 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
••••••••••••
••••••••••••
••••••••••••
Welcome
Citizens Insurance Services — Macomb / Roseville / Lewistown
& Winter Insurance — East Peoria
to the Unland Family
The Unland Companies is an independent insurance agency providing personal and commercial/business insurance, bonds, claim services, and employee benefits/financial services.
The Unland Commitment
We are an independent insurance agency whose only responsibility is to provide broad insurance coverage to protect the assets & liabilities of our customers . . . at an affordable cost . . . backed by superior service.
The employees of this agency embrace this responsibility. It's . . . OUR COMMITMENT.
Agency History
The Agency was founded by Jim Unland's father, J. Logan Unland, in 1941. He began his career in 1930 selling life insurance for Aetna Life Insurance Co. In 1942, J. Logan opened an office at 12 S. Fourth Street in Pekin for the purpose of expanding his agency to include fire and casualty insurance. Jim Unland joined his father's agency after being discharged from the U.S. Army in 1945. At that time the agency generated annual property & casualty (P&C) premiums of $10,000.
Through aggressive selling and the acquisition of other independent insurance agencies, James Unland & Company grew to a point where additional space was required and moved to 804 Court Street in 1957. In 1960, the Reyburn Insurance Agency in Peoria was purchased, and for eighteen years James Unland & Company operated two locations, one in Pekin and the other in downtown Peoria. During those years the total staff at both locations was kept minimal and the primary producer was Jim Unland. H. Jeff Peterson, a Marketing Representative for the Aetna Casualty and Surety joined the Agency in 1975, and his primary duties were to retain and develop new business in the Peoria office. Our principal insurance carriers at that time were Aetna C & S, INA, Pekin Insurance, Travelers and Transamerica.
It was determined in 1978 that because the two offices were so close geographically that it would be prudent to combine both offices under one roof. We moved to our present location at 2211 Broadway in Pekin in September 1978. We continue our agency operations today at this location and we currently occupy approximately 7,000 square feet and are proud of the attractiveness and efficiency resulting from this consolidation.
Since consolidating the Peoria and Pekin offices, the Agency has maintained a steady growth. With the assistance of Jeff Peterson and Afton Booth, a former Marketing Representative with INA who joined the company in 1980 as a salesman, the Agency currently maintains a personal lines volume of over $1,000,000 and has a premium volume of over $10 million in commercial P & C business.
Jim Unland sold the agency to the employees in 1986 using an Employee Stock Ownership Plan, commonly referred to as an ESOP. Jeff Peterson became President, and Afton Booth, Vice President. In 1989 The Unland Companies joined with the Shock Agency in what has proved to be an excellent strategic move for both entities. The merger allowed the Agency to expand its services to our customers in the area of employee benefits and financial services. Bill Shock serves as Unland's Vice-President of Employee Benefits and Financial Services. Group benefits and related business now exceeds $14 million of volume.
In late 1990, the Agency bought a small property and casualty agency in Morton. In July 1995, we, along with another agency, formed a partnership and purchased a small agency that maintained offices in Princeville (North of Peoria) and in Peoria. The Unland Companies served as the managing general partner in this venture. The Unland Companies sold its interest in this agency in 2004 to the other partner and the agency became a member of Central Illinois Agents Alliance, a wholly owned corporation of The Unland Companies.
The Unland Companies continues to strive to differentiate itself in the marketplace by adding progressive and innovative programs and services for our customers. In November 2002, we again expanded our product line with the addition of a human resources services department. Mike Franks joined the Agency and brought with him the knowledge gained through thirty plus years of HR management experience to provide professional HR management support and advisory services for small to mid-size business customers.
The strategic decision to continue expansion of services to our customers continued in January, 2004 with the addition of Chad Arseneau, Financial Services Representative/Stockbroker, to our professional staff. Chad's background in financial services with the Edward Jones Company strengthened our ability to meet the financial needs of our customers.
Also in January 2004, we became a "Master Agency" of SIAA a network of independent insurance agencies throughout the United States and Canada that write in excess of $3 billion in combined premium volume. Our master agency, which is known as Central Illinois Agency Alliance (CIAA), offers growth opportunities to agencies in Central Illinois wishing to remain independent, and increase their markets and business volumes by writing business through the CIAA.
Today, The Unland Companies has a staff of 21 in our Pekin office, including five commercial lines insurance agents, four commercial lines Customer Account Managers (CAMs), one personal lines CAM, one employee benefits agent, two employee benefits CAMs, a claims manager, controller, a receptionist/administrative assistant, one financial services representative with one assistant, an HR Services manager, and the CIAA manager and his assistant.
The Unland Companies was first nominated and then recognized in 2001 through 2005 as part of an elite group of independent insurance agencies throughout the United States participating in the Independent Insurance Agents of America (IIAA) "Best Practices" Study Group. The annual survey and study of leading independent agencies across the country documents the business practices of these "best" agencies and urges other independent insurance agencies to adopt similar practices. In addition, The Unland Companies was recognized by Rough Notes Magazine as "Independent Agency of the Month" for December, 2001.
Our Agency is a Member of: