News Room

August 29, 2001

Assurant Group to Move Ohio Service Center to New $20 Million Office Complex

Hazard Insurance Processing Facilty Plans to Triple Employment to 1,200 over 2 Years

ATLANTA/MIAMI/SPRINGFIELD, OHIO: Assurant Group today unveiled plans to relocate its hazard insurance processing center in Springfield, Ohio to a new $20 million office complex on the southern edge of that city.

The company said that while the project is contingent on successfully negotiating a $1.7 million package of training and infrastructure improvement grants from the City of Springfield and State of Ohio, it hopes to complete the move to the new offices by late spring of 2002.

Assurant officials said that relocation is in anticipation of a significant increase in work volumes handled by the center. Current plans call for increasing the number of employees from the current 430 to approximately 1,200 over the next 24 months, said Miachel [sic] Lawson, vice president and manager of the Ohio Service Center.

"We have been bursting at the seams in our current building on 30 Warder Street," Lawson said. "This new campus is critically needed. It will enable us to take on more clients, significantly increase the portfolio of loans that we service and offer more technology-based products and services," he said.

Assurant, which is headquartered in Atlanta and Miami, is a leading affinity marketer of specialty insurance, extended service contracts and membership programs. The Ohio Service Center provides hazard and flood insurance tracking and placement services to residential mortgage lenders and servicers. Similar service centers are located in Duluth, Ga., Florence, S.C., and Orange, Calif.

The Springfield center currently manages a portfolio of about six million loans and processes more than 11.5 million pieces of mail annually. Clients include Well Fargo Home Mortgage, Inc., Firstar, Cendant, M&T Mortgage, National City and World Savings Bank.

The new three-building complex will have approximately 150,000 square feet of office space. It will be located on a 26-acre site between Leffel Lane and Interstate 70, near the new Ramada Limited motel. Construction is expected to begin in September. Assurant has negotiated a 15-year lease for the new complex, with an option to renew.

The Springfield Group, LLC is developing the project. Laughlin & Scanlan Construction Inc. of Springfield has been selected as construction manager and general contractor. McCall, Sharp, Beasley Architecture, also of Springfield, will provide architectural and engineering services.
Laughlin & Scanlan President Eric Laughlin said his company was extremely proud to be part of the project. "This continues a relationship which began with the renovation of Assurant’s existing facility in Springfield. Assurant is a very progressive company, truly great to work with, and professional in every respect. We look forward to starting the construction phase of the project and appreciate the assistance we received from City Manager Matt Kridler, Larry Krukewitt of the Clark County Chamber of Commerce and Clark County Commissioner John Deitrich."

Springfield City Manager Matt Kridler said the city has been supportive of Assurant’s search for a larger facility. "We worked very hard to help the company at its current location in downtown Springfield by facilitating discussions and possible relocations of adjacent property owners. However, in the end, we just could not create enough space for the aggressive growth this company is experiencing. The city is very supportive of the expansion and the economic impact of bringing 800 new jobs to the community."

American Security Group, a predecessor of Assurant, established the Ohio Service Center with five employees in July 1995 to provide outsourcing services for Norwest Mortgage, Inc. From this beginning, it has grown exponentially to become Springfield’s largest private employer. In 1999, Assurant purchased the Warder Street building when Norwest closed its mortgage service center there.

Assurant partners with financial institutions, auto dealers, retailers, utilities and others to leverage their relationships with consumers to distribute products and services using its technology, processing and marketing capabilities. Its member companies are leading providers of specialty insurance, extended service contracts and membership programs. Assurant has more than 4,800 employees and operations in 11 states, Argentina, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, Panama, Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom.

Assurant is part of Fortis, an international financial services provider active in the fields of insurance, banking and investment. At yearend 2000, Fortis had total assets of more than $410 billion. Fortis ranks 26th on the Fortune "Global 500" list and 33rd on the Forbes "World Super 50" (July 24, 2000). Fortis’ listed companies are Fortis (B) of Belgium and Fortis (NL) of the Netherlands.

Editors: A photo of the architect’s site model is available in .jpeg format.
Assurant Group is a service mark of Fortis, Inc.
Financial information is as of December 31, 2000.

Media contact

James A. Sykes
Director, Corporate Communications
Assurant Solutions
260 Interstate N. Circle, SE
Atlanta, Ga. 30339-2111
Telephone: 770.763.1015
FAX: 770.859.4325
E-mail: james.sykes@assurant.com