American family insurance spark building

American Family Insurance “The Spark” Office Building

Location: Madison, Wisconsin

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American Family Insurance “The Spark” Office Building
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The Spark is a nine-story building developed by American Family Insurance. It houses company offices and a City-sponsored entrepreneurial collaborative.

The Spark was developed around standards set by the International WELL Being Institute. This organization offers a third-party certification program that focuses on improving health and the human experience through design. To exemplify the benefit of this approach, The Spark uses half the energy of a typical Midwest office building.

Various components of The Spark were prefabricated to support construction efforts. Over 80% of the project utilized prefabricated modular wall panels. Six trade crews installed their work on panels off site allowing for earlier window installation. A crew half the size typically required for a project of this nature installed all panels.

The Spark has a backup generator to keep all functions of the building operational for 24 hours, geoexchange, redundant chillers, boilers, cooling towers, and pumps for resiliency. The backup system was put to the test in 2019 when a nearby utility substation caught fire. The Spark’s backup generator maintained full power during the five-hour power outage.

October 3, 2018 8:08 PM

Posted: October 3, 2018 8:08 PM

Updated: December 20, 2019 3:45 AM

MADISON, Wis. — A new office building opened Wednesday dedicated to innovation, collaboration and entrepreneurship in Madison, according to a release.

The state-of-the-art Spark building represents American Family Insurances’ investment in the city of Madison and will serve as home for the company’s digital transformation, venture capital and community investment efforts, AmFam officials said.

Spark will also be the headquarters of the new part of the company that will use entrepreneurial thinking, processes and partnerships to address social issues, according ot the release.

“We’re launching The American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact to strengthen our company while tackling some profound social issues facing our communities, schools and governments,” Jack Salzwedel, American Family Insurance chair and CEO, said in the release. “In so many ways, our brand, our mission and our work directly intersect with building stronger communities. The Institute is one more way to grow our company and make a positive community impact.”

The institute will build on the company’s commitment to engage with communities to solve some of society’s challenges through public and private partnerships, officials said. It will help the formation and growth of social and classic entrepreneurs who create living-wage jobs and positively contribute to society.

The institute will focus on entrepreneurs of color and female business owners, and will also support entrepreneurship by youth and young adults, according to the release. The institute will have three focus areas, including K-12 education; how individuals, communities, businesses and systems within a city survive, adapt and grow; and economic opportunity for all.

Spark is already home to DreamBank and StartingBlock Madison, according to the release. Some American Family employees will relocate to Spark over the next couple of months.

American Family Insurance says it plans to help solve the Madison area’s social problems — as well as foster entrepreneurship — in its new building, Spark, on the Near East Side.

The Madison-based insurance company is creating The American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact “to strengthen our company while tackling some profound social issues facing our communities, schools and governments,” chairman and CEO Jack Salzwedel said at grand opening ceremonies for Spark on Wednesday.

Spark, at 821 E. Washington Ave., has eight floors of offices and a ninth floor that houses the building’s mechanical systems. Its special features include a 10,000-gallon rooftop container that will be used to collect rainwater and use it to help heat and cool the building, and sun shades that raise and lower automatically, depending on the amount of sunlight.

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American Family’s DreamBank — described as a place to “help dreamers find inspiration, tools and support” — occupies most of the first floor. StartingBlock Madison, an entrepreneurial hub that held its grand opening in Spark in June, is on floors two through four, and American Family employees will fill the rest of the building.

About 50 will be moved in by the end of this week, and 300 by the end of the year, spokesman Ken Muth said.

Spark offices will house American Family’s venture capital and community investment efforts as well as employees adding digital tools to enhance the company’s analytics.

American Family declined to disclose the price tag for Spark — “for proprietary reasons,” Muth said. A check of city records shows building permits have estimated the total cost of the structure, including interior construction of the office space, at $55 million.

American Family said its new institute will form public and private partnerships to delve into community issues. In particular, the initial efforts will focus on K-12 education — specifically, challenges among racial groups within schools; creating resilient communities; and providing economic opportunity for all.

Muth said the company already has formed a partnership with the Madison School District to work on an issue that has not yet been determined. “They will use innovation techniques we use at American Family, such as (educational) boot camps, coaching, use of data analytics, etc.,” he said.

The institute will support young entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs of color and female business owners.

Muth declined to disclose the institute’s cost. It is starting with six employees, including chief business development officer Peter Gunder.

“Our brand, our mission and our work directly intersect with building stronger communities,” CEO Salzwedel said. “The institute is one more way to grow our company and make a positive community impact.”

American Family, the nation’s 13th largest property/casualty insurance group and one of Dane County’s largest employers, has 8,600 employees, including about 3,200 at its national headquarters at 6000 American Parkway on the Far East Side, and 1,000 at other Madison locations.