Mr. Vigneron convinced a number of his colleagues and business leaders in Providence, Rhode Island, to work with him, to apply that concept of automobile insurance. These men organized what was then called Automobile Mutual Insurance Company of America to insure automobiles against fire and theft. And it all started in a tiny office space at 10 Weybosset Street in downtown Providence. The company was pretty finicky about its policyholders. You had to be referred by a customer or two, and those walking in cold wouldn't likely get insurance. The theory was of course that policyholders would recommend other individuals who were responsible like them, so that's how the company grew and operated for many, many, many years. And the company continued to flourish because policyholders were recommending family members, friends, and business associates who shared those kinds of values. It was a great beginning. We recognized somewhere around 1921 that in addition to insuring vehicles for fire and theft, we really needed to take a look at the number of incidents taking place involving injury and death and property damage. To meet those needs, Factory Mutual Liability Insurance Company of America was established in 1921 to write liability insurance for Automobile Mutual policyholders. We had physical damage coverage with Automobile Mutual and then liability insurance with Factory Mutual. And we really made a name for ourselves in 1938 when the Hurricane of '38 pounded New England, in particular Rhode Island. A lot of automobiles were damaged in that event, and downtown Providence was flooded. We got quite a good reputation for the way we handled the claims from this disaster. We're the company that's had its franchise frankly, on providing exceptional service. More recently J.D. Power and Associates has bestowed upon us its highest ranking in auto insurance customer satisfaction four years in a row. We've garnered that trophy two years in a row with regard to homeowner insurance customer satisfaction. Going back to 1962, Amica was first mentioned in Consumer Reports magazine for its service, and then in many, many subsequent issues of Consumer Reports for auto and homeowner insurance service. We were the top spot; no one has ever beaten us out of the number one spot there. Amica operated principally out of its Home Office from 1907 through 1941 and then in that year, opened its first branch office in Boston. In 1956, a couple of years after Hurricane Carol, Amica started writing homeowner insurance. We later added marine, small boat and yacht insurance, and ultimately personal umbrella liability insurance. In 1973, it was decided that Automobile Mutual Insurance Company of America and Factory Mutual Liability Insurance of America would be consolidated, forming the Amica Mutual Insurance Company. In 1969, we formed Amica Life Insurance Company, which operates as a stand-alone stock company. The company had its headquarters in downtown Providence for years, but we really outgrew the buildings that we owned there. In the late 1980's we started our migration from downtown Providence to Lincoln, Rhode Island, where we now have a pristine, 100-acre campus. From 1988 or so through 1996 or '97, the migration took place with one building being built after the other, and we finally occupied our Corporate Headquarters building in 1997 completing the journey. Amica has a very strong reputation for prudent financial management. A.M. Best Company rates Amica Mutual A++, and Amica Life Insurance Company has an A+ rating. We continue to receive accolades for service. Amica is the oldest mutual insurer of automobiles in the United States. We started to establish branch offices in 1941; now we have about 41 branch offices around the country. We've resisted the temptation to get into commercial lines or to leave the United States. We feel we've got a lot more market share to gain here in this country, and we've identified certain geographical areas where we would like to get to greater name recognition and then a greater policyholder base. Amica is a company that until about 1996 did no advertising; everything was either through policyholder referrals or direct mail. We really needed to ramp up our advertising and marketing efforts. Here in Rhode Island and New York and maybe Connecticut and some other places, if you mention the name Amica people do know who we are. But out in the Midwest, the Northwest, and the Southwest, we've worked hard at getting name recognition. Amica started with television, print, and radio advertising in '96, both with regard to getting our name recognized, but also in getting people to pick up the phone or go to the website to check us out. And we did that, I think, at a pretty good time because in the mid-to-late 90's the personal lines marketplace was ferociously competitive. We were in the trenches of that soft market. Pricing was a major issue, and we did not want to lose market share. In fact, we considered our dollars spent on advertising and marketing an investment, and it paid off. We actually grew very, very well in the '90s.
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