Unit 5 Board President Hayek resigns to accept State Farm job in Phoenix

Posted on February 28, 2018

*Unit 5 School Board President Jim Hayek speaks with a reporter after announcing he’s resigning this spring to work for State Farm Insurance in Phoenix, Arizona.*
*(Photo by Howard Packowitz/WJBC)*

By Howard Packowitz

NORMAL – The president of the Unit 5 School Board will step down this spring because he’s leaving to take a job at State Farm’s hub in Phoenix.

Jim Hayek was elected to the board three years ago, and his fellow board members elevated him to president last year.

Hayek has been a manager in enterprise technology at State Farm in Bloomington, and he’ll hold a similar post in Phoenix.

“This was definitely my choice to go out there,” said Hayek.

“It was something that my family and I had been considering for quite awhile ever since they opened up the hub locations,” Hayek added.

He said his transfer is not indicative of a larger exodus from State Farm’s Bloomington corporate headquarters.

“There’s no indication that that’s happening. Everything I hear is that our employee base here in Bloomington-Normal is going to be the same,” Hayek said.

Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected]

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