Sandy began her career at West Bend in April 1974, typing policies as a Kewaskum High School co-op student. Over the years, she held many different positions, all in Commercial Underwriting. The jobs varied from checking and assembling polices, to manual rating, supervising, and underwriting. She worked on various teams in the underwriting division (IA, IL, IN, and WI). Her current position is an underwriter on the Metro Milwaukee team.

Sandy will retire May 2 and has this to say about her time at West Bend:

West Bend's final four tiebreaker went down today at high noon. The associate that most closely estimated the number of free throws our Asst. VP of HR could make in two minutes was the winner. Deb shot 7 free throws leaving first and second place tied again! The final winner was chosen by the old standby...pick a name out of a hat. Congrats to our associates that won prizes and a huge thank you to Deb for being a great sport!

Congratulations to Linda, agency education coordinator in Marketing!  Linda was recently elected secretary of the Certified Insurance Services Representative (CISR) Board of Governors.  The election took place this month at the James K. Ruble MEGA Seminar of the National Alliance for Insurance Education & Research in Denver, Colorado.
Officers serve one year in their executive board positions.  "Our new board officers and all member of the three boards are top industry professionals and leaders with extensive knowledge of our programs and designations.  Their contributions to the growth of The National Alliance, and practical understanding and experience of the insurance and risk management industry, provide the highest value for our guidance and the enrichment of the programs for our participants and designees," said William T. Hold, Ph.D., CIC, CPCU, CLU, president of The National Alliance.

 

The Silver Lining Claim Experience (S.L.C.E.) Recognition Program celebrates those Claims
associates who deliver exceptional service to our customers. The Promise Kept Award is based
on feedback from our policyholders, while the Silver Lining Standout Award goes to those
getting great feedback from all others. Winners are chosen monthly from all nominations
received.

 

 

Congratulations to:

Jennifer W.
Eric W.
Kerri L.
Beth S.
Deb A.
Danielle L.
Linda Y.
Patti F.

The one, the only Mr. Easter Bunny visited West Bend this past weekend. Associates and their families enjoyed a wonderful breakfast, crafts, cookie decorating and, of course, direct access to Mr. Bunny himself!

Pi Day is celebrated on March 14th around the world,  West Bend Mutual’s IT/EPS Department joined the world in celebrating Pi Day with a Pie Contest.  The pies were judged on appearance, crust, filling and overall flavor. There were 5 Team Members up for the challenge; Esther Pinter with chocolate cream cheese pie, Shane Oppermann with Dutch apple pie, Tammy Weber with raspberry pie, Tess Olson with apple pie and Lisa Zielinski with blueberry pie. Celebrity judges were flown in for this inaugural Pi Day Contest: Mince Meat Steiner, Flaky Kent, Lemon Meringue Ertmer, Coconut Cream Jacques, Mississippi Mud Fox and A la mode Dunn.

The competition was fierce but in the end, Esther Pinter won with her Chocolate Cream Cheese Pie. And the IT/EPS Teams were treated to a lot of pie!  ‪#‎PiDay‬ ‪#‎Yum‬

Lynn has been with West Bend since 1990 where she started in the Records Department. She transitioned into personal lines policy supervisor and held that position for several years. Next, she was promoted to personal lines business process specialist and also worked on the process improvement team with various departments throughout the company. In March of 2008, Lynn joined the Marketing Department and she found the perfect fit. She started planning the meetings and events, and purchasing the company merchandise. "Although I never expected to be here for 25 years, I am thankful for all the opportunities given to me at West Bend. I have wonderful friends at this company, both retired and still here, and it has been a great experience for me." ‪#‎TBT‬

In addition to his duties as head chef in our Terrace, Michael Rennicke has been busy serving as mentor to several area high school students.  Serena, Samantha, Frannie, Jesse and Macie make up the West Bend High School's ProStart Competition Team.

Michael and the Terrace staff have been wonderful supporter of the students, the high school culinary program, and their upcoming competition.  The students will represent East and West High Schools, as well as the West Bend community, at the Midwest Foodservice Expo on March 8 at the Wisconsin Center in Milwaukee.

You may have seen the students recently in the Terrace or at a variety of restaurants in our community.  Sally Heuer, culinary and hospitality instructor at the West Bend High Schools, says these events provide wonderful opportunities for the students to increase their skill levels and reach for that "next level" in hospitality.

We wish the students well in their upcoming competition!

Congratulations to Personal Lines Underwriter Nick Unger!  Nick recently received the Coverra Insurance Services Award for Personal Lines for both the fourth quarter and for the entire year in 2015!

Each quarter, Coverra Insurance, located in Sparta, WI, recognizes an insurance company associate who offers outstanding service to the agency and helps them meet their agency goals.  Coverrra employees nominate winners who meet the award criteria.  Here's what Coverra Insurance employees had to say about Nick:

• "Nick Unger is always helpful, willing to review numbers with us, and to help in any way he can."
• "He answers all of my questions and he has taught me a lot."
• "Nick has a great attitude." 

‪

#‎icecreamforbreakfast‬  International Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day is February 18th. We honor all children who have fought or who are fighting a battle with cancer, because kids get cancer too. Several associates ate ice cream in honor of Lily & Bailey Dove, for all the other children battling and for those that only live in our hearts. It was wonderful to have Lily, Bailey, Erin and Ryan join us! (Maddie we missed you). Thanks to everyone that participated!  For more information on this event, click here.