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History
At age 22, George J. Mecherle started farming his own land near Bloomington, Illinois. After he and his wife Mae Edith had farmed for 20 years, Mrs. Mecherle’s health began to fail, and the couple moved to Bloomington where George Mecherle accepted a job selling insurance for a small company. He was successful as a salesman, but he did not feel that the rates or business practices of the company suited the needs of farmers.
Mecherle believed that farmers should pay less for insurance because they drove less and had fewer losses than people who lived in cities. When he informed his employer of this approach to insurance pricing, his employer laughed and said, “If you think you’ve got such a good idea, why don’t you start your own company?”
Mecherle started State Farm in 1922 as a mutual automobile insurance company owned by its policyholders.
In 1924, some farmers in Indiana asked if they could buy policies, and in 1925 State Farm began selling there and in other states. In 1926, State Farm started marketing and providing policies to people living in cities as well as on farms.
By 1928, the decision was made to decentralize. Employees from the Bloomington office — along with other employees hired in Berkeley, California — established the company’s first branch office, which provided support for agents and brought service closer to the customer.
In just 80 years, State Farm Insurance Companies has grown from a small farm mutual auto insurer to one of the world’s most respected financial institutions. Despite State Farm’s growth, Mecherle’s original philosophy has remained: insurance coverage at a fair price coupled with fair claim settlement. |
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