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At age 22, George J. Mecherle (pronounced Ma-herl) started farming his own land near Bloomington, Ill. In 1901 he married Edith Mae Perry who joined him on his farm. Within a few years, he was one of the leading farmers in the area. After they had farmed 20 years, Mrs. Mecherle's health began to fail and the couple decided to move to Bloomington. Unable to sit still, George Mecherle accepted a job selling insurance for a small company. He was successful as a salesman, but he didn't feel the rates or the business practices of the company suited the needs of farmers. When he suggested a better way to sell insurance, his employer laughed and said, "If you think you've got such a good idea, why don't you start your own company?" So he did. Mecherle believed that farmers should pay less for insurance because they drove less and had fewer losses than folks living in cities. Using this idea, he started State FarmŪ in 1922 as a mutual automobile insurance company owned by its policyholders. By 1928, the decision was made to decentralize. Employees from the Bloomington, Ill. office -- along with other employees hired in Berkeley, Cal -- established the Company's' first branch office. This office provided support for agents and brought service closer to the customer. The Berkeley office was the beginning of a tradition that, as of today, has resulted in 25 operations centers in 13 zones. State Farm has grown to include 79,200 employees and more than 16,700 agents servicing 71.6 million policies in the United States and Canada. In just over 75 years, State Farm Insurance CompaniesŪ has grown from a small farm mutual auto insurer to one of the world's largest financial institutions. But despite State Farm's growth, Mecherle's original philosophy of insurance coverage at a fair price coupled with fair claim settlement has remained. StateFarm.com (Opens New Window) Source: State Farm |
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