State Farm® – 1980s & 1990s

The first State Farm agents' computer system was a revolutionary tool in 1980. The system was named ECHO, after the Greek goddess Ekhô who repeated everything she heard. In the years since, State Farm has built many new systems to take full advantage of the integration capabilities of Web-based architecture.

The 60th anniversary of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company was commemorated in 1982 with a special "Check 4 Auto" agency promotion.

We sang "Happy Birthday" State Farm Fire and Casualty in 1985, marking 50 years of fire insurance product offerings.

Ed Rust Jr. had been a board of directors member since 1983. He was elected president and CEO in 1985 and chairman of the board in 1987. A graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, IL, Rust Jr. also holds juris doctor and M.B.A. degrees from Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX.

State Farm Life Insurance Company passed $100 billion in ordinary life insurance in force in 1986, more than doubling its total from just five years earlier.

State Farm associates had always joined forces to volunteer, but 1991 marked a new Company network to support them. Today, from lending a hand to local charities to supporting State Farm safety and service programs, State Farm Community Volunteers make a major difference in the communities where we live and work.

The 1990s marked a dramatic change to the way we help our customers recover from the unexpected. Record-breaking catastrophes — the California wildfires, Hurricane Andrew, and the Northridge earthquake — supported our vision for building a catastrophe response operation unparalleled in our industry. State Farm Catastrophe Services® was born.

Another major Corporate campus opened in Bloomington, IL, in 1995. Corporate South was constructed to house data processing and systems (IT) employees.

Statefarm.com® joined the Internet revolution in 1995. Today, customers use statefarm.com® for many needs, from finding an agent to getting a rate quote; from paying a bill, to checking on a claim, to accessing retirement planning tools and calculators.

As 24/7 customer service became the norm, State Farm Customer Response Centers were developed to deliver seamless, after-hours service. When we say "Walk in, mail in, call in, click in®," we mean it!

As a mutual company owned by our policyholders, we return a portion of premiums when expenses are lower than expected. In 1997, State Farm declared nearly $700 million in dividends to auto insurance customers in 30 states and the District of Columbia. This was not the first (or last) time we would return dividends.

State Farm Life Insurance Company's 70th anniversary year was celebrated in a BIG way by State Farm agents. They wrote a total of 1 million life insurance applications during 1999.