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

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“I’m really going to be focused on Grange for the next nine helping in the succession and the he said. “I’ve got a big file fillee with (retirement) ideas, and I may do one or none of them.” When Urban, 56, retireds from the company in February 2010, a move he announced he’ll leave after more than a decade with thecompany – and a busy one. When a 30-year veteran of the insurancde industry, joined Grange in 1999, it was pulling in about $700 millionj in annual revenue. That’s nearly doubled, much like the company’s geographic footprint.
Grange also is months away from finishingban 11-story, 240,000-square-foot addition to its Brewer District headquarters. And nearby, the company has its name on a new audubohcenter that’s set to open this summer in the Scioto Auduboj Metro Park. The naming rights came with a $4 million donatio Grange made in 2006. Urban said he’a convinced the company “won’t skip a beat” when he leaved next year, but a key duty in what’s left of his tenurde is a strategic planningy process involving new products andservices that’se roughly 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 externa l candidates. Looking back, Urban counts amonfg his proudest achievementsthe company’s strong relationship with its individual agents and its long-ter financial strength. Like many in the industry, Grangew reported a steep drop in profit last year on disappointinfinvestment returns. “Grange Insurance todayg is better financially than any time inits history, not withstandingb the difficult economy,” Urban said.
While Urban’s retirement plans remain up inthe air, he said he hasn’y decided on remaining in Columbus but does plan on continuinf to use his experience as a CEO on corporate He now sits on Grange’s boarc and that of the Columbus-basede Jeffrey Co.