Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance Co. named to Ward’s 50

Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance Co. will be named to the 2009 Ward's 50 this afternoon, the first time the Goochland County-based company has made the list of top-performing insurance companies.

"This is something we are very excited about," said Richard Rivers, Farm Bureau's executive vice president and general manager.

The official announcement and the other names on the 2009 list will be announced later this afternoon.

The Ward's 50 lists, but does not rank, the top 50 insurance companies in the country. The 2008 list includes stalwarts in the industry such as GEICO, Progressive Casualty Insurance Co. and Allstate Insurance Co.

There are actually two 50-company lists, one for the property-casualty category and another for the life-health category. Virginia Farm Bureau is listed in the property-casualty category.

The Ward Group is a Cincinnati-based consulting firm that provides benchmarking and best-practice services to insurance companies. Each year the firm analyzes the finances of about 3,100 property-casualty companies and 800 health-insurance companies and their performance over a five-year period.

To qualify for the list, a company must meet minimum requirements, including having at least $50 million in surplus and premiums over the five years and annual growth in premiums.

Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance covers more than 148,000 families and businesses.

Rivers said being named to the Ward's 50 list is a testament to the company's employees and its "open book management" system.

The company adopted the system about five years ago. Based on the book "The Great Game of Business," the management system allows employees to participate at every level of the decision-making process and gives them access to company financial records.

Rivers said the system has allowed the company to maintain a 96 percent customer-satisfaction rate as well as 93 percent employee retention. "They feel like they are a part of everything that happens at the company," he said. "It gives them a stake in the outcome."

Employees meet twice a month with senior management to go over how the company is performing and if it is meeting goals.

Stephanie Gaskin, an office claims representative at Farm Bureau's corporate headquarters, said being so involved in the process makes it easier for her to do her job. "When I'm looking at a claim, I look at it from a different perspective," she said. "I understand how important it is to keep customers happy and how the process affects the bottom line."

Another benefit, said agency manager Leah Roller, is that being so open lets her understand what other departments at Farm Bureau are doing. "It makes you appreciate what others in the company do, and how it affects them and you," she said.

Contact Louis Llovio at (804) 649-6348 or .