Insurance provider Disability RMS plans to substantially expand its Westbrook-based operations in the coming years.

John Roberts, firm president, said Friday the company hopes to double its 2006 premium revenue by 2010, and could add as many as 200 employees to the 350 it now employs at One Riverfront Plaza.

According to Roberts, the company has no plans to leave One Riverfront Plaza. Instead, it’ll expand into the first floor, which it already leases, and the second floor, which it sub-leased to Aetna and will now have back after Aetna leaves over the next couple months.

Begun in 1993, Disability RMS has grown its employee base by 50 percent in the last five years and hired 115 employees just in the last year and a half. The growth the company has planned for the next three or four years could eclipse that mark, however.

Disability RMS provides insurance for insurance companies. The company acts essentially as a sub-contractor to insurance companies in the same way an electrician might work as a sub-contractor to a general contractor. A company might want to provide disability insurance to clients, but not want to manage the policy itself, which would require the hiring of disability insurance experts on staff.

Disability RMS serves as the experts, creating custom disability insurance for insurance companies, which then transfer the product, sometimes under their own name, to their clients. If a claim is made, Disability RMS pays the claim. In the business, the company is known as a re-insurer, or a second layer of insurance.

Roberts said the company’s ability to write custom disability insurance policies – unique in the industry – has helped its growth.

Disability RMS was named the best company with more than 200 employees to work for in Maine in a 2006 survey by Pennsylvania-based Best Companies Group.

“It was an incredible honor,” Trish O’Donnell, marketing manager, said of the survey, which was, according to her, weighted mostly on employee opinions.

Amy Thompson, human resources officer, said employees were polled randomly on such topics as salary and benefits, but also on such things as company respect for employee expertise and freedom to do one’s job. Thompson said one of the areas where the company scored highest was in employee trust in management and in the vision and direction of the company.

Thompson said Disability RMS’s 37.5-hour work week allows employees to have balance in their lives and has kept employee retention at 95 percent.

“We also realize that it’s important to see your kids play,” she said. “Without one, you can’t be happy with the other.”

The company moved to One Riverfront Plaza in 2004. Previously, employees were scattered in four locations around Portland. Roberts said several factors attracted the company to its current location. One was Westbrook’s obvious desire to have the company come to the city.

“The first year we were here, Mayor (Bruce) Chuluda would see me and ask if everything was OK,” said Roberts.

Thompson said the city and neighboring businesses welcomed the company with open arms. She said local businesses provided promotional welcome gifts to Disability RMS employees, and the city put up flashing signs welcoming them.

“That was a really nice touch for our employees,” Thompson said. “The city and the local businesses have been extraordinary with us.”

Another factor was One Riverfront Plaza itself. The building was central to highway access for traveling clients and was an impressive, modern building with facilities such as training rooms and a gym. It also provided room to expand.

Late last year, Roberts said the company took the lease option on the first floor, which remained unfinished with concrete floors. He said the company has finished the space, and it could now house up to 140 employees if needed or a combination of employee space and conference and training rooms.

The second floor tenant, Aetna, recently announced it is in the process of moving its 150 Westbrook employees into its space on Running Hill Road in South Portland. Roberts said his company already held the lease on the second floor, which it had sub-leased to Aetna, and now plans to take over that space itself.

According to Roberts, the company has another four years on its lease at One Riverfront Plaza with the option to renew, and has no plans to leave Westbrook.

“We’re happy here,” he said. “We’re happy.”

As for the planned growth, it appears that the potential employees are out there. Roberts said during the growth of this past year and a half, one advertisement seeking claims analysts, underwriters and support personnel resulted in 750 resumes.

More employees live in Portland than anywhere else, but Westbrook is second on that list. And, according to Thompson and Roberts, Westbrook candidates may have a better chance than others at getting a job at Disability RMS.

Roberts said, between two potential hires, the Westbrook one would probably have the advantage because he or she would have an investment in the community – like Disability RMS.

“I’m very vested in working with (the city) in making sure that we’re the start of someting in Westbrook,” said Roberts.