Country Financial (branded as COUNTRY Financial, but also known as CC Services and Country Insurance & Financial Services) is a national insurance company with its corporate headquarters located in Bloomington, IL after moving from Chicago, IL, in 1960. It is currently one of the largest businesses in Bloomington-Normal, and the third largest local employer, employing over 3,000 people. Country Financial offers auto, home, life, and business insurance, as well as retirement, investment, and education funding assistance. Country Financial strives to be there for its customers, "Our principles are built on putting people first, earning trust, providing security and delivering on promises." Country has been recognized by J.D. Power for providing "An outstanding customer service experience" for the Live Phone Channel. Country's current CEO is Kurt F. Bock.
History
In 1925, a group of members from the Illinois Agricultural Association (IAA) came together and developed the Farmers Mutual Reinsurance Company, originally only to provide fire and lightning insurance for farmers. By 1936, Country Life Insurance had already experienced impressive growth, hitting the more than $100 million of life insurance in force milestone in half the time any previous insurer had taken. In 1946, the insurance companies created by Illinois farmers, Country Life Insurance Company, Country Mutual Casualty Company, and Country Mutual Fire Company all united under one name: COUNTRY.
In the late 1950s, the original Chicago, IL location had become too small and too far from Country's clients. So in 1960, Country began construction for a new headquarters in Bloomington, IL to be closer to its quickly growing number of farmer clientele. The new headquarters was completed on schedule in September, 1961, surrounded entirely by farm fields at the time, before anything else had been developed in that area. That same year, COUNTRY Life achieved $1 billion of life insurance in force. In the 1970s, Country celebrated several achievements; in 1973, Country Mutual Celebrated its 1 millionth auto policy , A.M. Best named them as the leading farm insurer in 1978, and Country Life reached $5 billion life insurance in force in 1979. Country was on a steady rate of growth. By the late 90s, they achieved $20 billion--double that amount, of life insurance force. By this time, Country was serving clients in over 10 different states. Country's first website debuted in 1996, providing basic information and an email gateway for employees and agents. In the 2000s, the company was given a new name--which stands as their current company name, to better describe their vision to Be the Best Provider of Financial Security in America -- COUNTRY Financial.
Services Introduced
Country Financial was originally organized as a fire and lightning insurance company in 1925, but over time it has come to provide many different forms of insurance and assistance.
In 1926, Country started offering crop, hail, and farm equipment insurance to its mostly farmers clientele, only one year after founding. Another year later, Country expanded to also offering auto insurance. In 1929 the COUNTRY Life Insurance Company was formed and began offering life policies. To charter Country Life, the company asked farmer members to pledge $100 to get it started. In 1942 they started offering Health and Accident Insurance. In the 1980s, Country started offering universal life insurance in addition to ordinary life insurance. In more recent years Country has added investment services to their lineup, and now offers the full insurance service package. Information on their full range of coverage can be found at https://www.countryfinancial.com
| Year | Service |
| 1925 | Fire and Lightning Insurance |
| 1926 | Crop and Farm Equipment Insurance |
| 1927 | Auto Insurance |
| 1929 | Life Insurance |
| 1942 | Health and Accident Insurance |
| 2008 |
Investment Services |
CEOs
| CEO | Years Served |
| Darrel Achenbach | 1962 - 1974 |
| Duane Miller | 1974 - 2001 |
| John Blackburn | 2001 - 2012 |
| Kurt Bock | 2012 - Present |
Prior to CEO Darrel Achenbach in 1962, the companies that comprise Country Financial had separate leaders.
In 2011, Kurt Bock, a former treasurer of Country Financial, was named to become the CEO of Country Financial following John Blackburn's retirement that was set to occur in January, 2012.
Logos Through Time
Country Financial logos through time
Country Financial has changed and added company logos over time to add for new Country companies and to revamp existing logos to keep up with the times.
- 1942: The Farmer's Mutual Reinsurance Company, chartered by the IAA in 1925. The 1942 logo was a brown ring featuring the company name, and an orange triangle laid behind it displaying the state of Illinois and the IAA's initials.
- 1945: COUNTRY Life Companies was formed in 1929. Its logo featured stylized descriptive red text as its brand design.
- 1972: The logo introduced when Country Life, Country Mutual Casualties, and Country Mutual Fire Companies were all united under one marketing title, "The Country Companies" in 1959. The corporate color was blue with the C's often being shown in blue. It features all of the Country Companies' names as well.
- 1986: In 1979, The Country Companies simply became COUNTRY Companies and the corporate color was changed to green, which it still is today. The new color and hard edged font were to reflect their emphasis on financial services in addition to insurance.
- 2000: The 2000 logo was used as a transition to an oval shape in the future, which was preferred by consumer focus groups. The goal was to make the word COUNTRY have more prominence, as well as make the logo more identifiable for consumers.
- 2002: The square was changed to an oval, the word "Companies" was shrunk in size, and "Insurance & Financial Services" was added below help identify that they were more than an insurance company. The oval logo is sometimes referred to as "The Country Pickle."
- 2008: The word "COUNTRY" was set alone in the oval making it even more prominent in the logo, and the text below was simplified to only "Financial."
- 2014: The word "Financial" was brought inside the oval. Now not being left out if only the oval is shown, also bringing it together to match their current company name, Country Financial.
Locations
These are the four major Country Financial locations in Bloomington-Normal. There are no Bloomington-Normal locations Country Financial currently no longer uses.
1701 Towanda Ave
1705 Towanda Ave
808 IAA Dr
1711 General Electric Rd
Local Outreach
Sponsorships
Country Financial sponsors events in Bloomington-Normal to help strengthen the local community and improve the life of future generations. In addition to events sponsored by local financial representatives, Country corporately sponsors community events:
- Relay for Life: a fun event to celebrate cancer survivorship and raise money for research and programs for the American Cancer Society. (ACS) Teams gather at schools, parks, and fairgrounds. People from the teams take turns walking or running laps. Every team tries to have someone on the track at all times. Since 1994, Country has supported Relay For Life. Country Financial representatives, staff, and employees participate on teams in the community and raise money to fight cancer. Country Financial has been recognized by the American Cancer Society as a member of the National Corporate Team Program, and are one of less than 50 companies in the country to make this large commitment to Relay For Life.
- The Youth Classic (TYC) Presented by COUNTRY Financial: an annual golf tournament held near the beginning of summer for youth ages 3-22. The Youth Classic is a competitive, professionally-conducted youth golf tournament that also generates additional tourism in Bloomington-Normal. TYC strives to provide a positive and competitive experience for young golfers. Country Financial has been the title sponsor of TYC tournament since 2002 and has been a great help to its success, helping with marketing and planning many aspects of TYC, including the COUNTRY Financial Skills Challenge. Country also supplies many volunteers for each tournament.
"Volunteerism"
Country employees generously volunteer time and talents they have to help give back to their communities through many volunteering opportunities, including:
- Baby Fold Festival of Trees: an annual holiday fundraiser where Country employees volunteer to staff the COUNTRY Cookie Shop and fulfill other event needs.
- Big Brothers Big Sisters: a nationwide mentoring program that matches mentors with a mentee. Country employees volunteer as mentors for youth.
- Boys and Girls Club: an after school mentoring program for kids. It also hosts an annual evening event to celebrate kids in the community.
- Box Tops for Education: an easy way to help local Bloomington-Normal schools buy books, computers, Smart Boards, equipment, etc.
- Food Drive: occurs in March in conjunction with National Agriculture Week and collects non-perishable food items for Clare House.
- Habitat for Humanity: a house building foundation that builds homes for in need families.
- Midwest Food Bank: provides for underprivileged families and/or those affected by emergencies such as natural disasters, with basic food donations.
- PATH Hotline: a crisis hotline that aids callers with any crisis they may have.
- Relay For Life: an event organized by the American Cancer Society and one of Country Financial’s national philanthropies. Teams form to raise money for ACS and participate in a local Relay.
- Ronald McDonald House Pop Tabs: ongoing pop tab collection and recycling to collect funds for Ronald McDonald House families.
- Safe Harbor: a shelter that is part of the Salvation Army that provides short term residential psychiatric treatment for adults.
- School Supply Drive: takes place in the summer months before the school year and collects necessary items so students have all they need for a successful school year.
- Share the Spirit: a gift drive for less-fortunate local youth and adults prior to the holidays.
- Trail Clean Up: groups of volunteers work together in Bloomington-Normal to clean up portions of Constitution Trail from April to October.
- United Way: one of Country's national philanthropies that raises money for local social services organizations. The group conducts a “Live United” campaign every fall to raise money for the many local organizations. For which many volunteers are needed to coordinate fundraising and volunteer activities.
