Village Profile Home Page | About our Company | Sales Opportunities | Community eStore | vpmobile.us

A Century of Growth

Omaha has been a focal point for the insurance industry since the early 1900s.

Mutual Benefit Health & Accident Association, the original corporate name of Mutual of Omaha, filed articles of incorporation with the Nebraska Insurance Department in 1909.

Today, Mutual of Omaha “is distinguished by the strength of our products, service and reputation,” says Chairman and CEO Dan Neary.

In 2006, Mutual reported a consolidated net income of $165.7 million on total revenues of $4.2 billion, compared to net income of $121.1 million on total revenues of $3.7 billion in 2005. Mutual finished 2006 with total assets, retained earnings and statutory surplus at record levels.

“We finished 2006 in the strongest financial position in our history, thanks to the hard work and engagement of our associates and our clear business strategy that emphasizes growth in our core product lines,” Neary says.

ChamberBlue
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska is another fixture in the insurance industry headquartered in Omaha.

Begun in 1939 as the Associated Hospital Service of Nebraska, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska, a not-for-profit mutual insurance company, today insures or provides benefit administration to more than 560,000 people.

The insurance company in 2006 partnered with the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce to provide group health insurance exclusively designed for the Chamber’s small business members. The product, ChamberBlue, offers 13 coverage plans for Chamber members with two to 50 employees.

Keith Bushardt, executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska, says ChamberBlue has struck a chord with small business owners. “Through ChamberBlue, our customers are able to take advantage of what the Chamber offers to promote and grow their businesses, while offering the highest quality health care products and access to physicians and hospitals in Nebraska.”

Tim Clark, vice president of member services for the Chamber, says ChamberBlue greatly aided the organization’s 2007 membership campaign. “It benefits business owners and their employees, and addresses the growing need for affordable health care.”

The Berkshire Hathaway Homestate Companies are a group of commercial property and casualty insurers operating in 17 states and headquartered in Omaha. A “specialty” carrier, the Homestate Companies seek out customers in lesser-served niches of the commercial insurance marketplace, utilizing underwriting and claims handling expertise to understand and focus on more challenging risks.

The operation, now a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., began in Omaha in 1970 as Cornhusker Casualty Company and has grown into six commercial insurance companies managed at one location.

Work Ethic, Pride
“Though we’ve grown substantially into other geographic markets over the past 10 years,” says company President Rod Eldred, “we are very comfortable maintaining our home office in Omaha.

“The location in the center of the country works well for our customers, but most importantly, the work ethic and pride found with our Omaha employees have always been the biggest reasons for our success.”

Those qualities and Omaha’s wealth of workers with financial services experience in 2004 prompted Pacific Life to choose Omaha for its new regional business center – and the 250 jobs that accompany it.

“Pacific Life’s decision to come to Nebraska is yet another example of the successful partnership between our business leaders and elected officials,” says Chamber President and CEO David G. Brown. “By focusing on our natural competitive advantages in workforce and quality of life and then effectively applying business incentives, Omaha and Nebraska residents benefit once again.”