Aviva USA, part of Aviva plc – the world’s sixth largest insurance group – today held a grand opening ceremony for the company’s new 360,000-square-foot US operations headquarters in West Des Moines.
- Environmentally friendly facility is new home to 1,300 employees and contractors.
Aviva USA, part of Aviva plc – the world’s sixth largest insurance group – today held a grand opening ceremony for the company’s new 360,000-square-foot US operations headquarters in West Des Moines. The project, designed in accordance with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) guidelines, is located at the southwest corner of Jordan Creek Parkway and Mills Civic Parkway.
Aviva USA is a sales leader of indexed life insurance and indexed annuities. Since Aviva plc acquired AmerUs Group in late 2006 creating the Aviva USA business, it has nearly doubled its employee base in the Greater Des Moines area. More than 1,300 employees and contractors work at the new US operations headquarters.
“Today we celebrate a great collaborative effort between Aviva, leaders from the City of West Des Moines and the State of Iowa, and all of our many project partners,” said Chris Littlefield, president and chief executive officer of Aviva USA. “Our goal in this project was to unite all of our employees in one world-class facility, enabling them to work together to better serve our life and annuity customers, producers and key distribution partners. We’ve also developed a building that is heavily focused on environmental responsibility and sustainability.”
“This new corporate headquarters and its economic impact is great news for Iowa,” said Iowa Governor Chet Culver. “By locating its headquarters here, Aviva USA will continue to create high-quality, well-paying financial services jobs for our state’s skilled workforce. We are thrilled to have a forward-thinking, customer-focused and responsible corporate citizen such as Aviva choose to grow in Iowa.”
On hand at the ceremony was Aviva plc group chief executive Andrew Moss. “We look at today as more than merely the opening of a new building,” Moss said. “This campus represents both our investment in central Iowa and our commitment to grow our brand and serve even more customers throughout the United States.”
“As a company with a national presence, Aviva could have taken its US operations headquarters anywhere,” said West Des Moines Mayor Steve Gaer. “This investment in our community is a testament to the extraordinary business environment here.”
Aviva is seeking gold-level LEED certification for the building. The facility was designed following the LEED US Green Building Council rating system, a nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings.
Aviva should learn the status of its LEED application in November.
“As a company, Aviva believes strongly in reducing its business impact on the environment, and our workplace embodies the best practices in eco-friendly construction,” Littlefield noted.
“Sustainable design of a corporate office facility can also significantly reduce an organization’s operating costs.”
The building features more than 80 conference rooms with motion-sensor lighting, renewable woods, high-efficiency ventilation systems, Iowa limestone, a food waste composting system in the cafeteria, a solar-powered trash compactor, water-efficient fixtures and a pond system that collects rainwater runoff. In addition, more than 90% of employees have direct access to natural light and all have the ability to control the air ventilation and desk height in their personal workspaces.
In celebration of the grand opening, Aviva USA announced a donation of $20,000 to the Iowa Homeless Youth Centers to help central Iowa’s unsheltered youth return to school. Around the globe, Aviva spearheads a program called Street to School. This contribution will be used to fund programs that help Des Moines-area youth build life skills and pursue educational opportunities that may otherwise not be available to them. The mission of the Iowa Homeless Youth Centers closely aligns with Aviva’s global mission to get children off the street and into educational and job-training programs.
“We all do our best work when we feel happy, healthy and safe,” Littlefield said. “That’s why, as a global company with a local footprint, we strive to find opportunities here at home to help keep children engaged in school throughout their life. We hope that our contribution today has a significant positive impact on the kids in need in our community; a community that we are very proud to call home.”
-ends-
Aviva media contacts:
Kevin Waetke, Public Relations Director
Office: 515 342 3822
Cell: 515 782 3256
kevin.waetke@avivausa.com
Steve Carlson, Public Relations Manager
Office: 515 342 6403
Cell: 515 782 6317
steven.carlson@avivausa.com
Notes to editors:
About Aviva USA
Aviva USA is a sales leader of indexed life insurance and indexed annuities. Headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa, Aviva USA also has offices in Topeka, Kansas, and Melville, NY. In the United States, Aviva has approximately one million customers and employs more than 1,500 people across the country.
Aviva USA is part of Aviva plc and can trace its presence in the United States to the late 1800s.
About Aviva plc and Aviva North America
Aviva is the world’s sixth-largest* insurance group, serving 53 million customers across Europe, North America and Asia Pacific.
Aviva's main business activities are long-term savings, fund management and general insurance, with worldwide total sales of £45.1 billion and funds under management of £379 billion at 31 December 2009.
We are the largest insurance services provider in the UK and one of the leading providers of life and pensions products in Europe.
In North America, Aviva is the largest provider of indexed annuity and life insurance in the US, and the second largest property and casualty insurer in Canada.
*Based on gross worldwide premiums at 31 December 2009.