Focus on local companies Insurance
SPRINGFIELD — Another local insurance company has had successful growth despite years of economic woes.
The former Consolidated Insurance at 1730 N. Limestone St. has officially changed its name to Brower Insurance, solidifying a merger made three years ago. The merger will allow the local office to expand business and even hire additional workers.
“It was important that we still had local elements,” said Hal Goodrich, one of the local office’s three partners. “There are 23 (Brower) partners in four cities, but we’re still locally owned; everything is essentially the same.”
The Springfield office currently has 24 employees, and plans to add three positions this year, said Andy Bell, another partner. He said the merger has also allowed them to increase their business by giving them more access to international accounts and the ability to offer more services — staff loss control for merger acquisitions, web seminars, claims advocates and more.
The increase in business opportunities is a boon when insurance claims are up and people have less money to spend on premiums.
“Although the economy is now starting to recover from the 2008, 2009 recession, a lot of business has disappeared,” said Steve Weisbart, vice president and chief economist for the Insurance Information Institute. “A lot of people lost their jobs, and as a result they’re buying less insurance to allocate resources to things such as food.”
On top of that, Weisbart said 2011 was “the worst catastrophe year” since 2005, so insurance companies have to pay more claims.
As the economy improves, more people are able to pay for insurance.
Weisbart also said that there are also business opportunities for ancillary businesses that focus on preventing damages and mitigating claims.
Assurant Specialty Property is such a business, focusing on insurance products and services to the mortgage lending industry.
“With so many foreclosures, there’s a heightened level of risk to the lenders, they have to maintain the property’s insurance,” said Miachel Lawson, vice president of Assurant. “My company is at least temporarily (doing well) while we go through this. We have experienced some growth.”
Since 2002, Assurant has grown from a staff of 400 to around 1,800 people, and it might hire more.
CodeBlue, an insurance claims processing company, has also grown. Since it came to Springfield in 2010, CodeBlue has hired more than 160 people and could grow up to 300 workers in the next few years.
The business focuses on mitigating water damage insurance claims and even has a local disaster lab to test the most effective ways to repair water-damaged homes, a segment of the insurance industry that Weisbart said has potential for growth.
Paul Gross, CodeBlue president and CEO, said Ohio and Springfield in particular, is a good place for an insurance company to do business.
Ohio is “a hotbed for the insurance industry,” Gross said, citing major companies such as Nationwide and Progressive, which have headquarters in the state.
Gross said having a lieutenant governor heading the insurance commission shows that the industry is a priority to Ohio.
And CodeBlue chose Springfield because “it has a large availability of quality employees and a wide availability of space,” Gross said. “Businesses need people and headquarters, property and offices.”
While CodeBlue and Assurant focus on ancillary type services and serve customers all over the country, Brower’s Springfield office remains focused on the local community.
“We had to make sure we had the ability to maintain a local agency,” said Brower partner Doug Paugh of the merger. “A privately owned (agency) with a Springfield presence.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0371 or everdeen.mason@coxinc.com.
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