CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The CASCI team in Charleston may be downsizing their presence to a smaller space but they’re making room to create a bigger impact.
The healthcare assistance-based company celebrated the opening of its new location in Kanawha City Monday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
They moved from their large building along the Kanawha Boulevard in downtown Charleston in 2022– that building is currently being demolished to make way for another company’s new location.
CASCI employees at their new location in Kanawha City
CASCI parent company, CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resource Officer Angela Celestin told MetroNews that they were looking for a space that better met the needs of their workforce.
She said the new location within the Shops at Kanawha shopping center in Kanawha City– in the former Elder Beerman store– provides the smaller space they were looking for, and will better allow them to collaborate on one floor and equip themselves for a more hybrid work environment.
“A space that was able to really allow us to embrace technology so that we had the best experience for when employees move from home back into the office, it was a seamless transition based on the new technology here,” Celestin said.
Celestin said much like for everyone else, the Covid-19 Pandemic brought about a significant transition in company operations for them and marked a turning point in office culture as employees made the switch to working from home full-time.
She said while they had to get a bit more creative at home, they managed to stay efficient with their workforce production and operations, and from that, Celestin said they found that employees actually enjoyed working from home.
However, she said they also found that some things were still better in-person as well, such as the training of new employees and collaborating on ideas. Celestin said that’s when the decision to take the company to a more hybrid operation was born.
“We had to figure out, how do we create a balance of spending more time at home but also what we know is a need for employees to collaborate, especially new employees, so that in-office was still appropriate,” she said.
She said now the company is set up with some days working from home and some days in the office to ensure they are still getting the collaboration, comradery and effective training they need.
Celestin said they were ready for the new transition of coming back together again that came with pulling out of the pandemic, and they are also ready for a new era in the fresh space.
“I think employees have been really resilient being able to work through a pandemic that has really impacted all of our lives, but they’ve also been encouraging and encouraged to come back into this space,” she said.
Celestin said now CASCI only sees its operations of navigating clients’ health insurance claims to continue to improve with the transition to the new space, and as it carries on its 34-year history of having a Charleston-based customer service presence.
She said they really want to continue to work on building up their partner relationships.
Celestin said they couldn’t be happier to be in the new space, which although is smaller, will only help the company grow.
“Everyone is excited today, I think with this grand opening, we’ll see even more traffic coming into the space, which is good for business and good for the communities around this location,” Celestin said.
A new building will eventually be built on CASCI’s former location on the Kanawha Boulevard. It will be a brand new headquarters for TC Energy, who will be moving out of the current location they have in Kanawha City.