Salt Lake City —Salt Lake City-based Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators (DMBA) is celebrating 50 years of administering benefit plans for employees of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its affiliates.

Organized on Sept. 30, 1970, DMBA provides coverages and benefits for active employees, retirees, students, missionaries, and general authorities of the Church. It also provides benefits expertise to the Church both in the United States and internationally.

Prior to 1970, three companies handled Church employees’ benefits. After lengthy research and discussion, Church leaders decided self-insurance would be more economical and consolidated administration of benefits under a single entity they named Deseret Mutual Benefit Association. DMBA’s name changed to Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators in 1987.

In the fall of 1970, DMBA had three employees and administered medical, retirement, life, and occupational accidental death and dismemberment benefits. Today, it employs close to 400 and has expanded its benefits to also include dental, 401(k) savings and investments, supplemental group term life, and much more. Employees’ duties range from customer service and claims processing to medical services, investment planning, provider relations, printing technology, information technology, accounting, legal services, and communications.

Over its 50-year history, DMBA has been recognized repeatedly for both the excellence of its products and the efficiency of its administration. “But the thing that makes DMBA special is its culture,” DMBA President and CEO Jamie Dester explained. “Those of us who work here love to work here! Our mission is simple and focused: To help our participants improve their health and financial security by being best-of-class as their benefits administrator.”

DMBA’s values are

• Integrity
• Improvement
• Teamwork
• Exceptional Service

“We take both that mission and those values very much to heart,” Dester said. “In a nutshell, we view our role as helping all of the other workers in the Lord’s kingdom to stay healthy, so that they can continue to perform their important work, whatever that might be, in whatever corner of the world. Then, we try to help the employees of the Church and its affiliates to have sufficient financial resources, so that they can continue to serve in the Lord’s work long after concluding their active employment years.”

DMBA Contact: Valerie Mollerup, Communications Director, [email protected],