim Beyers | August 12, 2010

More and more, entrepreneurs are turning to the web to start new businesses because of low startup costs–often less than $1 million. Investors are helping drive the trend, in part because they have less money to invest. The average venture fund has shrunk from $166 million in 2007 to just over $120 million at the end of last year, according to data from the National Venture Capital Association and SVB Capital. Smaller funds tend to gravitate toward smaller funding rounds.

Read more…