5 Things To Know Today

Five Things for Wednesday: Sunny, Hobbit, Lights, Giving & More

Get your mid-week pick-me-up with a check of weather, news, and celebrity birthdays.

  Johnston Weather: Hobbit: Celebrate the book The Hobbit — before Peter Jackson got his hands on it and turned it into a three-film epic — tonight at 6 pm at Mohr Library in Johnston [The first installment opens tomorrow night — check Moviefone.com for times and tickets.] Lights: For some people, there's just no limit to how they'll light up their homes for the holidays — still, National Grid offers a few energy savings tips to hold down the electric bill. And if you're thinking more of the revenue side of the equation, you could win $500 toward your electric bill in the Patch "Deck the House" contest. Giving: A special tip of the Santa hat to the folks over at FM Global in Johnston, who this week announced that they've contributed more …

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FM Global Assists United Way RI's 'Books Are Wings' Effort

The Johnston-based global insurance company helped collect 13,000 books through the drive, organized by the United Way of Rhode Island.

  Johnston-based FM Global joined more than a dozen corporate contributors to this year's "Books Are Wings" collection drive by the United Way of Rhode Island. With the global insurer's help, UWRI collected more than 13,000 books over the summer as part of its effort to deliver books to low-income students. “The response to our book drive speaks volumes about the community’s commitment to helping Rhode Island children succeed in school and in life,” Gertrude F. Jones, chair of United Way of Rhode Island’s Women’s Leadership Council, said in a statement. “It’s unacceptable that two-thirds of low-income families in our country do not have books in their homes. The success of this book drive will help thousands of children today and into the …

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FM Global Announces Management Changes

The worldwide insurer, headquartered in Johnston, announced four new appointments and promotions.

FM Global, the international property insurance company with headquarters in Johnston, announced the following appointments and promotions: Chris Johnson, senior vice president of marketing and enterprise learning, will become senior vice president–Asia Pacific, a newly created position in response to client expansion in the region. Johnson will help the company grow its business and be better positioned to respond to client needs. He has worked at FM Global for more than three decades. Roberta Butler, vice president, brand management, will be promoted to senior vice president — marketing, with responsibility for brand management, communications services, corporate programs and exhibits, digital solutions, intellectual property and …

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What Would You Put Here?

What Would You Put Here — 350 Central Ave./1301 Atwood Ave.

Longtime Johnston residents know it as "Where Allendale Insurance used-ta-be" — what do you think should go there?

From Atwood and Hartford Avenues to Killingly Street and Plainfield Pike, Johnston has its fair share of vacant buildings. Some have been empty for years while others see a rotating crop of businesses. But, if it were up to you, what would you like to see happen to these buildings? Each week, we'll feature one empty building, lot or area in Johnston and ask our readers what they'd like to see there. This Week's Property: Address: 350 Central Ave./1301 Atwood Ave. (just past the "new" McDonald's) History: This was the original home of Allendale Insurance, one of a group of insurance companies that eventually formed FM Global, which maintains its world headquarters just off Central Avenue, across the street from the now-vacant campus. …

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Joseph Hutnak

6:14 pm on Friday, March 16, 2012

Joe: This is from my own reporting of Johnston over the last 16 months or so... Tax rate: the current property tax rate is $24.75 per $1,000 valuation. Scituate is $32.73, and North Providence is $24.15. (Does this count as "favorable"?) Energy costs: Not much to be done with regard to utility costs or gas prices, though the town is installing a gas tank so municipal vehicles can fill up at state…   more ›

FM Global Maintains Strong Ratings

The global property insurer, located in Johnston, reported that Fitch Ratings awarded the company an AA rating for the sixth straight year.

Note: This is a press release issued by The Perry Group on behalf of FM Global. For the sixth straight year, Fitch Ratings has affirmed the ‘AA’ (Very Strong) financial strength rating and ‘Stable’ rating outlook for FM Global, the global commercial property insurer headquartered in Johnston. According to Fitch: “the ratings continue to reflect FM Global’s strong capital and long-term underwriting profitability, competitive advantages derived from the company’s engineering expertise and global presence in specialty commercial property insurance markets, as well as benefits drawn from the company’s mutual company status.” The ratings apply to members of the FM Global group, including Affiliated FM Insurance Company and FM Insurance Company …

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FM Global Announces Promotion

Rod Fisher was named as senior vice president of underwriting and reinsurance.

FM Global of Johnston announced this week that Rod Fisher has been named senior vice president of underwriting and reinsurance. In his new role, based at the company’s Johnston corporate offices, Fisher will be responsible for the company’s overall underwriting and reinsurance functions. Previously, he served as senior vice president and manager of the company’s Central (U.S.) division, based in Park Ridge, IL where he was responsible for ensuring the smooth operation of the division, which serves clients in 22 U.S. states. Fisher joined FM Global in 1985 as a field engineer, became a claims adjuster in 1987 and has held several management positions in sales and underwriting before being named a client service manager in 1999. In 2000, he …

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FM Global Earns Top Ranks For Service

The business property insurer, headquartered on Central Avenue, was named "Best For Service" in the 2011 Buyers Choice awards for Business Insurance Magazine.

FM Global was recently named "Best for Service" in Business Insurance magazine's annual Buyers Choice awards, the company announced in a statement. According to a press release, the magazine credited FM Global with “a high contract certainty rate” and noted that its “attention to service extends to all the insurer's operations.” “Our platform is consistent around the globe,” Tom Lawson, executive vice president at FM Global, said in the statement. “As a mutual insurance company owned by our policyholders, we believe we're better underwriters because we focus solely on business property insurance, understand property risk and provide clients with sound engineering solutions to safeguard their property. We're also better engineers because of…

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Fitch Agency Upholds FM Global's AA Rating

The Johnston-based company maintains its "Very Strong" financial rating.

FM Global of Johnston kept its AA, or "Very Strong," financial rating intact following a Sept. 29 announcement by the Fitch Ratings agency. According to a company press release, Fitch based its decision on the company's ability "to withstand large catastrophe losses that have occurred this year." “FM Global's favorable underwriting performance is due in large part to the company's ability to incorporate its engineering expertise into its risk selection and underwriting processes,” Fitch added in the statement. “The company's engineering capabilities and loss prevention services (are) key advantages that are difficult for competitors to replicate. This expertise will result in underwriting results that are consistently better than (its) …

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FM Global Opens 'SimZone'

The Johnston-based insurer held a grand opening ceremony this week for the $5 million training facility.

Information for this article was submitted by The Perry Group on behalf of FM Global. On Sept. 12, FM Global, headquartered in Johnston, formally opened  a $5-million, 12,000-sq.-ft. learning facility called the FM Global SimZone in Norwood, Mass. According to a company press release: "In the SimZone, FM Global engineers-in-training step away from their desks and into to a simulated, hands-on learning environment: the 21st century classroom. Eight individual simulation labs present a unique set of common property hazards any FM Global engineer will encounter in a real-life client facility. This is where good engineers become great." Each year, about 75 new engineers at FM Global — one of the world’s largest commercial property insurers — …

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Projo.com: FM Global Executive To Retire

Ruud H. Bosman wil retire after 40 years on the job.