Allstate Creates Innovation Hub at the Merchandise Mart

NORTHBROOK, Ill., March 1, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of Allstate's focus on leveraging innovation to better serve customers, the company today announced plans to establish an innovation hub at the Merchandise Mart. The 45,000-square-foot office space on the 8th floor will bring nearly four hundred jobs to Chicago, primarily with the company's Quantitative Research & Analytics (QR&A) and Connected Car teams.

"This move builds on our success in changing the insurance marketplace by providing the most cutting-edge products and services for consumers," said Thomas J. Wilson, chairman and chief executive officer, The Allstate Corporation. "We're expanding our world-class technology and data capabilities to help us better serve our customers, advance public safety and improve the quality of life on our roadways, in our homes and in our workplaces."

This innovation hub will support Allstate's hiring of more top quantitative scientists and innovation specialists. The company's QR&A team leads research, synthesizes data and builds predictive modeling. The team helps the company anticipate risk, develop cutting-edge products and services, keep consumers, roadways and communities safer, bolster customer value and improve the driving experience. Interested career candidates can visit https://www.allstate.com/careers.aspx.

Allstate's Connected Car division has been at the forefront of developing next-generation telematics offerings that broadly benefit customers across the company's brands, and build on the company's historical commitment to safer driving. Nearly one million users have signed up for the company's core telematics solution, Drivewise®. The team is continuing to identify and create offerings such as vehicle diagnostics, crash detection, gas-price information, safest-route mapping, cross-marketing promotions and rewards programs.

The new, state-of-the-art center builds on Allstate's legacy as one of the top employers in the Chicago area and a strong supporter of efforts to build a more vital downtown. The company is a long-time supporter of causes in Chicago that seek to better the quality of life for area residents and tackle challenges confronting the city. The company has contributed more than $35 million in Chicago in the past seven years to arts and culture, civic initiatives, community development and youth safety and empowerment. In 2015, Allstate – together with its employees, agency owners and The Allstate Foundation – contributed $36 million to fund national programs, provide grants, create meaningful partnerships that support safer lives and stronger communities and champion signature causes such as financially empowering domestic violence survivors.

The company inspires young people to get involved in important causes by supporting We Schools and We Day in Illinois and across the country. In its first year of operation over 90,000 students participated in community services in Illinois and 15,000 youth attended We Day Illinois, which was the subject of a one-hour ABC documentary. Allstate has also joined with Chicago's other major corporations to create Get IN Chicago to develop innovative solutions to youth-related violence. With a long history of supporting efforts to stem the scourge of domestic violence, The Allstate Foundation hosts numerous symposiums and provides domestic violence financial empowerment programs to victims. Many of Allstate's senior executives also serve on Chicago-area nonprofit boards, helping to set the direction for positive change in the city.

"We're proud of our long-held commitment to support our hometown city," said Wilson. 

The Allstate Corporation (NYSE: ALL) is the nation's largest publicly held personal lines insurer, protecting approximately 16 million households from life's uncertainties through auto, home, life and other insurance offered through its Allstate, Esurance, Encompass and Answer Financial brand names. Allstate is widely known through the slogan "You're In Good Hands With Allstate^®." The Allstate brand's network of small businesses offers auto, home, life and retirement products and services to customers in the United States and Canada. In the 20 years since Allstate became a fully independent public company, The Allstate Foundation, Allstate, its employees and agency owners have donated more than $405 million to support local communities.

SOURCE The Allstate Corporation