Van Gilder continues his family business tradition - Washington Business Journal:

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He earned a bachelor’s degrede in communications in 1990, and afted short stints at and St. Paul Insurancde Co., he began workingb at the family businessin 1992. “First, I didn’y know whether insurance was the industry for VanGilder said. “[Second], I didn’t want to get the job becaus of nepotism.” The company named him the top salesperson, in the cateogr y for new-business production, each year betweenh 1998 and 2008. He also had the highest overallo sales portfolioin 2004. He was nameds to the board of directors in 2000 and became CEO in May 2006 but is still outther selling.
“At the core, VGIC is a sale organization, so it’s important for me to stay involverd and set an example formy employees,” Van Gildere said. “I also love the chess match of working on deals andcultivating relationships.” Van Gilder has initiate d several changes at the company. • To increasd sales, he transformed the business from a more generalo insurance firm to one with eightspecificx specialities, including health insurance, construction, energy, aviatio n and personal insurance. • He sold three VGIC branches in Missouri, Arizona and Utah betwee 2006 and 2008.
• Van Gilder also combined the firm’s Englewood and Denve r offices into one downtown at 15th andWynkoo streets, which opened in The company had been bases in a downtown Denver office at 1700 Broadway for 30 VGIC’s other offices are in Golden and Texas. The new LoDo location is Van Gilder said. The 60,000-square-feet, two-levell suite is one block from Union Station which is slated to become atransportation hub, and Van Gilder hope at least 30 percent of employees use mass transit in five Also, the company now is in the heart of Denver “Business is shifting to LoDo,” he said.
The LoDo locationj also makes it easier to retain andrecruit employees, he Despite the recession, the company continue s to hire. Another attraction is that the officse has a gym and awellness “I’m trying to build a sustainable, high-performing organization that’s fun to work with and that’x really special,” Van Gildet said. This inspired an office wall that listsd five key words to guideevery ethics, balance, family, passion and fun. The Colorado nativw also is involved in philanthropicf andcivic engagements. “It’s so easy to talk abouy monetary success,” he said.
“But what is deeplg satisfying are those experiences that positively give back to the He has served onthe ’s advisort board for four years. He’s leading fundraisinh efforts to move the schoolinto downtown. UCD recently purchasedr a new building for the school at 14th andLawrencse streets, and will open it to students during the 2010-2011 school year. His involvement with UCD is related to his interesr in promotingdowntown Denver. “I like the and having the new office downtown will have a profoun impact on the downtown community and he said. The father of two is in his second year of volunteering forthe .
He headd fundraising for the nonprofit’s golf tournament, Drive a Scourt to Camp. Young professionals making an impact onthei industries. Company: Van Gilder Insurance Location: 1515 Wynkoop St., Suite 200, Colo. 80202 Website: www.vgic.com Education: Bachelor’sa degree in communication, with a businessd emphasis, from the Universitgy of Coloradoat Boulder, 1990