Jefferson County Name Change Sponsorship Will Make Residents Rich

STEUBENVILLE - The Jefferson County Department of Development announced today that Jefferson County will change its name to "Northwestern Mutual County" on March 1st, as part of a new sponsorship program aiming to spark economic development. Director Wallace Brown said that the decision was easy to make.

"Well we don't exactly do anything for most of the year, so we were watching college football to kill some time," Brown said. "Commissioner Graham came by and kicked it with us and we noticed that the games all had sponsored names."

Brown pointed to the names of the Sugar Bowl and Rose Bowl as inspiration.

"The Sugar Bowl is actually called the Allstate Sugar Bowl, and the Rose Bowl is officially known as The Rose Bowl Presented by Northwestern Mutual. The companies pay for the names, so we figured they could pay us to name our county after them."

When Brown reached out to Allstate CEO Dennis Haysbert earlier last week, Haysbert declined the offer.

"He told us that there was no way that they would want to associate themselves with us," Brown said. "It was kind of blunt, but in the end we came out on top with Northwestern Mutual."

The sponsorship deal will provide every household with $10,000 for every year that the name is used.

"It's a great day for every citizen of Jefferson County," Brown said. "Or should I say, it's a great day for every citizen of Northwestern Mutual County?"