The people who work for West Bend Mutual Insurance Company – all 705 of them – are more than just employees.
“We don’t like to use the word ‘employee’,” said Anthony Warren, president and CEO of the company. “We call everyone ‘associates’ because employees take orders, associates take initiative and get things done.”
This attitude is just one of the ways that make West Bend Mutual Insurance Company different from similar companies. Another significant difference, Warren said, is that it’s a mutual company, which means it’s owned by policy owners and not stockholders or shareholders.
“A mutual company is really, I think, the best type of structure to run an insurance company,” Warren said. “We can really worry about long-term issues and we don’t worry about short-term fixes. We don’t have shareholders that want us to have a higher and higher stock price, so we can really run our company based on what’s in the best interest for our policy holders.”
Another significant difference is West Bend Mutual’s commitment to the community. Last year alone, West Bend Mutual’s associates volunteered their time to approximately 125 non-profit organizations. In addition, the company’s charitable trust gives away a lot of money every year. During the Hurricane Katrina relief effort, the company matched 100 percent of all associate’s donations to Hurricane Katrina relief.
“That’s good for the community, but it comes back double for us because it makes our associates proud of who they work for,” Warren said.
It’s this commitment to community service that is the reason the company was founded in 1894 after a major fire hit West Bend. Local business owners banded together to rebuild – and to offer fire insurance – and West Bend Mutual Insurance Company was born. Now, 111 years later, the company is a major player in the Midwest property and casualty insurance industry.
Although it’s clear that West Bend Mutual has grown over the years – from $48 million in assets in 1980 to $1 billion in assets in 2003 – it’s not because Warren always has an eye on market share. Rather, it’s because he’s always looking for ways to improve.
“We’ve never looked at market share or growth as an indication of success,” he said. “If we get better month by month, quarter by quarter, year by year than we’ll grow and be a great company for our associates, policyholders and our agents.”
-Written by, Susan Bach - Published Oct 2, 2005 Journal Sentinel Sunday Edition