Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company
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Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company & Affiliated Companies are a group of large U.S. insurance and financial services companies based in Columbus, Ohio.
History
Beginnings as Farm Bureau Mutual
On December 17, 1925, the Ohio Farm Bureau Federation incorporated the Farm Bureau Mutual Automobile Insurance Company in Columbus, Ohio. At that time, Ohio law required 100 people to pledge to become policyholders. The first agents managed to recruit ten times that number, and on April 12, 1926, Farm Bureau Mutual started business with 1,000 policyholders.The first product of the new company, as its name implied, was automobile insurance. The company wrote policies only to Ohio farmers. In 1928, Farm Bureau Mutual began offering policies to West Virginia farmers, followed by Maryland, Delaware, Vermont, and North Carolina. Farm Bureau Mutual began underwriting residents of small towns in 1931, and residents in larger cities in 1934.
Expansion
Also in 1934, Farm Bureau Mutual began offering fire insurance. This product grew the following year with the purchase of a struggling fire insurance company. With growth came a need for expansion of office space. In 1936, the company moved to the famous 246 Building at 246 N. High Street in Columbus. By 1943, Farm Bureau Mutual operated in 12 states and the District of Columbia. Even with the tripling of space in the 246 Building (which was finally dedicated on the 25th anniversary of the company), Farm Bureau Mutual still had insufficient office space, and began opening regional offices in 1951.In 1955, Farm Bureau Mutual changed its name to Nationwide Insurance, a name by which it's commonly known today. In the 10 years that followed, Nationwide expanded into Oregon, making the company truly "nationwide". It also expanded into 19 other states, bringing the total by 1965 to 32 states and the District of Columbia.
Nationwide outgrew the 246 Building by the 1970s and work began on a new skyscraper headquarters for the company. In 1978, One Nationwide Plaza was completed at the corner of N. High Street and Nationwide Blvd. on the northern edge of downtown Columbus, Ohio.
Helping Columbus become a major league city
By 1997, the city of Columbus had grown to become the 15th largest city in the United States. However, Columbus by this time was the largest American city without what would be considered a major professional sports franchise; that is, one competing in the leagues of Major League Baseball, the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, or the National Hockey League. After plans to move the Hartford Whalers to Columbus failed when voters rejected a tax levy, the Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company announced that it would build an arena adjacent to One Nationwide Plaza in an effort to bring an NHL franchise to Columbus.This second effort was successful, and the Columbus Blue Jackets began play at Nationwide Arena in late 2000. Nationwide Arena, named for the company, is the centerpiece of the Arena District, an area of entertainment venues, restaurants, and hotels linking downtown Columbus with The Short North neighborhood.
The companies
The following are the companies affiliated with Nationwide:
- Allied Property and Casualty Insurance Company
- Colonial County Mutual Insurance Company
- Depositors Insurance Company
- Farmland Mutual Insurance Company
- National Casualty Company
- Nationwide Affinity Insurance Company of America
- Nationwide Agribusiness
- Nationwide Assurance Company
- Nationwide Financial Services, Inc.
- Nationwide General Insurance Company
- Nationwide Insurance Company of America
- Nationwide Lloyds
- Nationwide Mutual Fire Insurance Company
- Nationwide Property and Casualty Insurance Company
- Nationwide Securities, Inc.
- Scottsdale Indemnity Company
- THI Holdings, Inc.
Diversity
Nationwide received a 100% rating on the Corporate Equality Index released by the Human Rights Campaign starting in 2004, the third year of the report.External links
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