GEICO celebrates 10 years in the Indianapolis region with event at its Carmel location, announces plans to hire 250+ people

Associate Mary Hoock: "I've been here from the start—It's great to see our growth and success"

CARMEL, Ind., April 18, 2023–GEICO celebrated 10 years of associates at its Indianapolis-area location with an event held at its Carmel office. At the celebration, GEICO announced it is looking to hire more than 250 people in Sales and Service.

Mary Hoock, a Service Supervisor, has been with GEICO at the Carmel location for the entire time. She started in Customer Service as an agent.

"Before coming to GEICO, I was a pharmacy tech – pretty far from insurance. But orientation and training were so comprehensive and helpful that I fit right in immediately," said Hoock.

From there, Hoock's career took off. In just two short years she was promoted to coach, then, after a few months, she became a supervisor, leading her own Service team. She then moved to sales before landing back in Service in her dream supervisory role.

"I always come back to Service—I just thrive when I'm helping my agents succeed. That's the nice thing about GEICO. You get to try new things and you can always go back or advance or move forward. You aren't just stuck in Service or Sales or IT or HR—you can go a billion different ways."

As one of the first associates in the Indianapolis region, Hoock marvels at the growth of the footprint and associate population.

"When I started it was so small, you knew everyone. Now, there are so many people here and thriving. There's a lot of opportunity here…because we are growing. It's great to see us hiring hundreds of people to meet our customers' needs," said Hoock.

Another key to the longevity of the office, according to Hoock, is that it matches the midwestern sensibilities and flair of the region.

"GEICO provides time off per year to volunteer. As supervisors, we're picking something that we care about and including any agents who wish to join – providing a day of giving but also a chance for agents to interact with different supervisors," said Hoock.

Hoock, who rescues animals, values the time the Indy Humane Society has adoption fairs at the GEICO location and remembers a time when she had to get home to some of her rescues, but the weather had turned bad, and her windshield wipers were broken.

"This experience bonded me to our office and GEICO. I was basically a new hire but there were supervisors and managers out in the parking lot in the freezing cold helping me fix my wipers so I could get home safely to feed these newly rescued puppers," said Hoock.

Often, Hoock is asked at community events what it's like to work at GEICO. She always answers:

"We have hard metrics to hit and high expectations. However, if you put in the time and effort, GEICO is the only company I've worked for that your merit and raises are based on these efforts and this success. At the same time, GEICO is there to support you, so you can succeed."

In addition to celebrating the careers of associates like Hoock, GEICO hosted an event with every Indianapolis associate, Carmel Mayor James Brainard, Indiana Chamber of Commerce Wellness Council Executive Director Jennifer Pferrer, Carmel Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Jack Russell. They were joined by GEICO Senior Vice President Angela Rinella and GEICO Vice Presidents Yvonne Obeng-Curwood, Gary McKenzie, Lona Montgomery and Denise O'Malley.

At the event, the speakers highlighted:

• Philanthropic efforts and partnerships with the Humane Society, local foodbank, the United Way of Central Indiana, the Indiana Latino Institute, among others;
• The donation of a refurbished 2019 Hyundai Sonata as part of the National Auto Body Council Recycled Rides® program to a person in need of reliable transportation; and
• Plans to hire more than 250 people.