Another great perk of working at West Bend is the associate garden plots. For only $25 associates can plan, beautiful, organic gardens. The gardens are looking great this year!

Exciting news! We've been recognized as one of the Best Employers for Women 2021 by Forbes and as a Great Place to Work for Millennials by Fortune. 

If you're interested in a career at West Bend, be sure to check out our current openings: https://www.thesilverlining.com/careers

Our landscape renovation plan includes major changes inside the circle drive at the main front entrance. Specifically, the large copper beech tree and the metal burr oak tree have been relocated
and will be replaced with flower beds and lower vegetation. 

Relocating a mature tree is a major undertaking. We contracted with a landscape firm that specializes in this activity. Late in the fall, the ground at the base of the tree was covered with straw to prevent it from freezing. As temperatures dropped, the root ball was excavated, wrapped, and allowed to freeze solid. A mammoth 66,000-pound front-end loader was then used to lift and move the 18,000-pound tree and root ball.

The copper beech tree was originally planted in honor of Rocky Dedrick. The metal oak tree is a sculpture commemorating West Bend’s reaching $1 billion in assets in 2003. The tree and the sculpture have been relocated as features of the newly established Dedrick Prairie.

It's no secret we see a lot of wildlife on our campus. 🦌 Lately, we've had some associates share pictures they've taken of deer with us. It's unbelievable how many deer call our campus their home. Thanks to Robin, Deb, Donna, and Paul for sharing these!

The Responder, our fully functional mobile office, has arrived in Ankeny, Iowa to service our policyholders from last Friday’s hailstorm.

The Responder's disaster team inspects damage to policyholders' vehicles. Claims are immediately processed on-site, and checks distributed, significantly expediting the claims process. 

We've been working on some updates to the main entrance of our home office. The new West Bend sign looks amazing. The clouds always seem to be in the perfect place for a great photo too! 

While we all hope to never see another derecho, we know there’ll be storms. One of the ways we’re able to quickly provide the silver lining to our policyholders is with the Responder®. It allows us to hit the road and bring the silver lining to our policyholders in areas hit by severe weather. We don’t bring out the responder for each and every storm but factors used to determine if we send out the Responder include the type of damage, number of policies in the area, and number of reported/projected claims.

It’s outfitted with the latest technology, allowing our team members to work out of the vehicle as if they were at an office. The team working out of the Responder focuses on handling auto claims. The Responder tows a 10-foot trailer which contains a 30-foot inflatable drive-in tent used during the auto inspection process. When policyholders visit the Responder with an auto claim, West Bend inspects the damage and immediately processes the claim. Policyholders leave with an estimate, a check for the estimate or total loss settlement, and a swag bag of goodies, including today’s hot commodity, hand sanitizer. Our policyholders appreciate the streamlined and expedited claims service. One policyholder who brought their vehicle to our drive-in service center even said, “This was so easy! I’m almost glad this happened!” Now, that’s The Silver Lining!

We're looking for incredible people to join our team this year. We have a variety of open positions, some of which do not require any previous insurance experience.

Many associates who find careers at West Bend didn't set out to work in the insurance industry. But what they discover is much more than just a job. 

Learn more by watching this video and reading the short article.

https://spectrumnews1.com/wi/green-bay/news/2021/06/10/now-hiring--west-bend-insurance-looks-to-grow-team-#

Last week, West Bend dedicated a portion of our prairie to John “Rocky” Dedrick, former president, CEO, and chairman of the board. 

Rocky served as president of West Bend from 1982 to 2000 and was president when ground for the Woodland Building was broken in 1990. He was instrumental in restoring, what for many years, had been farmland to the natural prairie we enjoy today. Rocky got the idea to use natural landscaping from his brother Dan, a landscape architect while walking the property with him in about 1986. “We saw the land had been misused, that the only way they were ever able to grow corn was to pour chemicals and fertilizers into the soil. The topsoil was virtually gone. That’s when we decided to restore it.” He didn’t want West Bend to use a lot of water, herbicides, and fertilizers on the grounds because it was bad for the environment and expensive. In the 70s and 80s, manicured lawns at corporate buildings were “in” so his vision of restoring the land to its natural state was very forward-thinking.

He had a vision of what the property should/could look like and once the decision was made, Rocky made it his mission to learn more about restoring the land to its natural state. Rocky hired Marv, our former landscape supervisor, to execute his vision. The land was restored to its natural state by planting 60 acres with 25 varieties of native grasses, wildflowers, and trees. A pond was added, along with 8,000 trees and three miles of walking trails. It took five-seven years before the full results of all the plantings were evident. Today, our property is a haven for wildlife like deer, fox, pheasant, turkey, geese, and duck.

Two other portions of the prairie are dedicated to former presidents. The Barber Prairie commemorates Robert Barber who served as president from 1961 to 1976. The Fuchs Prairie honors Harold Fuchs, West Bend president from 1976 to 1982. Both are located on the west side of the building.

Meet Becky!

I started my career at West Bend in August of 2005. I have been an underwriting tech, tech trainer, assistant underwriter, underwriter, and now underwriting supervisor. The thing I like most about working here is all of the great opportunities available to me. I started my career at West Bend not knowing anything about insurance and was able to take advantage of the insurance education classes available (where I was able to earn 7 insurance designations!) As a life-long learner, it is really important to me to continue to have training opportunities available and be able to advance in my career. West Bend truly believes in investing in their employees. Outside of work I enjoy hiking, camping with my family, running, and traveling.