Acuity Insurance

Current business performance

Acuity Insurance operates in 25 states, generates over $1.3 billion in revenue through 1,000 independent agencies, manages over $3.5 billion in assets, and employs over 1,200 people. Acuity Insurance is rated A+ (Superior) by A.M. Best and also receives an A+ rating from Standard and Poor's.

Company history

The company began as the Mutual Auto Insurance Company of the Town of Herman in 1925 (in the unincorporated village of Franklin in Sheboygan County). The name was changed to Mutual Auto of Wisconsin in 1953, and Heritage Mutual Insurance Company in 1957. The company moved to the city of Sheboygan in 1960, and shortly thereafter came under the presidency of attorney John R. Holden. It moved to its current location in 1984. Holden retired from the presidency in August 1999 and the company became known as Acuity Insurance in 2001.

The company opened a $39 million addition to its headquarters in 2004. The addition added 262,000 square feet (24,300 m²) to the facility and renovated about 20,000 square feet (2,000 m²) of space.

Flag

Acuity Insurance raised the tallest flagpole in the United States on July 2, 2005. The steel pole was 338 feet (103 m) high, 6 feet (1.8 m) wide at the base, weighed 65 tons (without the flag), and was sunk into a 550-cubic yard block of concrete that was 40 feet (12 m) deep, 8 feet (2.4 m) wide and reinforced by steel rods. The flag was 120 feet (37 m) by 60 feet (18 m), or 7,200 square feet (670 m²). Each star was 3 feet (0.91 m) high and each stripe was 4½ feet wide. It weighed 300 pounds. This flag and flagpole outdid an earlier Acuity record, a flag raised June 2, 2003, atop a 150-foot (46 m) flagpole. The new flagpole was a replacement; the old pole toppled over due to stress and high winds, falling away from nearby Interstate 43. The new flagpole was designed with extra bracing and placed much farther from the highway. A powered hoist raises the flag at 80 feet (24 m) per minute, regardless of wind conditions, and is synchronized so that the flag reaches the top of the pole just as the Star Spangled Banner ends. On October 4, 2007 it was announced that the flag pole would yet again be rebuilt to allow access to the beacon marker on top in case of light bulb replacement. The flag was rebuilt and the top section finished on April 4, 2008. On April 7, 2008 the pole, without a flag yet flying, began swaying noticeably during relatively low wind speeds. On April 8, 2008 the ball and top section were again removed, followed by a full removal of the pole.

In April 2014, Acuity Insurance announced another attempt at the nation's largest flagpole to be erected by that year's Fourth of July, this time with a 400 feet (120 m) pole built by Manitowoc wind turbine manufacturer Broadwind Energy. The flag to be hoisted will measure 120 feet (37 m)x60 feet (18 m), with an LED lighting system designed to be visible from Cedar Grove 11 miles (18 km) south and much heavier reinforcement of the pole structure. The new flag pole stands 400 feet (120 m) tall. A 120 feet (37 m) by 60 feet (18 m) flag was raised for the first time on May 22, 2014. The pole has a concrete base spanning 11 feet (3.4 m) wide at the bottom.

In November 2015, Acuity Insurance began flying a 140 feet (43 m) by 70 feet (21 m) flag. The new flag at Acuity Insurance, covering nearly 10,000 square feet, features stripes that are over 5 feet high and stars that are nearly 3 feet across. Weighing 340 pounds dry, the nylon flag requires 72 cubic feet of storage space when not being flown. The flag is the world's largest free-flying American flag.