Treasurer Stacy Garrity Celebrates 529 Day with Awards for Families

Treasurer Stacy Garrity celebrated 529 Day – May 29, or 5/29 – by encouraging families across Pennsylvania to save with the PA 529 College and Career Savings Program for a chance to win awards, including three top awards of $5,529 – enough to pay for a year’s tuition at a Pennsylvania community college.

May 29, 2024, has also been designated as College and Career Savings Day in Pennsylvania by the General Assembly, with resolutions sponsored by Senator Scott Martin (R-13) and Representative John Schlegel (R-101).

“I’m excited to celebrate 529 Day and very pleased that the General Assembly is supporting our efforts by proclaiming this as College and Career Savings Day,” Treasurer Garrity said. “Saving for education is an important step families can take to help make their child’s dreams come true, no matter what career path they take. Treasury is offering some fantastic promotional awards to encourage more families to take advantage of our PA 529 Guaranteed Savings Plan, which is a great savings tool. Saving now, means less to borrow when a child embarks on their technical career training, apprenticeship or college degree.”

“We all share a common interest in supporting strong postsecondary educational opportunities and career preparation programs to help young people chart a course toward a brighter future here in Pennsylvania,” said Senator Martin. “I am proud to partner with Treasurer Garrity to make more Pennsylvanians aware of the benefits of PA 529 accounts and the key role they play in helping students achieve their dreams.”

“The PA 529 College and Career Savings Program has helped many Pennsylvanian families save money for their child’s postsecondary education for more than three decades,” said Rep. Schlegel. “I encourage all families to consider this savings option.”

Treasury’s 529 Day promotion has been running since May 1, and families have until May 31 to save to be eligible for awards with the PA 529 GSP. The PA 529 GSP allows families to save at today’s tuition rates to meet tomorrow’s tuition costs. Families can choose the tuition level they wish to save at – from community colleges up to Ivy League universities.

Families who open a new PA 529 GSP and contribute at least $10 until May 31, will be eligible to win one of two statewide awards of $5,529, or one of six regional awards of $2,529. Last year, more than 1,000 families started saving during our 529 Day promotion.

New for this year, families who had a PA 529 GSP account prior to May are eligible to win one statewide award of $5,529 if they make an additional contribution of at least $10 to their child’s account before the end of the month.

The PA 529 program has been helping families save and pay for education for more than 30 years. Saving with PA 529 accounts comes with significant state and federal tax advantages. PA 529 accounts can be used for a wide variety of qualifying technical, collegiate, and apprenticeship expenses like tuition, fees, books, equipment, room and board, and more. Saving with PA 529 does not impact a student’s eligibility for Pennsylvania state financial aid.

Families with young children, born January 1, 2019, or later, already have a $100 Keystone Scholars account to jumpstart their education savings. This automatic deposit is available to every baby born in Pennsylvania, and the program uses no taxpayer dollars. Families are encouraged to claim their Keystone Scholars accounts online at pa529.com/keystone and open their own companion PA 529 account to continue saving for their child’s future.

Knowles Insurance Announced Continued Family Participation

Matthew Knowles launched the fourth generation of his family’s participation in the insurance business when he recently joined Knowles Insurance, headquartered in downtown Scranton.

Matthew brings his large market, large client, cyber liability insurance experience to the agency as the firm’s cyber risk practice leader. He spent years in New York City specializing in complex cyber liability insurance programs for clients in the $100M – $5B revenue range. During his years with Willis Towers Watson, a multinational risk management, insurance brokerage, and advisory company, Matt managed the cyber insurance programs for numerous banks, private equity firms,
manufacturers, and health care organizations.

Over 30 years ago Robert J. Knowles, Jr. purchased the firm from the previous generation and has served as the agency’s principal since that time. “We’re delighted to have Matt return to northeastern Pennsylvania and bring his cyber liability experience to expand our agency’s expertise,” related Robert Knowles Jr. “And I’m equally proud to have Matt continue our history of providing a full range of insurance products and risk management solutions to our broad base of clients,” he continued.

Matt added, “This is an ideal time to join the company and offer enhanced cyber risk services to our business partners. This is a time when businesses throughout the country are challenged with technology risks in a digital environment and many business leaders are unsure where to look for guidance. We can assist them from both an insurance and risk management perspective. I am excited to join a company that continues to evolve and adapt in order to meet the needs of the market.”

Knowles Insurance is a full-service insurance firm serving corporations, organizations, and families throughout the 22 states from their corporate headquarters in northeastern Pennsylvania. The firm has provided a variety of specialized insurance services to businesses and individuals for almost 90 years.“We are fortunate to have a superior management team and devoted staff as we’ve grown the business over the last quarter century,” stated Robert Knowles, Jr. “Susan Kelly and Todd Zimmerman have been instrumental to our success during that time. With their dedication we have built a reputation on establishing long term relationships with our clients by reducing their total cost of insurance risk.”

The firm previously known as Knowles Associates has recently rebranded as Knowles Insurance with a new logo and signage for their corporate headquarters building.