News
- December 30, 2024
Pat Taphorn Elected Big I Illinois President
By Unland in Press Releases onSpringfield, Ill. (October 2024) – Pat Taphorn of Unland Insurance & Benefits in Pekin, IL, has been elected and formally installed as the President of Big I Illinois at the organization’s annual convention in Peoria last week. Taphorn will serve a one-year term.
As President, Taphorn is responsible for leading the direction of Big I Illinois over the next year and will act as an official delegate of the association at state and national functions.
Pat was hired out of college in 1989 with Unland Insurance & Benefits in an Accounting and Operations position and moved into a sales role in 1994. He bought into the agency in 2005 and then took over as President in January 2016, a position he continues to hold. Pat still has agent responsibilities for his customers, along with overseeing all six agency locations in Pekin, East Peoria, Metamora, Macomb and Farmington. Unland provides solutions for Commercial and Personal Property & Casualty, Life & Health, Employee Benefits and Financial Services.
Taphorn has represented Big I Illinois in various roles, including Regional Director, At Large Director, Government Relations Committee Chair, Vice President, and President-Elect. Beyond the insurance industry, Taphorn is a long-time assistant basketball coach for Pekin High School.
“On behalf of the Big I Illinois Board of Directors and staff, we look forward to Pat’s leadership for the upcoming year,” said Phil Lackman, Big I Illinois CEO. “He has set meaningful goals for both volunteer leadership and staff, including encouraging member involvement, spreading enthusiasm for careers in insurance, educating agencies on the importance of political advocacy, and exploring new programs, services, and opportunities to grow the association.”
Big I Illinois is an association representing Trusted Choice® independent insurance agents throughout the state. Big I Illinois membership is comprised of 1,000 insurance agencies representing 10,000 licensed independent agents engaged in all facets of the insurance industry, including property, casualty, life, and health. Its members offer customers a choice of policies from a variety of insurance companies. In addition to serving the professional needs of members, Big I Illinois works for the betterment of the insurance industry through legislative and consumer awareness programs. For more information, visit www.ilbigi.org.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Rachel Romines (217) 321-3024 or rromines@ilbigi.orgRead the entire article about Pat Taphorn.
0 - October 27, 2022
Winter Insurance Agency Celebrates 25 Years with Auto-Owners
By Unland in Press Releases onAuto-Owners Insurance Company and WINTER INSURANCE AGENCY recently celebrated the 25th anniversary of their partnership. The agency has represented Auto-Owners in East Peoria for a wide range of personal and commercial insurance products as well as life, annuity, and disability income, since 1997.
Auto-Owners Insurance is a Fortune 500 company and is the 14th largest property & casualty insurance company in the nation, based on written premium. Auto-Owners Insurance is one of nine insurance carrier groups in the U.S. to receive the highest rating possible, A++ Superior, by A.M. Best, which is a nationally recognized rating agency for insurance companies.
Auto-Owners is represented by more than 44,000 licensed agents in its 26 operating states. The company provides auto, home, business and life insurance to more than 2.7 million policyholders.
WINTER INSURANCE AGENCY is located at 201 CLOCK TOWER DR, EAST PEORIA, IL 61611-2449 and may be reached at 309-699-3938
- July 4, 2022
Remembering Afton Booth
By Unland in Press Releases onRemembering a great leader in Afton Booth today! He had a tremendous impact on many of us and was instrumental in growing our agency into a very successful one before he passed. We are still enjoying the fruits of his labor and continue to carry out his mission of helping and serving others in this great business. He loved the game of golf and had a Bucket List experience back in 2001 at the famous Old Course of St. Andrews in Scotland. The attached pic is from the Swilcan Bridge on #18. I thought of him today as the first day of The Open at this same course is taking place and the best players in the world are walking across this same bridge.
— Pat Taphorn
- June 29, 2022
ISAHU Distinguished Service Award
By Unland in Press Releases onOur team is making big news! Unland Benefits Account Manager Tammy Riddle was awarded the Greg Smith ISAHU Distinguished Service Award by the Illinois State Association of Health Underwriters on June 16th.
The award, named in honor of the late Greg Smith (a friend and carrier representative for Unland), recognizes Tammy’s outstanding leadership and value to the association. We’re beyond proud of Tammy’s hard work and dedication, and we’re thrilled to have someone from the Central Illinois Chapter win this prestigious award.
Congratulations, Tammy! Keep up the great work!
- April 21, 2021
Celebrating 80 Years of Service
By Unland in Press Releases onEighty years is a long time to be in business. If you ask Unland Companies President Patrick Taphorn, eight decades of community support has been a tremendous asset to the company’s success.
“We’ve been extremely blessed to be in communities that really value supporting local businesses,” Taphorn said. “We’ve been the recipient of that, and in turn, we’ve provided a very good, value-added service to our customers. To all those communities, thank you very much for your support and for trusting us to provide insurance coverage for you all these years.”
This year, Unland Companies celebrates 80 years of service to Central Illinois. Founded by J. Logan Unland in 1941, the company has grown from a single location with three employees to five locations with nearly 40 employees.
The more things change…
Of course, the insurance industry has changed a lot since 1941 when Mr. Unland himself was selling Aetna life insurance door-to-door. One of the biggest changes has been the evolution of technology in the industry. Although technology has normalized digital communication in the office, Taphorn said the Unland Team still prioritizes knowing individual customers personally and understanding their specific concerns.
“Technology has been a big change,” Taphorn said. “It’s a huge part of what we do and how we continue to be efficient and timely in service to our customers, but we still have that personal touch. Insurance is a relationship business, and we need to do everything we can to maintain and grow our relationships.”
Even though we started in the days of pen and paper, we have adopted a wide variety of tools to support our customers. Platforms such as Ease, for example, provide an interface that makes benefits enrollment easier for employees, employers, and agents.
“We invested in that platform a number of years ago and it’s really benefitted us as a company,” Taphorn said. “Business owners wear many hats and taking employees through the enrollment process for health insurance, dental, life, and other benefits programs can be a challenge many are not prepared for – they don’t want to mess with stacks of paperwork, sending it out to employees, waiting on them to send it back, and often chasing people down. That platform has really helped our customers. We’re growing rapidly in that area because of Ease.”
Although technology has made enrolling easier for both Unland and its customers, the increasing reliance on consumer tech solutions isn’t without its drawbacks.
“You would have never thought 15 or 20 years ago that you’d sell a cyber liability policy and that people would be asking for it,” Taphorn said. “That’s been a big change in the recent past.”
“Property & Casualty policies used to just include basic coverage such as fire, lightning, wind, hail, etc. The contracts now can integrate electronic data processing equipment, business interruption, mine subsidence, water backup of sewers and drains, identity theft, cyber liability, protection for mobile devices and even coverage for your pets,” Taphorn said. “Auto coverage has evolved from its initial intent of including physical damage and liability to now incorporating towing, roadside assistance, rental reimbursement, loss of use and many other options.”
The more they stay the same
One thing that’s remained the same, however, is the Unland Team’s commitment to putting its customers first. Taphorn said fostering a culture that stresses the importance of serving the customer has allowed Unland to provide the best top-notch coverage for eight decades.
“We’ve got really, really good people working here and have an expectation of how we service our customers,” Taphorn said. “People who work here know that serving our customers is a part of our culture. We’re selling a service and we can shine at a time when they need it the most.”
At the same time, Taphorn said Unland also works hard to be an employer of choice, ensuring the company hires charismatic, amiable employees.
“We try to make our offices a good place to interact. We do different activities throughout the week or month to break it up a little bit and we’ll have outings here and there,” Taphorn said. “We keep in mind while we’re trying to generate growth, efficiencies and best practices, we still have to remember that these people need to have a good time with it as well.”
J. Logan Unland
James Unland Sr.
Jeff Peterson, Bill Shock, and Afton Booth
Giving back
While the company continues to expand — Unland added its fifth location in January 2020 in Metamora — Taphorn said the Unland Team recognizes this growth couldn’t be possible without the support of the community. So, Unland stresses the importance of giving back by supporting area organizations such as EP!C, the American Cancer Society, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Goodwill, Children’s Hospital of Illinois, TAPS, Union Mission, Boys & Girls Club, UnityPoint Pekin Hospital Foundation, and various chambers of commerce throughout Central Illinois.
Looking ahead, Taphorn said the future for Unland Companies is bright. Two new acquisitions in recent months have served to grow the company’s footprint in the area. In 2020, the company came off its best year ever, ending with $46 million in premiums. That recent growth, Taphorn said, is an indicator of Unland’s promising future and many more celebrations.