PITTSBURGH, Oct. 13 -iGate Mastech ('Mastech'), a leading North American custom and packaged applications technology consulting firm, announced today that Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, one of Pennsylvania's leading health insurers, was awarded the iGate Mastech Top Supplier Diversity Client Award for Q3-05, in recognition of demonstrated commitment to supplier diversity, through Highmark's continued business with minority-owned business enterprises.
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At the conclusion of each fiscal quarter (Fiscal Year End: December), iGate Mastech, a large certified minority owned business enterprise, recognizes clients who have advanced recognition and awareness of the importance of supplier diversity, by awarding the top revenue-producing client the Top Supplier Diversity Client of the Quarter Award.
iGate Mastech named Highmark the Top Supplier Diversity Client for Q3-05 in recognition for volume business with iGate Mastech throughout the quarter.
Since the first engagement in 1997, Highmark has leveraged iGate Mastech's deep technical and functional expertise in varied practice areas including Web Development, Financial Statistics, and Mainframe Development. Areas of technologies and expertise spanning numerous engagements have included: SAS, Java, COBOL, DB2, and CICS, among others.
Discussing the importance of the Highmark/iGate Mastech relationship at the Award Presentation, Roderick Craighead, Manager of Corporate Supplier Diversity for Highmark noted, "We strive to develop strong business relationships with suppliers who provide a wide range of goods and services at the best possible value to our corporation. By tapping into a diverse pool of suppliers, we ensure that we use resources that appropriately reflect the full diversity of our members. And, a very real value of embracing such a policy is that we contribute to the economic vitality of the regions where we do business."
Ed Meindl, iGate Mastech's Vice President of MSP/VoP Practice remarked, "iGate Mastech is proud to be a preferred supplier to Highmark, an organization fully comprehending the deep impact a diverse supplier base brings. Their insistence to provide all firms an opportunity to compete for business is one of the many qualities that make them a leader in the industry, and an institution in our community. We look forward to many more years of partnering together".
Respective representatives of iGate Mastech and Highmark attended the Award Reception to commemorate the award.
For additional information contact:
Mr. Christopher R. Evans
Manager of Corporate Marketing & Communications
iGate Mastech
412.787.2100
412.494.9272 fax
cevans@igatemastech.com
Or:
Ms. Hollie Plevyak
Corporate Communications and Public Relations
Highmark, Inc
412.544.8248
412.544.5318 fax
hollie.plevyak@highmark.com
About iGate Mastech:
Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, iGate Mastech (Mastech) is a $130M subsidiary of the $270M global provider iGATE Corporation (Nasdaq: IGTE) that provides comprehensive consulting services throughout the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) and the Package Implementation Life Cycle (PILC) from initial feasibility study through maintenance of the completed application. Areas of focus include application management, enterprise package solutions, project management, eBusiness, and business intelligence/data warehousing. Mastech employs more than 1,200 people throughout the United States and Canada, with offices throughout Europe and Asia. For more information, visit http://www.igatemastech.com.
About Highmark:
As one of the state's leading health insurers, Pittsburgh-based Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield serves 3.1 million members in 29 western Pennsylvania counties. The company's mission is to provide access to affordable, quality health care enabling individuals to live longer, healthier lives.
Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, an association of independent Blue Cross and Blue Shield Plans.
