Cory Hoffmann is celebrating 20 years at Marshfield Insurance on May 13. Hoffmann has a BBA degree from UW Eau Claire and worked as a commercial underwriter for an insurance company for about 7 years prior to coming to Marshfield Insurance in 2002. “My time spent on the insurance company side of things was invaluable as I gained a great deal of knowledge about insurance contracts, claims handling, and just the overall operations of an insurance carrier,” said Hoffmann. “I am able to use that base of knowledge every day to help find solutions for our clients.” As a commercial underwriter for an insurance company that did business with Marshfield Insurance, Hoffmann became acquainted with the owners and had enjoyed a great relationship with them. When a mutual friend suggested Hoffmann and Marshfield Insurance team up, it was already a natural fit. “I’m kind of an insurance geek in that I really enjoy digging into contracts and insurance company operations and finding coverage/rating advantages to benefit my clients,” said Hoffmann. “My job, as a commercial insurance agent, is to broker a deal between an insurance provider (insurance company) and an insurance buyer that both parties can be happy with. That, to me, is fun and challenging but by far the greatest enjoyment in the job comes from the people that I get to work with and in being able to help a client better their insurance situation.” He credits the Arnoldy family – first, Roger and Bonnie, and now Nick, for staying all these years. “They have been great to work with and for and we have always had a great staff here at Marshfield Insurance. It’s easy to come to work when you look forward to seeing the people that you work with,” he said. “We also have as many resources – technology, insurance company relationships, value-added services – to offer our clients as any insurance agency in the area. That helps make my job easier.” The industry has advanced a lot since he started, and Hoffmann continues to find his work rewarding and challenging. “Technology has changed the way we do just about everything in our lives and that goes for the insurance industry as well,” he said. “When I started in the business in 1990, a lot of what we did was done by hand, on paper, and with the use of paper manuals. There was no email yet and so communication was done through phone calls, mail and faxes. Now, our office is almost paperless, just about everything that we do is done on a computer, including much of our communication (emails).” He added that today, insurance companies have endless amounts of information available at their fingertips. “Technology has boosted productivity and has allowed for us to provide faster service to our clients—what used to take hours may now only take minutes,” he said. “Consumers can now buy insurance online without ever talking to a person, however, most insurance transactions are still done with the aid of an insurance agent—this is still mostly a people/relationship business, that hasn’t changed much.” As he celebrates two decades at Marshfield Insurance, Hoffmann looks forward to continuing to learn all he can about the industry. “I don’t want to ever stop learning. I have one industry certification under my belt and am working on another,” he said. “Knowledge is power and, the more I have, the better I can serve our customers.” Congrats, Cory!