Illinois Casualty celebrates 75 years in business

There’s a large wall decoration in the hallway at the Illinois Casualty Company headquarters in downtown Rock Island that reads: “Delivering expertly crafted insurance products and services for the food and beverage industry. It’s what we do. It’s who we are.” That legacy of providing food and beverage insurance – along with helping the community […]

There’s a large wall decoration in the hallway at the Illinois Casualty Company headquarters in downtown Rock Island that reads: “Delivering expertly crafted insurance products and services for the food and beverage industry. It’s what we do. It’s who we are.” That legacy of providing food and beverage insurance – along with helping the community –  was honored Thursday, June 26, during a 75th anniversary celebration for Illinois Casualty, (ICC) located at 225 20th St. “Thank you for your strong community involvement. … We look forward to your continued success,” Rock Island Mayor Ashley Harris said before a crowd of several hundred people. That celebration featured a Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting ceremony, live music, lots of food and many reminders of the company’s history.

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In fact, the history of the past 75 years filled much of the company headquarters building on Thursday. Those pieces of history were part of a photo display shown on two large screens in a first-floor meeting room. Some of the photos included scenes of company parties, retirement celebrations and golf outings. There also was a more serious history on display, such as annual reports, marketing plans and a 2020 report on how the company was dealing with the pandemic era. The company’s long history also was evident with many of the items on display at the celebration. One of those items was a local newspaper article from 2010 that told about ICC’s 60th anniversary. Part of that article centered on Arron Sutherland (then a company vice president and CFO) telling about Illinois Casualty’s commitment to the Rock Island community. That commitment remains strong today, said Mr. Sutherland, who now serves as president and CEO of the Illinois Casualty Company. During the festivities, he praised the ICC employees’ latest efforts in helping the community. Recently, they raised $12,000 to help the River Bend Food Bank. The CEO also talked about the strong, promising future of the company. He said part ICC’s future path was built this spring when the Rock Island-based company was acquired by Mutual Capital Group, based in Wyalusing, Pennsylvania. MCH acquired ICC in an all-cash merger valued at approximately $73.8 million, according to reports. Mr. Sutherland said the business deal represents a powerful combination of two high-quality companies. “We are going to continue to grow, continue to do business as we’ve always have been. And we’ll stay in Rock Island,” he said.  Here’s a closer look at the Illinois Casualty Company:

• ICC was founded in Illinois in 1950 to provide insurance products and aggressive claims for the food and beverage industry.
• Today, it has about 112 employees with 72 in the Quad Cities.
• The company has been its current three-story, 25,000-square-foot building in downtown Rock Island since 2003. Before it was constructed, the insurance company was located at Fifth Avenue and 18th Street in Rock Island.
• It can be reached at (309) 793-1700 or www.ilcasco.com.

The anniversary event also included a visit from Reiner R. Mauer, president and CEO of Mutual Capitol Holdings. During the celebration, he congratulated them on their work and for helping to achieve the milestone of 75 years in business – a feat few companies achieve. “We are all stewards of this time in our company’s history,” he said. Mr. Mauer added that he recently attended another insurance company’s 150th anniversary celebration and said he looks forward to the day Illinois Casualty achieves that impressive accomplishment. “Hopefully, you will all invite me back here in 75 years for that celebration,” he joked.