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William R. Berkley of Berkley Corporation traveled from the East Coast to attend a recognition event for Curt Bloemendaal Wednesday, June 24, at Sterling's Cafe and Grille.
Bloemendaal was named Luverne’s Outstanding Chamber Member of the Year for his leadership role in local business and for his civic contributions to the community.
His professional experience in the insurance industry dates back to 1963 when he started at Tri-State Insurance, Luverne, and more than 40 years later he retired as president of the local office.
By then it was known as Continental Western Group Tri-State Region, a member of the Berkley Corporation, and at Wednesday’s event downtown CEO W.R. Berkley praised Bloemendaal’s work ethic and generosity.
He described Bloemendaal as someone who always gave 110 percent.
"It's rare that we have such a human being among us," he told the gathering of Berkley employees and community members. "I want to thank him myself."
Berkley also spoke of Bloemendaal’s dedication to his family and to his community, and at a company meeting that afternoon, he reminded employees of the importance of giving back.
He asked all employees who had been there 10 years or longer to stand up, and he told them they would each receive $1,000 to give to a charitable organization of their choice in the community of Luverne.
According to Nadine Schoep, human resources manager for CWG, there are currently 114 employees between CWG and Berkley Technology Services who report to the Luverne office. Of them, more than 80 have been with the company 10 years or longer.
She pointed out that the company already has a program in place that allows each employee eight hours of paid time per year to volunteer in the community.
Schoep said she is working with employees to make sure their $1,000 gifts are going to charitable organizations that are designated as 501(C)3, and a list will be released at a later date.
The Star Herald reached Berkley by phone on Monday to talk about the $80,000-plus gift to Luverne.
“We think supporting your local community is important, and this was an opportunity to demonstrate that,” he said. “It was a rare opportunity to see to it that people understood that message.”
He further explained his rationale.
“We are a big company with $20 billion in assets and 8,000 employees, but we’re driven by the relationship of people to other people,” Berkley said. “It’s what differentiates us from other corporations.”
He said he’s particularly proud of Berkley’s relationship with Luverne and its people.
“It’s been a wonderful relationship; Luverne is a wonderful small town,” he said. Time and time again we’ve had good employees come from Luverne. The people who have worked for us have been terrific employees, dedicated to the work they do.”
He said his decision to give money to Luverne wasn’t planned out in advance.
“It just felt like the right thing to do,” Berkley said.