Last week, company officials from Jackson National Life Insurance, alongside Gov. Rick Snyder and mayor VirgBernero, announced a proposed $100-million expansion of its headquarters near Lansing. The project has rekindled an interesting discussion on marketing Lansing as a hub of the insurance industry. Four insurers-Auto Owners, Jackson National, the Accident Fund and Farm Bureau Insurance-already employ at least 5,500 people in Lansing, according to the Lansing Economic Area Partnership. The expansion plan, if it proceeds, would add about another 1,000.
David Hollister, former Lansing Mayor and the founding executive of Prima Civitas, and Dr. Rick Cole, professor and immediate past chairperson of the Department of Advertising, Public Relations and Retailing of MSU College of Communication Arts and Sciences, join Current State’s host Mark Bashore to talks about the idea of “branding” Lansing as an insurance center.