MMG receives Insurance Company of the Year award

14 years ago

MMG receives Insurance Company

of the Year award

By Scott Mitchell Johnson

Staff Writer

 Image

Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson

    MMG INSURANCE CO. was recently named the 2009 Insurance Company of the Year by the Young Agents Committee of the Maine Insurance Agents Association at the 28th annual Young Agents Conference held Sept. 16 in Bethel. Attending the conference and accepting the award were, from left: Andrew Churchill, personal lines underwriter, and Matt Cote, lead commercial lines underwriter. MMG Insurance Co. previously won the award in 2000 and 2005.

 

    PRESQUE ISLE – Employees of MMG Insurance Co. are celebrating the business’ latest accomplishment – being named the 2009 Insurance Company of the Year. The award was presented by the Young Agents Committee of the Maine Insurance Agents Association (MIAA) at the 28th annual Young Agents Conference held Sept. 16 in Bethel.
    “This is the third time we’ve won the award in the last 10 years,” said Larry Shaw, president and chief executive officer of MMG. “It’s done by a survey of their association which would be independent agents throughout the state of Maine.
    “With all that we’ve been through and with what’s going on with the economy,” he said, “all companies are positioning themselves for the future, and we have been no exception. We were so excited to be recognized. To have the agents recognize us in this way is really an honor especially since we’re competing with every company that does business in the state from the large national carriers to the small carriers.”
    MMG Insurance Co., a regional property/casualty insurance company headquartered in Presque Isle, previously won the award in 2000 and 2005.
    “Our business model is really geared to develop partnerships with our independent agents and that takes a whole host of forms … from how we interface with them, how our automation works, and how our people deal with their clients every day,” said Shaw. “We’re a high-tech, high-touch environment, and receiving this award shows that the model – even in a changing world – is valued by our agents. It really validates how and why we do business the way we do.
    “The other area that they enjoy working with us on is trying to get our arms around the consumer of the future,” he said, “and how is that future consumer going to buy their insurance and transact that business. We’ve been working together with our agents in providing an approach that will work as we go forward.”
    Shaw said MMG does business with 55 headquarters in Maine, which are spread out into 170 locations.
    While upper management oftentimes accepts the awards, Shaw was quick to point out that the recognition would not be possible without the hard work of all of the company’s employees.
    “When I told the employees about the award,” said Shaw, “my comment to them was, ‘Every single employee played a role in this.’ We had put a different rating module into play in Maine, which was somewhat disruptive for our agents as each policy had to be looked at and re-rated. For us to be honored in this way really was a big vote of confidence and a big pat on the back for each of our employees because they each played a role in getting us back in that position so quickly.”
    Despite a struggling economy, Shaw said MMG continues to experience growth.
    “In an economy that’s really not growing much anywhere at all and seems to be sputtering,” he said, “we are fortunate to be enjoying some growth. We’re growing about 6.75 percent in terms of revenue and written premiums and we’re growing in New Hampshire and Pennsylvania. Our commercial lines area is starting to pick up and will be about 32 percent of our business overall, and we are now licensed in the states of Virginia and New York and our plans are to start to write business in Virginia in late 2011. Things are going well and we couldn’t be happier.”