PORTLAND, Maine, June 14, 2004 – At its annual meeting on June 14, Maine Employers' Mutual Insurance Company (MEMIC) made scholarship awards totaling $5,000 to two Maine students whose families have been affected by workplace injuries.

Ashleigh Ward of Brunswick and Angela St. Hilaire of Portland have each been awarded scholarships for post-secondary education for $2,500 from MEMIC's Horizon Scholarship Fund.

“Workplace injuries can have a great impact on a family,” said MEMIC President and CEO John Leonard. “While workers' compensation insurance offers help in meeting daily obligations, no insurance can cover all the ways that a workplace injury can affect a family. Given the importance of education in our time, we provide these scholarships to help these families to fund their children's education. These are two accomplished young women who will achieve great things in the future.”

Ward, a recent graduate of Brunswick High School, will attend The George Washington University in D.C. where she will study pre-law. Ward's father suffered a broken leg when the side of a truck trailer fell onto his leg back in 2002. His injury and recovery process has been difficult for Ward family, and has hindered their ability to fund a college education.

St. Hilaire is a recent graduate of Lewiston High School. She has been accepted into the dental hygiene program at the University of New England. Her father's workplace injuries to both wrists have reduced his ability to work and made financing for college even more difficult.

The MEMIC Horizon Scholarship Program was created by MEMIC's Board of Directors in 2001. Since then, it has made awards totaling $30,000 to 9 students whose families have suffered with workplace injuries. Winners are selected from a pool of applicants with an emphasis on academic ability, community involvement and future promise. Applicants must also show financial need.

Maine Employers' Mutual Insurance Company, based in Portland, Maine is Maine's largest and leading workers' compensation insurer, providing insurance to more than 20,000 Maine employers and their estimated 170,000 employees. The company is rated A (Excellent) by A.M. Best. Maine Employers' Mutual is the parent company to MEMIC Indemnity Co., a workers' compensation specialty company with offices in Manchester, NH. Rated A- (Excellent) by A.M. Best, MEMIC Indemnity is licensed to write workers' compensation in New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York.