American Family’s new Milwaukee office to include community focus.
Center will have some of Madison’s Spark features
MADISON — The Spark doesn’t feel like a typical insurance company office building.
That’s because it’s a lot more, with a hub for tech startups and space for community events.
American Family Insurance Co. opened The Spark last year on downtown Madison’s eastern edge, where new apartment buildings, tech firm offices and other developments are rising.
Now, the Madison-based company is planning a large downtown Milwaukee office that will include some similar features.
“Certainly, Milwaukee is intended to do a good chunk of what we’re accomplishing with The Spark,” said Justin Cruz, American Family’s inclusive excellence vice president.
To be sure, the future Milwaukee office will have some key differences from The Spark. But a recent tour of the Madison building helps provide an idea of what will be coming to Milwaukee’s downtown area in a couple of years.
Plans for the Milwaukee building were revealed in January as part of American Family’s announcement that it would replace Miller Brewing Co. as the naming rights sponsor for the Milwaukee Brewers stadium in 2021.
American Family said the office, to open within two to three years, will include such high-tech work as data analytics and business innovation, while also serving as a recruitment center for new agents and employees.
The Milwaukee building, marking American Family’s first corporate presence in the city, also will have space for community events.
The location and other details, such as the number of jobs, are to be announced later.
Commercial industry real estate sources say American Family has been looking for around 100,000 square feet, with a focus on downtown’s west side.
That could involve leasing space in an existing building, or developing a new building.
The Spark represents the latter approach.
The nine-story, 158,000-square-foot building opened in June at 821 E. Washington Ave., one-half mile east of Capitol Square.
It’s also 8 miles from American Family’s headquarters near the MadisonSun Prairie border. That 1.2 millionsquare-foot corporate campus, developed in the early 1990s, has around
3,500 employees.
The company invested in The Spark because it wanted an office close to downtown Madison, the University of Wisconsin campus and the growing number of tech firms on East Washington Avenue, said Peter Gunder, chief business development officer.
“There’s a burgeoning startup community in Madison. We are a business that is transforming and serving customers digitally,” Gunder said.
“It just made sense for us to connect closer to the kinds of folks we want to be associated with,” he said.
American Family initially experimented with a downtown office by leasing around 10,000 square feet near Madison’s Overture Center for the Arts.
That office housed American Family employees who work on the insurer’s use of data to better market its products, and serve its customers.
Being close to entrepreneurs, as well as UW students who are potential recruits, proved helpful, Gunder and Cruz said.
So, the company broke ground on The Spark in January 2017. The building opened last summer.
Its name refers to the development’s role as “a catalyst to develop new ideas and successful entrepreneurs, as well as fuel new businesses with a measurable social impact,” said Linda Wagener, an American Family media relations consultant.
American Family uses 108,000 square feet. The company leases 50,000 square feet to Starting Block Madison, a hub for tech startups.
Starting Block provides space to around 30 firms, said Chandra Miller Fienen, executive director.
The organization also helps those small businesses obtain access to capital, find mentors and take other steps to grow, she said.
American Family’s operations at The Spark include data analysts, and employees who work on developing new businesses.
The building also features the company’s two charitable foundations, as well as the American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact.
The institute makes investments in startups “that have meaningful social impact,” Gunder said.
Finally, The Spark’s street level is home to American Family’s DreamBank.
That operation provides free space for community events that can host up to 150 people, said Renee Nelson, an event planner whose official job title is “senior dream curator.”
DreamBank hosts around 40 free events monthly, ranging from small business workshops to yoga sessions, she said.
It also provides free work space to the public.
The Spark includes a focus on sustainability, featuring a system to collect and use stormwater runoff, floor-toceiling windows that provide more natural light, geo-thermal heating and other environmentally friendly touches, said Amy Cuff, an American Family construction project consultant.
Milwaukee office
The Milwaukee office will have some similarities to The Spark, including a strong focus on community engagement, Cruz said.
But the Milwaukee operations also will have broader mission to recruit talent, he said.
“There are challenges to recruiting in Madison,” Cruz said. “It’s a great town, but it’s also small.”
That need to land younger, more racially diverse talent has led insurance companies to shift operations to larger cities, he said.
One example would be Allstate Insurance Co., an American Family competitor.
Allstate in 2016 opened an “innovation hub” at downtown Chicago’s Merchandise Mart — 20 miles from its headquarters in suburban Northbrook.
Along with a community focus, and a connection to startups, the downtown Milwaukee operation will include more of American Family’s core operations, Cruz said.
That could include actuaries, marketing professionals and other employees, he said.
“That’s the goal in growing a stronger and more diverse talent pipeline,” Cruz said. “That doesn’t have to always lead back to Madison.”
Tom Daykin can be emailed at tdaykin@jrn.com and followed on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.