In 1946, Corydon Johns started Johns & Company in Tampa, Florida. The following year he was joined by his brother Don Johns, opening the second office in Sarasota, Florida. In 1971, Johns & Company acquired Eastern Adjustment Company, and developed into the Johns Eastern that exists today, offering services across the country.
July marks the 73rd anniversary of Johns Eastern Company. For 73 years, Johns Eastern has been committed to excellence and surpassing the expectations of its clients, by maintaining the highest standard of ethics and integrity, and by delivering the best possible customer service.
This upcoming anniversary has many of us contemplating the path that led us to this point, as well as the legacy we want to develop moving forward. None so much as our president and CEO, Don Lederer. For 35 years, Don has been a member of the Johns Eastern organization, and as we approach our diamond anniversary, he wanted to share his unique perspective and vision of the future for this company.
Where has Johns Eastern’s growth been focused in the past five years?
We are very grateful for the growth we have experienced in both our Third Party Administration (TPA) and Field Adjusting units.
We have seen growth in the areas of Workers Compensation, Property, and Casualty. In particular, we have increased our number of Public and Government Entity clients, as well as Excess & Surplus clients.
One of our major goals was to expand our geographical footprint for TPA services. We now provide Workers Compensation TPA services to clients in Florida, North Carolina, Georgia and are pursuing additional opportunities throughout the Mid-Atlantic States. Our Property & Casualty TPA services now include clients in Florida, Virginia, Maryland as well and Regional and National accounts.
Our field adjusting services have seen similar growth in recent years. Our well established locations in Florida, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Washington D.C. continue to experience growth though the expansion of long standing partnerships and the formation of new ones. Over the last five years, we have spread these services into areas of North & South Carolina, New Jersey, Delaware, and into the New England area.
Our staff has done an excellent job providing customer service at a very high level which has facilitated our ability to grow and expand.
What is the goal for the next five years?
Our strategy for the next five years is to maintain our current path of strategic growth. However, it is vitally important that we don’t sacrifice our ability to service our current client base, in pursuit of expansion.
We are focused in being ‘big enough to provide the services our clients require, yet small enough to know our clients’. It is a priority of senior management to intimately understand the needs, goals, and objectives of our clients. Growth needs to take place at a pace that allows us to maintain that level of engagement.
How do we encourage personal growth in JE employees and what effect does that have on the path the company plans to take?
For 73 years, Johns Eastern has maintained the philosophy of ‘promoting from within’. The majority of our management team joined JE at entry level positions, received in-house training, gained experience, and moved from one career opportunity to another.
Our employees are provided with opportunities through the ‘Institutes’ to pursue insurance related designations and encouraged to complete educational tracks that are a part of the ‘Johns Eastern University’ (a curriculum developed and taught by JE management). Employees are provided financial incentives to complete these training and educational opportunities.
It is important that our employees are provided opportunities to expand their knowledge and their understanding of matters related to the types of accounts and claims we handle. Providing access to this training is another priority of our management team.
Not only does a well-educated staff make it possible for us to maintain strong partnerships with our current clients, it also provides the quality staff necessary for further expansion and growth.
How much do you see technology changing the industry? How does Johns Eastern plan to incorporate technology into our business?
Technology has disrupted our industry in many ways over the past five years. For the foreseeable future, we can continue to expect these technological changes to impact how we manage and handle our business.
We have strived to invest in state of the art technology to keep up with the industry around us. A major investment was made into our ‘AIM 2.0’ claims system in 2013 and we have recently completed an upgrade to ‘AIM 3.0’ which is now being released to our clients.
Our industry has only scratched the surface of how to incorporate fields such as Artificial Intelligence, Data Analytics, and Big Data. We expect advances in these areas will continue to shape the future of daily adjusting of claims, while providing opportunities for improvement in the practices of reserving, subrogation, fraud detection, litigation management and settlements.
We are currently exploring ways that we can integrate technology to enhance the policy-holder, injured worker, and claimant experience. Mobile apps, video conferencing, and text messaging are tools that we believe can improve the overall experience and speed up the claims adjustment process.
We work closely with our clients to fully understand their goals and objectives, which allows us to develop specific technology strategies to best benefit both Johns Eastern and each of our clients.
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Johns Eastern wants to thank all of our clients and customers that have allowed us to work with and serve them for the past 73 years. We are also eternally grateful to each and every employee, whose hard work and dedication has helped us become the organization that we are today.
We are grateful for our 73 year history and look forward to what our future holds.
