Risk & Business Magazine JGS Insurance Risk & Business Magazine Winter 2017 | Page 5

BELL WORKS
Bell Works
JGS’ New Location
I
n August of 1969, our family moved
to Holmdel and set up roots that went
deep into our hearts and souls. Our
father, Sam Hager, had been working
for JGS Insurance since 1962 (the
same year Bell Labs was completed) and
felt the time was right for a move. He had
a growing family, and he wanted a small
rural town to raise his family in. When
we first moved here, it was definitely that.
Shortly after moving into town, the chief of
police personally stopped in to welcome us.
I still remember driving past the distinctive
“transistor water tower” lit up at night. As
we approached the building, it looked to me
as though a UFO had just landed, and Dad
muttered, “What the heck is that?”
Fast forward to 1993 when JGS left
Middlesex County for Monmouth County
and quite naturally ended up in Holmdel
at 960 Holmdel Road. We remained there
until August 2017 when we moved into
the iconic building now known as Bell
Works. That transistor water tower remains
where it has always stood, at the entrance
to Bell Works, and is the focal point of the
breathless view from my office.
The Bell Works building itself is truly
spectacular. It is a 2,000,000-square-foot,
mirrored, glass-encased building with a
cross-shaped atrium that spans over one
hundred feet in width. It is actually four
buildings connected by that atrium, two
of which were completed in 1962 and then
expanded twice (in 1966 and 1982) to its
current size.
BY: KEN HAGER, AAI, CIRMS
PRINCIPAL, JGS INSURANCE
The building is set on over four hundred
acres of a park-like setting, with two
man-made lakes and a larger lake and
bird sanctuary located on the other side of
the building. Glass walls line the interior
walkways allowing visitors a peek into all
of the offices operating out of the building,
including our very own office. stand-up desks, and we supplied them to
those that asked. There is a nice mixture of
stand-up or standard desks throughout the
space that serves to break up the monotony
of everything looking the same. Perhaps
more surprising to us is the fact that almost
everybody that has a stand-up is using it on
a daily basis.
JGS worked closely with the architects and
engineers at Mancini•Duffy to design a
space that wasn’t your typical insurance
agency office. We wanted a bright, open
space that encouraged collaboration
between teams and team members. This
will help to assure that our clients benefit
from the many services and opportunities
available to them from JGS. In our old
space, we found ourselves always looking
for a place to have a quick huddle to
discuss claims issues or the results of loss-
control visits from our risk management
department. Some of what employees hoped for in a
workplace is being provided by the building
itself. For example, day care on the premises
so that if an issue developed with a child,
a quick visit may set both the parent’s and
child’s mind at ease. Then there are things
coming soon that didn’t even occur to our
employees, such as dog care, a walk-in clinic,
retail shopping, restaurants, and a huge gym
open to the tenants.
At our new space, we incorporated a number
of different huddle rooms, conference
rooms, and quick collaboration spaces to
foster communication. We also added four
“phone booth” rooms, small rooms that
people can step into for making personal
calls or a series of cold calls by our sales
teams. We also have a state-of-the-art
training center that can be configured into a
classroom setting or a large, square-box-like
setting. The main wall is “Winked” (as are
all of our huddle rooms), which essentially
makes the wall a large whiteboard.
The theme of Bell Works is “Work Inspired.”
In keeping up with that theme, we
surveyed our employees about some of the
features they would want in our new work
environment to inspire and motivate them.
In trying to make our space up-to-date
and “cool,” we asked our employees about
stand-up desks and would this be something
they could use or benefit from. Surprising to
us, almost half of the employees requested
The employees had been talking about
starting a JGS “Fun” committee to organize
and develop fun things to do together. There
is a ping-pong table located in the atrium,
a foosball table in the café, the different
restaurants and bars that will soon be
located here, and a five-story rock-climbing
wall to top it all off. There are plenty of fun
activities to come get excited about, with
more being announced quite frequently.
There is a lot of buzz and excitement at our
new space here at Bell Works. Stop in, say
hello, and catch the buzz! +
Ken Hager began his insurance career more
than 30 years ago at JGS Insurance. Ken’s
current role as Chief Operating Officer at
JGS began in 1997. Since that time he has
been a guiding force in the direction and
success of the JGS enterprise. Throughout
the years, Ken has remained engaged with
his customers and intently focused on
their needs. He intently understands the
risks associated with his clients operations
and has been uniquely able to offer them
superior solutions to their business needs.
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