TRAVERSE CITY — One of Traverse City’s largest private employers is bringing back hundreds of workers in person, likely providing a boost to local businesses.
Traverse City-based Hagerty said Tuesday that it would be bringing around 500 employees back to a majority in-person work schedule.
The insurer of classic automobiles said that the company would shift from a ‘remote-first’ policy that had been in place since the pandemic.
Coco Champagne, Hagerty’s chief human resources officer, said that employees have shown more openness to in-person work in recent years.
“We believe that working face to face and working together is an important component of our overall strategy,” Champagne said. “We determined what we thought was a fair and reasonable distance for team members to come here, but we also are not asking anybody to relocate.”
Champagne estimates that around half of those 500 employees have been hired in the last five years.
Hagerty is asking its employees to return in-person for Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, starting in early 2026.
Harry Burkholder, executive director of the Traverse City Downtown Development Authority, said that the news bodes well for the local economy.
“To have more people eating lunch out and going out after work and shopping in our stores, because their offices are downtown, is great for Traverse City,” Burkholder said.
Burkholder said that he hopes more businesses will consider utilizing in-person workspaces around the city.
Travis Baird is the owner and general manager of Firefly, a restaurant and bar that specializes in sushi.
His restaurant is right next door to Hagerty.
“It should only help local businesses, including ours, particularly during business hours — Monday through Friday, nine to five,” Baird said.
Baird said that the restaurant industry has struggled in recent years with the pandemic and rising costs.
He said that office workers specifically can help keep a restaurant busy during normally slower parts of the day.
“That’s kind of our slower period, between dinner and lunch. We need that business crowd during lunch to kind of get us over the hump,” he said.
Champagne said the increased presence would likely help support local businesses throughout the year.
“I think continuing to have a workforce that’s in downtown Traverse City, coming in on a regular cadence, will be beneficial for the area,” she said. “This is every day, 12 months a year, not a seasonal increase.”