Corporate Contributions at Wausau Insurance Companies 1911-1996: A Case Study
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Date
1996-12Author
Kordus, Lynn M. V. Krzmarcik
Publisher
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, College of Fine Arts and Communication
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Show full item recordAbstract
Wausau Insurance Companies is the largest employer in Wausau, Wisconsin,
with approximately 3,000 employees in four individual locations in the city.
Wausau's roots date back to 1911 and the social reform that swept the country at the
tum of the century. A group of Wausau businessmen, primarily lumbermen, agreed
to organize a mutual insurance company in response to Wisconsin's recently passed
first constitutionally acceptable workers compensation law. On September 1, 1911,
when this new law went into effect, Employers Mutual Liability Insurance Company
of Wisconsin (Wausau Insurance Companies) wrote its first policy, a policy still in
force today, 85 years later.
This thesis, which will partially satisfy the requirements of the Master's in
Communication degree at the University of Wisconsin--Stevens Point, will describe
the foundations of corporate philanthropy at Wausau Insurance Companies, trace the
history of the company's philanthropic activities, place the company in perspective
with other property/casualty insurers as well as with corporate philanthropic giving in
the U. S. as a whole, and specifically examine current philanthropic activities at
Wausau Insurance Companies, using the framework of qualitative case study research
to demonstrate corporate philanthropy as a strong method of communication.