Country Financial is one of Bloomington-Normal's largest and longest-operating businesses.
What you may not know is Country Financial did not start in Bloomington.
In fact, the move to Bloomington came well into the industry's first 100 years of operation.
Executive vice president Rob McDade noted Country Financial, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, started out providing fire insurance coverage for Illinois farmers who did not feel represented by the insurance companies in the big cities and grew from there.
Country Financial started in Chicago before deciding to move downstate in 1961, when it was known as Country Companies. The company decided Bloomington was the best location after it considered more than two dozen cities in which to move.
“It was centrally located, it was a great place for your employees and families and it had a great pool of talent for our workforce. We’ve loved it, we’ve really thrived here and we are very committed,” McDade said in an interview on WGLT’s Sound Ideas.
Country now insures 1.5 million clients in 19 states. It has about 2,200 employs in McLean County and about 3,300 nationwide.
Country’s most recent physical changes involve the sale of some of its property to Growmark and to Illinois State University for its new College of Engineering.
McDade said those moves have helped right-size the company’s workplace needs at a time of increased work from home and less demand for physical space.
“After COVID and as we worked to more of a hybrid work environment where we did have more space than we needed in the community. We could not have been happier to be able to work with Illinois State University,” he said, calling it a win for Country, ISU and for the community.
AI
McDade said predictive modeling has become more sophisticated to try to predict severe storms and wildfire risks. He said Country Financial has used advanced data and robotic process automation for years to handle basic tasks such as address changes, but is being used increasingly for higher level functions such as fraud detection.
“It has a very promising future for service as well,” he said.
When asked if AI could lead to job reductions, McDade said “nothing substantial in the short term."
“We really see it as allowing our employees to be able to serve other needs of our clients in a new way,” McDade said. “We are always looking for better ways to do things and to the extent that takes fewer people to do that, we’ll take those savings and pass it on to our clients."
Farm bureau membership
McDade said dropping the Farm Bureau membership requirement for nonfarm policyholders has helped Country Financial stay competitive.
“We felt it was in the best interest of our clients,” he said. “It was a way to stay contemporary, especially in a digital age.”
The Illinois Farm Bureau is caught up in litigation after the American Farm Bureau sought to expel the ILFB after that move. Country Financial is an Illinois Farm Bureau affiliate.
New ILFB President Phillip Nelson said in a recent interview that legal dispute was likely a factor in his election, unseating Brian Duncan, who was seeking a second term as president.
McDade said he expects Country Financial and the Illinois Farm Bureau will come together on finding a resolution.
“Whether for this issue or any other issue, there’s a wide array of opinions and beliefs and that’s not a flaw. That’s a strength of the overall system,” McDade said.
Insurance regulations
Gov. JB Pritzker pushed for homeowner policy price controls in the fall veto session after he objected to a rate increase from State Farm, a case in which the state of Illinois took State Farm to court. That effort failed.
McDade said Illinois remains the most favorable state for insurance companies. It’s the only state without rate-approval regulations.
He said if approval was required for insurance rates, premiums would likely go up 20%.
“We just believe in a competitive environment for the state of Illinois. It’s something we have enjoyed," McDade said, noting that Illinois consumers have 200 insurance companies competing for their business.
McDade said while Country Financial hopes the business climate in Illinois does not change, the company has no plans to leave the state or to use that as a threat to thwart any new regulations.
“We will always stay in Illinois. We will obviously always comply with the law, but we would rather it be a healthy environment that’s good for consumers and we think the current system is probably the best,” he said.
Climate change
As extreme weather events lead to increased damage claims from wind, water, hail and wildfires, the industry has raised rates to cover higher costs for insurers. McDade said profit margins have not changed.
“We make a relatively little amount, two to three pennies, for every dollar of premium we take in. That’s what we are targeting. That hasn’t changed substantially through the years,” McDade said.
Farmers uncertainty
McDade said farmers are going through a challenging time in the current economic climate, due in part to Trump administration tariffs which have increased input costs and limited the markets where farmers can sell their crops.
“It’s more important than ever that we do a great job of serving them,” he said, adding that crop insurance is one way farmers can help mitigate some of that uncertainty.
Country Financial is the No. 4 crop insurer in Illinois.
“It's a place where we are actively looking to grow and that we are going to continue to invest in for years to come,” he said.
