{"id":1306,"date":"2019-11-22T10:01:02","date_gmt":"2019-11-22T15:01:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.forwardmutual.com\/news\/?p=1306"},"modified":"2021-01-21T10:25:48","modified_gmt":"2021-01-21T15:25:48","slug":"concord-and-watertown-merge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.forwardmutual.com\/news\/2019\/11\/concord-and-watertown-merge\/","title":{"rendered":"By the Minutes: Concord and Watertown Merge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Board of Directors for Concord Mutual Insurance, December 17, 2005, l-r, David Flood, Pat Brandt, Howard Webb, Greg Fredrick, Ron Milbrath, Lloyd Zastrow, and Jack Kramer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The strength Forward Mutual maintains today was built on company mergers of the past. In fact, company mergers have been part of the town mutual industry since town mutuals began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In days gone by, mergers were often the result of a company’s financial stress and\/or decline in the number of its policyholders.\u00a0Nowadays, mergers most commonly occur for economic and business reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both\u00a0Ixonia Mutual Insurance Company<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Watertown Mutual Insurance Company<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0show records of merger discussions dating as far back as the late 1960s. These were formal letters sent to neighboring mutuals expressing an interest in merging, however nothing resulted from these correspondences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interestingly, by the mid-1970s, Ixonia Mutual Secretary Ted Degner expressed his foretelling opinion that someday northeastern Jefferson County’s three town mutuals\u2014 Concord, Ixonia and Watertown\u2014would someday merge into one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2005, Concord Mutual contacted Watertown Mutual about a possible merger. Concord Mutual’s financial condition had deteriorated, it had not computerized its bookkeeping, and it carried only 240 policies and $156,000 of premium. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On August 15, 2005, Watertown Mutual’s board of directors approved \u201ca plan for merger of Concord Mutual and Watertown Mutual, effective January 1, 2006, with Watertown Mutual being the surviving company\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On December 17, 2005, Concord Mutual and Watertown Mutual held a special joint meeting and each of their policyholders approved the proposed merger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following that meeting, Concord Mutual Secretary Pat Brandt wrote to her fellow Concord directors. Her letter well-expressed the responsibility town mutuals have for their insureds. She wrote: \u201cI\u2019m so much at ease, knowing when the next windstorm starts blowing, or the fire truck goes by, or I see smoke in the distance, it will no longer be a major concern for our company. We no longer have to worry where the next penny will come from to cover the loss. There is no longer a concern of putting a huge possible penalty of an assessment on our policyholders. We can all rest assured everything is in better hands.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your Forward Mutual feels these same concerns yet today. Our continued goal is to keep your mutual financially strong and in good hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Read more!<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

By the Minutes: Introduction<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1872 Watertown Mutual Founded<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1875 Ixonia Mutual Founded<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Comparing the Capitalizing of Two Early Mutuals<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Mutual\u2019s First Claim<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supporting Dairy in the Late 1800s<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1879 Early Challenges for a Young Mutual<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ixonia Mutual\u2019s First $1000 Loss<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1885 A Year of Neighbor Helping Neighbor<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Changes of Bylaws<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our Dairy Heritage<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Insuring Automobiles<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Taxes, War and the English Language<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supporting the Community\u2019s Fire Protection<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Board Directors and Their Meetings<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Standardization of Wisconsin Mutuals<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of Electricity, Radio and Foxes<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our Annual Meetings Over the Years<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tumultuous 1930-1940s<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How a Major Disaster Affected Extended Coverage and Reinsurance<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Surviving the Big Dogs in the 1960s<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introducing Agents to the Mutuals<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Accounting Over the Years<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Centennial Anniversaries<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mutual Offices<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mutual Managers and Staff<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Establishing Confidence in Financial Strength<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Entering the Era of Computers<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 1990s, Advancement and Angst<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Start of the 21st Century<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concord and Watertown Merge<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ixonia Mutual and Watertown Mutual Merge and a New Company is Formed<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Setting the Stage, Moving Forward with a New 2020 Vision<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The New Forward Mutual<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Post Script<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The strength Forward Mutual maintains today was built on company mergers of the past. In fact, company mergers have been part of the town mutual industry since town mutuals began. In days gone by, mergers were often the result of a company’s financial stress and\/or decline in the number of its policyholders.\u00a0Nowadays, mergers most commonly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[71,62,59],"class_list":{"0":"post-1306","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-history","7":"tag-concord-mutual","8":"tag-ixonia-mutual","9":"tag-watertown-mutual","10":"entry"},"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"forwardmutual","author_link":"https:\/\/www.forwardmutual.com\/news\/author\/forwardmutual\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forwardmutual.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forwardmutual.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forwardmutual.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forwardmutual.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forwardmutual.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1306"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.forwardmutual.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1306\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1754,"href":"https:\/\/www.forwardmutual.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1306\/revisions\/1754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.forwardmutual.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forwardmutual.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.forwardmutual.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}