Prairie Lakes Mutual Insurance Company
Prairie Lakes Mutual Insurance Company was formed on January 1st, 2025, as a result of the merger between Prairie Pine Mutual Insurance Company of Parkers Prairie, MN and Sverdrup Mutual Insurance Company of Underwood, MN. The original inception date for the company becomes the formation date of the oldest company in the merger. In this case, Sverdrup Mutual was formed in 1883 so that becomes the original formation date for Prairie Lakes Mutual. Prairie Pine and Sverdrup have existed as neighboring companies for many years. Tim Iverson, longtime manager of Prairie Pine Mutual, was nearing retirement and through the company succession plan approached the manager of Sverdrup Mutual, Aaron Grove, about the potential for a merger. With both companies being financially successful there was no immediate reason to have to merge. After a couple of preliminary meetings with some of the board members of both companies they could find NO reason to not pursue a merger. In September of 2024 the board members of both companies met and approved a Merger Resolution. Policyholder meetings were called and both companies voted to move forward and merge the two companies together with a proposed January 1st of 2025 effective date. The time frame was short and to get all the required paperwork into the state commerce department a specific location for the home office needed to be chosen. The Sverdrup Mutual location in Underwood, Minnesota was chosen, and the papers were filed. A merger approval came to us on December 19th, 2024, just in the nick of time. Much work to do but it will all get done in time.
When these two companies were formed back in the late 1800's there were no insurance companies willing to insure farms and homes in rural Minnesota. Local farmers banded together to form these companies to provide themselves with an outlet for coverage. Throughout the course of the last 100+ years many companies have come into the marketplace to insure farms and rural homes and shortly after having left. If it weren't for the presence of the township mutual in Minnesota, much of the farm insurance marketplace would find it very difficult to secure coverage.