Employee Benefit Plans

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2011

Note 8 – Employee Benefit Plans

Pension Benefits

The Company’s Pension Plan covers substantially all employees hired prior to March 31, 2007. Employees hired after March 31, 2007 are not eligible to participate in this plan, but do participate in a defined contribution plan that provides an annual contribution into a self-directed retirement account at the discretion of the Company, based upon a percentage of the participants’ compensation. In order to be eligible for contribution, the participating employee must be employed by the Company on December 31st of the year to which the award relates. For the three months ended September 30, 2011 and 2010, the Company made Pension Plan cash contributions of $1.8 million and $0.8 million, respectively. For the nine months ended September 30, 2011 and 2010, the Company made Pension Plan cash contributions of $2.5 million and $1.4 million, respectively. The Company expects to make additional Pension Plan cash contributions of approximately $0.2 million over the remainder of the current year. The Company also maintains an unfunded supplemental retirement benefit plan for certain active and retired Company Officers and currently pays $0.3 million in annual benefits to the retired participants.

Other Benefits

The Company’s Other Benefits Plan covers substantially all of its retired employees. Employees hired after March 31, 2007 are not eligible to participate in this plan. Coverage includes healthcare and life insurance. For the three months ended September 30, 2011 and 2010, the Company made Other Benefits Plan cash contributions of $1.5 and $0.5 million, respectively. For the nine months ended September 30, 2011 and 2010, the Company made Other Benefits Plan cash contributions of $2.0 million and $1.4 million, respectively. The Company expects to make additional Other Benefits Plan cash contributions of approximately $0.8 million over the remainder of the current year.

The following table sets forth information relating to the Company’s periodic costs for its employee retirement benefit plans:

	(In Thousands)
	Pension Benefits						Other Benefits
	Three Months Ended September 30,
	2011			2010			2011			2010

Service Cost	$	394		$	349		$	326		$	256
Interest Cost		566			557			401			334
Expected Return on Assets		(571	)		(505	)		(256	)		(190	)
Amortization of Unrecognized Losses		141			127			219			133
Amortization of Unrecognized Prior Service Cost		2			2			-			-
Amortization of Transition Obligation		-			-			33			34
Net Periodic Benefit Cost	$	532		$	530		$	723		$	567

	Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2011			2010			2011			2010

Service Cost	$	1,181		$	1,047		$	979		$	769
Interest Cost		1,696			1,671			1,203			1,001
Expected Return on Assets		(1,712	)		(1,515	)		(769	)		(569	)
Amortization of Unrecognized Losses		424			380			658			399
Amortization of Unrecognized Prior Service Cost		7			7			-			-
Amortization of Transition Obligation		-			-			101			101
Net Periodic Benefit Cost	$	1,596		$	1,590		$	2,172		$	1,701