UNICO Group, a full service independent insurance agency, has roots that go back to 1895 when they were known as The General Insurance Agency. The name UNICO came about in 1988 from the merger of two brokerage firms, Reynolds-Simmons-Nelson Insurance and Chambers Dobson Financial Services. The merger was a direct response to the belief that by merging the individuals and talents of both firms, a new corporation would be created to build upon and even exceed the past precedents established by the two individual firms for service and professionalism. UNICO has offices in Lincoln, Columbus, Kearney, and Papillion. UNICO is a locally owned agency providing innovative solutions from a team of experienced professionals. The firm’s managing principals are comprised of J. Scott Nelson, Bob Reynoldson, Sandra Masters, Tom Champoux and Ric Stoakes.

How long have you been in the Lincoln area? – UNICO has served the risk management needs of companies in Lincoln since the 1980’s.  We also have offices in Papillion, Kearney and Columbus.

What do you think makes you different from other companies similar to yours? – UNICO is known for our professionalism and ethics. We offer solutions for our customers and our goal is to become their trusted advisors. We understand the importance of hard work, ethics, experience, and personal attention while combining them with innovative, professional solutions to resolve risk management issues. We are the only agency in Nebraska to have Certified WorkComp Advisors, and we are recognized for the resources we provide to our clients to help them improve their profitability. In fact, in 2010 we were named the National WorkComp Agency of The Year by the Institute of Work Comp Professionals. We speak at seminars all over the country on ways companies can improve their workers compensations costs.  In addition, we are a full service agency. We can handle all of the insurance needs for families, individuals, and businesses of any size.

What do you like about doing business in the Lincoln area? – UNICO is proud to work with great companies in Lincoln and the entire State of Nebraska. These companies share the same important work ethic and family values that UNICO has. We encourage our employees to be involved in the community and we often have “team building” events that help raise money for local organizations. Our employees serve on several boards in the area and participate in many fund raising activities.

What kind of community organizations/groups are you involved with? – We believe in encouraging our employees to be active in the community. UNICO is involved with many organizations in the Lincoln area including United Way, Rotary, Sowers Foundation of Nebraska, Sesostris Shrine Bowl Club, American Heart Association Heart Walk, Matt Talbott Kitchen, People’s City Mission, Friendship Home, Make a Wish, Leadership Lincoln, Better Business Bureau, Insurance Professional’s Association in Lincoln and Chamber of Commerce. We have employees that serve on many boards and serve as trustees. We take a lot of pride in our community involvement.

What changes have you seen in the industry and your company in the past few years? – We continue to see technology evolving in how we communicate and deliver products and services to our clients. We recently added a web-based risk management portal called ClientConnect. This is a great tool for our clients to have access to information to help with OSHA compliance, safety training, human resource questions, and wellness. In the last year we started offering a feature that enables our commercial clients to have their insurance policies in a CD format instead of the traditional policy booklet, and a service that allows our clients to issue certificates of insurance online. We continue to add content to our website and will remain proactive to provide our clients with innovative solutions.

What is one of the biggest challenges that your company has faced? – Currently, it is trying to stay on top of all the changes that companies are facing with the new health care reform. We are constantly updating our blog and holding seminars to make sure we are helping business owners understand the changes and challenges that they face.

What was the biggest turning point in your business? – UNICO Group recently formed a strategic alliance with Midlands Financial Benefits. The new company will be operating under the name of UNICO Midlands. This approach will allow us to leverage our combined resources from decades of industry expertise, our dynamic human capital and advanced technology to better serve the changing needs of current and future clients. The leadership teams from both firms are excited to build a cohesive force, one that exemplifies our continued commitment to provide client based solutions. This new team will provide our individual and business clients with additional services to address today’s challenges.

We Are Your Work Comp Expert. Call today.
402.434.7200
www.unicogroup.com