MEMBERS IN THE NEWS

Members in the N ws e

WEST BEND HONORED AS A NATIONAL BEST COMPANY AND WORKPLACE

West Bend, WI (10/25/31) - West Bend Mutual Insurance Company was recently honored with several best company/best workplace honors from national organizations.

America’s Best Insurance Companies 2022 In its inaugural edition of this national award list, West Bend was recognized by Forbes as one of America’s Best Insurance Companies 2022! This recognition was created through a survey of 16,000 U.S. consumers who provided recommendations for insurance products in seven categories: Auto, Homeowners, Renters, Pet, Term Life, Permanent Life, and Dental. Consumers were asked about their overall satisfaction with their insurance products and their willingness to recommend them to others. Forbes also assessed the quality of the company’s customer service, financial advice, price/performance ratio, transparency, and damage/benefit ratio. Of the thousands of companies eligible for this recognition, West Bend is one of only 90 to make this list.

America’s Best-In-State Employers

The company was named one of America’s BestIn-State Employers in 2021 by Forbes and market research company Statista. After compiling anonymous survey responses from 80,000 Americans working for companies with at least 500 employees, the final list of 1,330 employers was divided into 51 rankings, one for each state and the District of Columbia. West Bend ranked ninth and was the highest-ranked insurance company on the list of 75 Wisconsin employers.

America’s Best Employers for Women

Forbes and market research company Statista named West Bend one of America’s Best Employers for Women in 2021. West Bend was a top-10 company in the insurance industry. The 300 companies included on the list were chosen based on an independent survey of 50,000 employees currently employed at companies with at least 1,000 workers in their U.S. operations. The survey sought opinions from all respondents on general work topics like working conditions and development opportunities. It also asked women to rate their own employers on topics especially relevant to women, such as parental leave, flexibility, discrimination, and pay equity.

Best Workplaces for Millennials™

Fortune and Great Place to Work® recognized West Bend as one of che Best Workplaces for Millennials in 2021. Inclusion on the list was based on anonymous survey feedback to more than 60 questions. Eightyfive percent of the award evaluation was based on what millennials say about their experiences of trust and reaching their full human potential as part of their organization, no matter who they are or what they do.

BIZTIMES MILWAUKEE: NOTABLE WOMEN IN INSURANCE

Milwaukee, WI (10/27/31) BizTimes Milwaukee presents its inaugural showcase of Notable Women in Insurance, spotlighting accomplished female professionals throughout the insurance industry in southeastern Wisconsin.

METHODOLOGY: The honorees did not pay to be included. Their profiles were drawn from nomination materials. This list features only individuals for whom nominations were submitted and accepted after a review by our editorial team. To qualify for the list, nominees must be based in southeast Wisconsin. They must be currently serving in a senior level role at their firm, must hold a leadership position in their industry outside of their own organization, have made a significant contribution to advancing workplace equality at their own workplace or beyond, and act as a role model or mentor.

• Angela Loberg, Executive Director UnitedHealthcare of Wisconsin • Diana Schmidt, Property & Casualty Consultant | Principal/Hausmann - Johnson Insurance, Inc. • Megan Zimmerman, Vice President - Employee Health & Benefits / Marsh McLennan Agency • Stephanie Riesch-Knapp, Owner & Sr. Employee Benefits Consultant / R&R Insurance Services, Inc. • Claire Huschen, Vice President Business Development / Hays Companies • Coreen Dicus-Johnson, President & Chief Executive Officer / Network Health • Joanne Szymaszek, President of Johnson

Insurance Services / Johnson Financial Group • Christine Rogers, Senior Vice President of Customer Service / Robertson Ryan & Associates

• Mariah Mateo Sarpong, Director of Communications and Knowledge Management / MicroInsurance Center at MILLIMAN • Heather Dunn, Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer / West Bend Mutual Insurance • Tammy Roou, Vice President Enterprise Compliance / Northwestern Mutual • Brandy Enger, Director of Personal Lines / Vizance • Kristina Talkowski, Branch Manager / CNA Insurance • Nicole Cutraro, Vice President / Mid State Insurance • Aditi Javeri Gokhale, Chief Commercial Officer & President of Investment Products and Services / Northwestern Mutual

ACUITY AGAIN NAMED BEST IN NATION FOR WORK-LIFE BALANCE DURING COVID-19

Sheboygan, WI (November 1, 2021) - After analyzing millions of reviews, Glassdoor ranked Acuity #1 in the nation for work-life balance during COVID-19 for the second consecutive year. On Glassdoor, employees voluntarily and anonymously share insights and opinions about their work environments by sharing a company review, designed to capture a genuine and authentic evaluation. As one employee wrote, “Acuity truly embraces work-life balance: it’s not just jargon.”

“Being named best in the nation for work-life balance is a tremendous gesture by our employees. It is an incredible honor, and it comes from everyone working together, recognizing and valuing each other, and believing in the employee-focused culture we have built that is based on a fierce respect for the individual,” said Ben Salzmann, Acuity President and CEO.

“Glassdoor ratings reflect the experience of people who know us best—our employees. It’s a true, transparent reflection of who we are not just as an employer, but how we care for our people,” said Joan Ravanelli Miller, General Counsel and Vice President - Human Resources. A key part of Acuity’s philosophy as an employer is providing every employee with comprehensive, inclusive, and straightforward benefits. From offering a true flex-time schedule and unlimited sick leave to support for team members dealing with personal challenges and celebration of joyous life events, Acuity’s work-life integration benefits help people achieve a positive balance between their work and personal lives. Additionally, Acuity continues to enhance its health and wellness benefit program, recently announcing that it will be expanding coverage to include family-forming benefits, new telehealth services, and more, while providing employees access to the broadest possible network of doctors anywhere.

This latest honor adds to Acuity’s continued and growing recognition as a great place to work. Over the past 12 months alone, Acuity was featured by TIME as one of the best places to work during the pandemic, named to Forbes’ list of America’s Best-in-State Employers, honored with a Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Award, and named Top Entry Level Employer for 2020 by CollegeGrad.com.

Acuity Insurance, headquartered in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, insures over 125,000 businesses, including 300,000 commercial vehicles, and nearly a half million homes and private passenger autos across 29 states. Rated A+ by A.M. Best and S&P, Acuity employs over 1,500 people.

PENN NATIONAL INSURANCE LAUNCHES FIRST OF ITS KIND DIGITAL LEGAL SERVICE FOR COMMERCIAL POLICYHOLDERS

Harrisburg, PA (November 1, 2021) - Penn National Insurance is now providing their business policyholders with access to Business Risk Protection, an Insurtech digital legal assistance service from Epoq Inc.

The new service is the first legal assistance service introduced by a major insurer and the first in a movement by carriers towards non-coverage digital services.

Business Risk Protection represents a ‘new breed’ of value-added services that meet the changing expectations of millennials and Gen Z policyholders.

Randy Mancini, vice president of Commercial Lines at Penn National Insurance says, “This value-added service extends the protection we provide to the business community and helps us play an important role in helping them resolve their problems. Introducing this service also helps agents maintain their position as trusted advisors to their clients by giving them access to assistance that would otherwise be expensive or inaccessible.”

Business Risk Protection is designed to safeguard businesses with high-quality legal agreements that mitigate and transfer risk, containing over 100 services including: • Contractors - construction agreements, subcontractor agreements and job proposals • Doing business - documents to hire staff and consultants, protect intellectual property and recover debts • Hospitality and restaurant - agreements for holding events such as venue rental, catering, and performance contracts • Landlords - leases and deposit notices for residential and commercial property

“As millennials and Gen Z become more dominant, insurers are focused on re-engineering their customer experience and generating positive policyholder interactions. The model of insurance is changing from a purely transactional relationship to one in which the policyholder receives value beyond the coverage and engages with their insurer more regularly. There is a demand for a more modern expansive offering from insurers and our services help them fulfil this need as well as differentiate them in the market,” adds Grahame Cohen, CEO of Epoq North America.

ABOUT PENN NATIONAL INSURANCE - Penn National Insurance, founded in 1919, in Harrisburg, Pa., sells property-casualty insurance in eleven states, through a network of more than 1,200 independent agency operations. The company wrote $749.9 million in net written premium in 2020 on $718.0 million in policyholders’ surplus, and total assets exceeded $1.9 billion. The company employs approximately 830 people in its eleven-state sales and service territory.

For more information on Penn National Insurance visit www.pennnationalinsurance.com.

ABOUT EPOQ - Formed in 1994, Epoq (www. epoqtech.com) works with insurers and financial institutions to help them innovate, differentiate, and give greater value to their customers. The company achieves this by offering pioneering digital legal and regulatory document preparation services as an enhancement to its client’s services. With offices in Massachusetts and in London England, Epoq is respected globally and provides its unique services to over 60 major brands.

TRICOR INSURANCE ANNOUNCES STRATEGIC INVESTMENT FROM J.C. FLOWERS & CO

Lancaster, WI (November 8, 2021) - TRICOR Insurance, a leading nationwide business insurance, employee benefits, personal insurance, and individual life and health independent insurance agency, announced today that J.C. Flowers & Co., LLC (“J.C. Flowers”), a leading private investment firm dedicated to investing globally in the financial services industry, has made a strategic investment in the company. Terms of the TRICOR, a Top 100 Independent Insurance Agency as measured by Business Insurance, has more than 40,000 clients across Wisconsin, Iowa and the Midwest. The investment will be used to accelerate the company’s rapid growth both organically and through strategic acquisitions. Founded in 1945, TRICOR is led by Dave Fritz, CEO/President of TRICOR Insurance, who purchased the business with his brother Bruce in 1982 from their parents.

“We have always invested in our talent and technology, alongside sound acquisitions, and our next focus is on growth acceleration. It is the perfect time to bring in an investment partner like J.C. Flowers that can help us accelerate our growth and fits well within our culture,” said Mr. Fritz, TRICOR’s CEO/President. “By pairing the diverse skills of J.C. Flowers alongside TRICOR management’s industry expertise, we know we will achieve our mission of being the employer of choice, as well as the insurance agency of choice, throughout the upper Midwest.”

Dave Fritz will retain a very significant ownership position in the company, and the entire management team will remain in place following the investment.

“TRICOR has an excellent industry reputation and a strong company culture, and we see tremendous opportunity for TRICOR to expand its operations throughout the Midwest,” said Eric Rahe, Managing Director of J.C. Flowers. “J.C. Flowers has a long track record of successful investments in the insurance industry, and we look forward to working with Dave and his team to leverage our experience and strong relationships to grow the company strategically.”

Dowling Hales acted as financial advisor to TRICOR in the transaction. Godfrey & Kahn and Foley & Lardner served as legal advisors and Honkamp & Krueger served as a business advisor to TRICOR.

ABOUT TRICOR INSURANCE

TRICOR Insurance is a leading independent insurance agency, ranked among the top 100 independent agencies in the United States. TRICOR has a diversified product set of business, with more than 220 employees and more than 40,000 clients across Wisconsin, Iowa, and beyond.

ABOUT J.C. FLOWERS & CO.

J.C. Flowers is a leading private investment firm dedicated to investing globally in the financial services industry. Founded in 1998, the firm has approximately $5 billion of assets under management. J.C. Flowers has offices in New York and London with an approximately 20-person investment staff who have a combined 300+ years of experience. Over its history, J.C. Flowers has invested more than $17 billion of capital in 60 portfolio companies in 18 countries across a range of industry subsectors including banking, insurance and reinsurance, securities firms, specialty finance,

and services and asset management. For more information, please visit www.jcfco.com.

SOCIETY INSURANCE NAMED IN BUSINESS INSURANCE ANNUAL BEST PLACES TO WORK IN INSURANCE

Fond du Lac, WI (November 10, 2021) - Society Insurance has been named in the annual Business Insurance Best Places to Work in Insurance program, which recognizes employers for their outstanding performance in establishing workplaces where employees can thrive, enjoy their work and help their companies grow. Society ranked 13th in the nationwide Medium Employer category, which consists of companies with 250 to 999 U.S. employees. Based in Fond du Lac, Wis., Society Insurance insures restaurants, bars, and other small-to-medium businesses in nine states. Society ensures growth and development opportunities for its 330 employees via personalized career coaching, tuition reimbursement and student loan repayment.

Employees receive a generous compensation and benefits package, including 401(k) profit-sharing match and defined-contribution retirement deposits.

Society’s culture reflects its core belief that employees who lead a balanced, happy life are motivated to excel in serving their customers. Remote work and telecommuting options, flexible scheduling and ample paid time off allow each person to create their ideal work/life balance. Wellness and health club reimbursements, free annual health risk assessments and complimentary health nurse coaching sessions are key pieces of the wellness program. And because nothing feels better than giving back, Society promotes community stewardship with grants from the employee-led Charity Committee, paid volunteer time off and an annual charitable match program.

“We are gratified to be selected as one of the Best Places to Work in the insurance industry,” said Rick Parks, Society Insurance president & CEO. “Because this is based primarily on a survey of employees regarding how they feel about the company, we believe it’s particularly meaningful. Employees are the ultimate judge on whether you are a great company to work for.”

Best Places to Work in Insurance is an annual sponsored content feature presented by the Custom Publishing unit of Business Insurance and Best Companies Group that lists the agents, brokers, insurance companies and other providers with the highest levels of employee engagement and satisfaction. Harrisburg, Pa.-based Best Companies Group identifies the leading employers in the insurance industry by conducting a free two-part assessment of each company. The first part is a questionnaire completed by the employer about company policies, practices and demographics. The second part is a confidential employee survey on engagement and satisfaction.

The program divides employers into the categories of small, 25-249 employees; medium, 250-999 employees; and large, 1,000 or more employees. This year’s report features 100 companies of various sizes, from 25 employees to more than 4,000.

The ranking and profiles of the winning companies will be unveiled as a sponsored content supplement in the November issue of Business Insurance and online at BusinessInsurance.com. ABOUT SOCIETY INSURANCE: Headquartered in Fond du Lac, Wis., Society Insurance has been a leading niche insurance carrier since 1915. Society focuses on the small details that make a big difference to its policyholders while offering topnotch insurance coverage, service and competitive pricing to businesses in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Tennessee, Colorado, Georgia and Texas.

ABOUT BUSINESS INSURANCE: Business Insurance is the authoritative news and information source for executives concerned about risk and the impact on their business. With information for risk managers, insurers, brokers and other providers of insurance products and services, Business Insurance delivers in-depth analysis on new and emerging risks, case studies of successful programs, market intelligence on trends, and guidance on how to capitalize on opportunities and overcome challenges.

In addition to a monthly print magazine, Business Insurance provides essential news via its website, BusinessInsurance.com; daily and weekly e-newsletters; and breaking news via email news alerts. To subscribe, please contact Business Insurance at info@businessinsurance.com.

ABOUT BEST COMPANIES GROUP: Best Companies Group works with partners to establish “Best Places to Work,” “Best Companies,” and “Best Employers” programs on a national, state-wide and regional basis. Through its thorough workplace assessment using employer questionnaires and employee satisfaction surveys, Best Companies Group identifies and recognizes companies that have been successful in creating and maintaining workplace excellence.