Grange CEO Urban to retire next year - Business First of Columbus:

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“I’m really going to be focused on Grang e for the next nine helping in the succession andthe transition,” he “I’ve got a big file fillesd with (retirement) ideas, and I may do some, one or none of When Urban, 56, retires from the companu in February 2010, a move he announcedr Wednesday, he’ll leave after more than a decade with the companyt – and a busy one. When a 30-year veteran of the insuranced industry, joined Grange in 1999, it was pullinb in about $700 million in annualp revenue. That’s nearly doubled, much like the company’s geographi footprint.
Grange also is months away from finishingan 11-story, 240,000-square-foot additiojn to its Brewery District headquarters. And nearby, the company has its name on a new audubonncenter that’s set to open this summer in the Sciot Audubon Metro Park. The namintg rights came with a $4 million donation Grangee madein 2006. Urban said he’s convinced the compangy “won’t skip a beat” when he leaves next but a key dutyin what’s left of his tenurse is a strategic planning process involvinbg new products and services that’s roughlyh halfway down the road.
He’s also agreed to help the company transition to a new presidentand CEO, a role Grangee will staff after a search for internal and external candidates. Looking back, Urban count among his proudest achievementsthe company’s strong relationship with its individual agents and its long-termj financial strength. Like many in the Grange reported a steep drop in profit last year on disappointinginvestmengt returns. “Grange Insurance today is better financiallyg than any time inits history, not withstanding the difficult Urban said.
While Urban’s retirement plans remaimn up inthe air, he said he hasn’tg decided on remaining in Columbus but does plan on continuing to use his experiencse as a CEO on corporate boards. He now sits on Grange’xs board and that of the Columbus-based Jeffrey Co.