New Jersey Manufacturers Starts $48 Million Call Center Project

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May 26, 2009 Tuesday 11:45 AM EST

281 words

New Jersey Manufacturers Starts $48 Million Call Center Project

Al Slavin

WEST TRENTON, N.J.

New Jersey Manufacturers will break ground May 27 on a $48 million construction project to create a call center in Hammonton, N.J.

When the 146,000 square-foot-building is finished toward the end of 2010, it will house 175 employees now based in rental office space. The new facility will have capacity for 330 employees, a walk-in branch of NJM Bank, and is designed to accommodate an additional 104,000 square feet of additional building space.

NJM said the project will generate 565 construction jobs for an Atlantic County's economy, which is heavily reliant on the casino industry.

The West Trenton, N.J.-based mutual insurance company employs about 1,800 individuals at its headquarters and another 380 at an office complex in Parsippany, N.J.

In 2008, the company marked its first policyholder surplus decline in 16 years. NJM finished 2008 with a policyholder surplus of $2.14 billion, which reflected a drop of 4.5%(BestWire, May 1, 2009).

An A.M. Best Special Report issued April 13 indicated that challenging market conditions were chief among the factors that drove an 11.3% decline in the U.S. property/casualty industry's policyholder surplus.

According to NJM's annual report, the company paid out $179.5 million in dividends, including $61.2 million in special dividends to 405,000 personal automobile policyholders toward the end of 2008. The average payment was $149, and it marked the 15th consecutive year for that dividend. The total policyholder dividend for 2007 was $235.6 million (BestWire, May 1, 2009).

New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Co. currently has a Best's Financial Strength Rating A++ (Superior).

(By Al Slavin, senior associate editor, Best's Review)

May 28, 2009