It's time for another Throwback Thursday!

Take a look at the evolution of the West Bend brand! Initially, before a logo even existed and when our company was formed in 1894, our name was West Bend Fire Mutual Insurance Company. In 1957, we dropped the word fire from the name as our offering expanded. In the late ‘60s, we began using the hour glass logo and tagline, Time Tested Since 1894. This evolved into the middle logo which was launched in 1991. Our new and current logo was introduced in 2008 with the taglines of The Silver Lining® and The worst brings out our best®.

Today three teams of associates battled against Sous Chef, Mike Peterson, to correctly identify spices and ingredients in three prepared dishes along with answering some food trivia questions.  It already sounds like an unfair advantage for Mike, don't you think?  At the end, the team with the most points after three rounds was Perfect Palate!  Congratulations!  And thanks for the entertainment during lunch! 

Brian started his career at West Bend in the Records Department as part of the high school co-op program in 1987. West Bend still continues its support of hiring students in this program. After high school, in 1988, Brian started full-time in the Agency Service Department. From there he moved over to the Personal Lines Department from 1989-90 and held positions such set-up associate, tele-processer, (Brian actually coined the name for West Bend’s Teleprocessing Department through an internal contest), then assistant underwriter and personal lines underwriter from 1995 to 2001. In January 2001, he switched gears and moved over to Commercial Lines as an underwriter, which is the position he holds today.

Brian shared, “I feel very fortunate to work for such a great company! West Bend has given me opportunities that have helped shape who I am today, both personally, as well as professionally. West Bend has great benefits, such as continuing education, which really helped me throughout my years here and will continue to help me in the future.”

Thank you to our associates and the business students at West Bend HS for joining us to learn more about the insurance industry.  Topics such as personal lines, commercial lines, work comp, marketing, claims, finance, and human resources were discussed.  Tracy Oestreich took time out of her busy schedule to share her career journey as an independent agent.  The students had great questions about work comp insurance, drones, self-driving cars and how to get a job at West Bend Mutual! We're proud to support our schools and InVest. Check out their initiative here and find out how you can volunteer.

Meet Lisa, Commercial Lines Policy Processing Supervisor! Check out her pictures from the 80's (taken for a telemarketing ad) and today!

Lisa started in Agents Service in 1986 and transferred to Personal Lines in 1987, where she held three different positions, until 1998 when she decided to be a stay at home mom after her daughter was born. In 2006, she returned to West Bend in her last held position in Personal Lines as an Assistant Underwriter. In order to have a bit more flexibility for her young family, she took a position in Office Services/Policy Assembly/Printing. She worked in that role and was promoted to Office Services Supervisor in 2009. It was then in 2013 she was ready and excited to grow and learn more about the other areas of West Bend and took a position as a Commercial Lines Policy Processing Supervisor for Wisconsin. Lisa said, "I am very thankful for all of the opportunities West Bend has given me and I look forward to the future. I enjoy change and all the chaos that goes with it.  It has been a great ride and I look forward to my future at West Bend."

Marv Wolf is retiring on December 28th after 25 years at West Bend!  

As landscaping supervisor, Marv has created a beautiful campus for everyone to enjoy.  When Marv was hired, the land was a baren farm field.  Over the course of 25 years, both he and his staff have planted 12,000 - 15,000 trees, as well as countless wildflowers and plants.  

Today, Marv and his team oversees everything outside the buildings which includes: turf maintenance, tree health care, plant and plant bed maintenance around the buildings, the watershed program, all snow removal, maintenance of roads, sidewalks, parking structures, maintenance of outside of buildings, maintenance of fleet vehicles, maintenance of prairie and trails, and maintenance of interior plants.  

We wish Marv the best!  You will be missed!

WB associates were treated to holiday songs today during the lunch hour by the Badger Middle School Show Choir.  The choir is voluntary and the kids come in once a week to practice because of their love for music.  Thanks for sharing your talents with us!

Key Recognition is West Bend's peer to peer recognition program that celebrates individuals and teams who do what's right and deliver results by offering timely, frequent, and personalized recognition.  Congratulations to the November winners:

Jessica S. - Commercial Underwriting
Andy H. - Commercial Underwriting
Debbie B. - Premium Audit
Kenny A. - NSI Human Resources
Katie H. - NSI Underwriting
Kyle L. - NSI Financial Accounting

 

The Silver Lining Claim Experience Recognition Program celebrates those Claims associates who deliver exceptional service to our customers.  The Promise Kept Award is based on feedback from our policyholders, while the Silver Lining Standout Award goes to those getting great feedback from all others.  Winners are chosen each month from all nominations received.                                                        
                                                                                     Congratulations to:

             Kerry H.                      
             Nicole N.
             Karrie O.
             Mike G.
             Nancy J.
             Bonny R.
             Mike D.
             Ellie G.

 

In just an hour, you can save someone's life.  And our associates did just that.  Thank you to all of you that donated or tried to donate blood.  During this time of year it's particularly hard to get donations, but not at West Bend.  The Blood Center of Wisconsin couldn't even accept walk-ins due to overbooking.