Church Mutual Insurance Company employees had their first day in the new, state-of-the-art CM2 Merrill Satellite Office today.
The project involved a complete renovation and long-term leasing of the former Walmart building in Pine Ridge Plaza on Merrill’s east side.
“We looked at more than two dozen potential locations across Central Wisconsin,” Church Mutual President Rich Poirier said. “We love our established relationship with the city of Merrill and wanted to remain where we have for the past 118 years.”
The expansion was necessary because the property and casualty insurer has grown to more than 800 employees in Merrill alone and approximately 1,050 nationwide.
Employees voted on the color scheme, design and signage of the new building and the accompanying street sign that greets city visitors as they come off Highway 51.
“That is a busy expressway,” Poirier observed. “It’s also the gateway to the northwoods. We get a lot of traffic with vacationers from Chicago and Milwaukee. We wanted to make a real strong, positive statement about our community and our company.”
East Campus (Elite Carriers Building) personnel will return to the Home Office in several moves in early 2016.
“This is great for Church Mutual and great for the community,” CEO Mike Ravn said. “I am extremely pleased to have this new facility for our employees.”
“It has allowed us to experiment with a different work environment,” Poirier added. “It’s more upbeat, more modern, more open. It gives us an incubator to test some new dynamics in the workplace.”
Church Mutual will host an open house at CM2 Merrill Satellite Office in the spring.
Church Mutual Insurance Company was founded in 1897 and offers specialized insurance for religious organizations of all denominations, including religious-related schools, camps, denominational offices and senior living facilities. Church Mutual markets most lines of commercial property and liability insurance, including multi-peril, workers’ compensation and commercial auto insurance.