"The All-America

City Award can teach and inspire communities throughout the nation who

are struggling with similar difficult local issues," said Christopher

T. Gates, president of the National Civic League.

"In addition,

All-America City Award winners and finalists experience heightened national

attention ­ a proven boost for the recruitment of industry, jobs

and investment to the area."

Last year's

award winners were Fresno, Calif.; Naugatuck River Valley, Conn.; Worcester,

Mass.; Montgomery County, Md.; Clinton, Mo.; Gastonia, N.C.; Fargo/Moorhead,

N.D./Minn.; Lancaster, Pa.; Anderson County, S.C.; and Edinburg, Texas.

" These

remarkable communities have exemplified the true American spirit at work,"

said Peter Debreceny, vice president of corporate relations at Allstate.

"Allstate

is proud once again to have the opportunity to honor the communities for

their efforts to build stronger and safer places to live and work."

The All-America

City Award screening committee will announce the 30 finalists May 1. The

finalists will then participate in a final round of competition and 10

award recipients will be named June 23, during a special ceremony hosted

in Atlanta.

For a listing

of the communities participating in this year's competition visit www.ncl.org/ncl

or the Allstate media newsroom at www.allstate.com .

The National

Civic League is a 107-year-old non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated

to strengthening citizen democracy by transforming democratic institutions.

NCL accomplishes its mission through technical assistance, training, publishing,

research and the All-America City Award. The league is headquartered in

Denver, Colo., and has an office in Washington, D.C.

The Allstate

Corporation is the nation's largest publicly held per sonal lines insurer.

Widely known through its "You're In Good Hands With Allstate®"

slogan, the firm provides insurance products to more than 14 million households

and has approximately 13,000 exclusive agents in the U.S. and Canada.