With the opening of the workers' compensation market less than three weeks away, BrickStreet is poised and ready for the competition. For the past two and a half years, we have been refining our operations and positioning ourselves to be your West Virginia carrier of choice.

To recap, BrickStreet is a West Virginia insurance carrier serving West Virginia businesses. We are among West Virginia's largest employers, active in and supporting our communities across the state.

We have more than $1.3 billion invested through West Virginia banks and all of our underwriting and claim management functions are handled locally. When you call BrickStreet’s corporate headquarters or one of our two regional offices, your call will be answered in either Charleston, Wheeling or Martinsburg – in West Virginia by those who live and work in our state.

Change is good and we believe that competition is healthy. We’ve worked closely with the National Council on Compensation Insurance to prepare our state for open market competition. Ultimately, privatization aligns West Virginia with three dozen other states, including most of our neighbors in the Mid-Atlantic region. It levels the playing field so that our positive attributes – a quality workforce, abundant natural resources, geographic proximity to the Eastern seaboard – can shine.

We know who our competitors are and we welcome the challenge that the open market brings. Are we ready? We believe so. We believe that with our products, pricing structure and customer service, BrickStreet is well positioned and ready to compete.