* History: Union Mutual was launched in Maine in 1848 and established its headquarters in Boston. Thirty-three years later, in 1881, the company relocated to Portland, Maine. The Provident Life & Accident Insurance Co. was founded in Chattanooga in 1887. Union Mutual changed its name to Unum in 1986, then merged with Provident in 1999 to form UnumProvident Corp. In 2007, the company changed its name to the Unum Group.
* Services: Laurie Mitchell, Unum’s assistant vice president for Global Wellbeing & Health, says the company modernized its Chattanooga offices three years ago, just ahead of the global pandemic. She says one of the centerpieces of the project was bringing the fitness center “out of the basement” and making more accessible for daily use.
“The equipment’s still brand new because of the (pandemic) hiatus,” she says, adding that the fitness center “has pretty much everything you’d see a commercial fitness center,” including shower facilities and a locker room. Employees pay $22 monthly for memberships — unless they use the center eight times a month, in which case it’s free.
“We offer group exercise classes, Pilates and boot-camp classes that can be attended in-person or virtually,” she says. “More than 20 classes every week.”