New Opening in Customer Service!

We are currently looking for customer oriented support staff to join our customer service team. Our Customer Service Representatives provide answers to customer questions via phone, internet, fax, and mail.

While not your typical large call center environment (our representatives typically handle between 60-100 calls a day with average talk times of 2-3 minutes) we are looking for candidates who do have some call center experience along with strong PC/software skills, and excellent communication and outstanding customer service skills. Bilingual in English and Spanish is always a plus. This is a great position by which to join Pinnacol as we routinely promote from this level to positions throughout the company. If you are interested, please complete an expression of interest via our company website.

Pinnacol Issues $41 Million General Dividend



Pinnacol announced yesterday that we will be issuing our seventh consecutive general dividend. This year, $41 million will be distributed to more than 50,000 qualifying businesses — nearly 85 percent of policyholders — throughout the state. The general dividend rewards Pinnacol policyholders who are committed to workplace safety and effective claims management practices. With the 2011 declaration, Pinnacol has returned more than $435 million in general dividends to Colorado businesses since 2005.

“Pinnacol’s ongoing financial stability and strength allow us to return money to our policyholders,” said Ken Ross, Pinnacol president and CEO. “This dividend offers some relief to businesses that continue to feel the pain of the slow economic recovery. We hope it will help create more jobs and provide a boost to the state’s business climate. We applaud our policyholders for their continued commitment to effective claims management and safety practices and thank them for their business and continued support.”

This year’s dividend is based on policyholder performance between June 2009 – June 2010. Dividend checks are calculated based on the size of a policyholder’s annual premium compared with claims costs. Pinnacol’s policyholders represent the full spectrum of Colorado’s industries, including construction, manufacturing, high-tech, transportation, and agriculture.

Pinnacol provides a variety of free resources to help policyholders manage their workers’ compensation policies including a team of 27 loss prevention experts, experienced return-to-work specialists and nurse case managers, a fraud investigation unit and a wide range of training opportunities.

On My Own Time Art Show

During the work week here at Pinnacol we’re underwriters and claims representatives, nurses and accountants, software developers and safety consultants and all sorts of other roles all dedicated to providing the best service possible to our customers. In our private time we’re also photographers, quilters, artists, sketchers, and sculptors.

For the past several years our company has participated in the On My Own Time Employee Art Exhibition through the Colorado Committee for the Arts. Now in it’s 19th year the Exhibition is a biennial program designed to acknowledge the creative talents of employees of companies around the state. Each participating company hosts an exhibition of artwork that employees and their families have created on their own time. The artwork is judged by a panel  of art professionals, but as with most things artistic the real reward is in the creation of the art itself. Here are just a couple of examples of some of the artwork  created by our employees…

"Mesa Arch" by Debbie, one of our Field Auditors

"Lake Louise, Alberta CA" by Tom, one of our software developers

"Tiger In the Mist" by Lorin, the daughter of one of our HR Staff

"These Are Men" by Ryan, a member of our communications team

"Humming Around" by Ellen, one of our Safety Consultants

As you are out and about at local businesses keep an eye out for exhibits of their employees works of art. As demonstrated by these Colorado artists, our state has a wealth of talent that extends far beyond the everyday world of work!

Pinnacol's IT Shop: What's It Like?

If you are not an IT professional you might not be aware that the IT job market in the local area has apparently turned the corner towards recovery. There are lots of jobs being advertised, and its getting tougher for companies to find top-notch talent. We have several openings available in our IT group right now so I thought I'd grab some time with our Associate Vice President of Application Services, Dave Hoffman, to talk about what it's like to work in IT at Pinnacol.

We have more than 75 folks in our IT group; more than 1 out of every 10 Pinnacol employees works in IT. I sometimes jest that we're actually a computer company that dabbles in insurance, but the world, and our customers, continue to demand more on-line access to us.  As you'll hear from Dave, we have everything we need in terms of IT in-house - from application development, to help desk and desktop support, to data and network services, as well as decision support and business intelligence. From our IT staff's perspective this means they have tons of support and resources available to them that in turn allows them to be a better resource to both their internal and external customers.

There are a lot of IT shops out there, and as an IT professional you've got an increasing number of choices, but if you are looking to join one of the best I'd encourage you to check out our openings!

What Brought You To Colorado?

What brought you to Colorado? Were you born here, or like many of us did you come from somewhere else?

I'm asked by candidates all the time if I'm a native and I have to acknowledge that I am a transplant though at this point I've been in Colorado longer than many natives have been alive. For some, the allure is Denver, the queen city of the Rockies with it's great array of sports, entertainment, and cultural amenities. For me it's always been about the mountains. As my Human Resources colleagues well know I can't seem to get enough of the high country. Good weather or bad, come Friday my wife and I are usually heading for the hills. This last weekend is a prime example. Though mountain folk recognize April as mud season when there is usually too little snow to ski but too much to officially kick off hiking season, this year's weather has been anything but normal. On Friday we loaded up the bikes with the intent of doing some riding at altitude and headed off for the Buena Vista area.

Saturday we woke to one of the prettiest snowstorms I've ever seen. Big fluffy snowflakes floated down all day and by afternoon the trees and peaks were sporting a fresh mantle of white.

Sunday dawned sunny, fresh but not too cold, with about 12-15 inches of spring snow on the ground. Needless to say the bikes never came off the roof rack, but thankfully we had brought our snowshoes just in case. Little did we know that it would turn out to be an epic day, the kind that stays in my mind whenever someone asks me about "why am I in Colorado?"

All this is a rather long segue into mentioning an interesting article in the Denver Post this weekend that talked about the fact that despite Colorado losing a lot of jobs in this recession people continue to move here. From 2008 to 2010 the state lost 130,000 jobs but the population grew by 145,000. Though there was no one within miles of my wife and I on Sunday I know that the kind of day we had is in part why so many people want to make Colorado home. While no one really knows when, eventually the job creation rate will increase as we leave the recession behind. Pinnacol will be there protecting those new workers in those new jobs. The 600 employees I work with are very proud of our Colorado roots and our Colorado focus.

900+ Attend 9Health Fair at Pinnacol

We were blown away by the attendance at today's 9Health Fair held at our Lowry offices. More than 900 folks stopped by for everything from Nutritional Assessments, to Vision Screens, to being checked for Sleep Apnea. It was busy from the moment the doors opened and we had to extend the closing time to accomodate everyone who came. It was great to see all the people taking the time to do something good for themselves. We look forward to seeing you again next year!

A special THANK YOU! to all of our employees who volunteered their time and effort - we couldn't have done it without you. The good news is you have 364 days before we do it all again!

Business Services Representative Opportunity!

We are looking for a Business Services Representative who's role is to provide administrative support to our customers as well as internal team members.

This position requires excellent verbal, written, interpersonal, communications and customer service skills along with strong computer proficiency and the ability to type a minimum of 35 wpm. As we are an insurance company a basic understanding of accounting and math is also a necessity!

The ideal candidate will be a self-starter with a positive attitude and a willingness to step up and help without being asked. We work in a collaborative environment so the ability to share the work when necessary is critical. A minimum of two years of college and two years related experience preferred. If you are interested in joining our team in this role please complete an expression of interest via our company website at http://www.pinnacol.com/.