AGENCY OF THE MONTH SERVING THE MELTING POT South Florida agency focuses on and aligns with mom-and-pop businesses By Dennis H. Pillsbury “South Florida is a great place to work and live,” says Alex Dopazo, the son half of the father and son team that runs Dopazo & Associates Insurance in Miami. “It’s a true melting pot. There are 73 nationalities in the church I attend. These are people who
Agency of the Month
AGENCY OF THE MONTH GRASS IS GREENER Niche helps California agency enjoy double-digit growth By Dennis H. Pillsbury Cannabis and pizza often go together—one causes munchies and the other satisfies the craving. However, as it turns out, there is another tie-in that the Stratton Agency, Redwood City, California, found when it had the opportunity to enter the cannabis insurance market by acquiring a cannabis book in 2015. That tie-in was
AGENCY OF THE MONTH PROMOTING INDEPENDENCE Two entrepreneurs think smart and work hard to build a growing operation and then help other agencies succeed By Dennis H. Pillsbury Maybe it’s because I now live in Williamsburg, Virginia, where I can and do converse with Thomas Jefferson and other Founding Fathers in the historic Colonial area, that my view of independence has changed from “Do your own thing,” to a philosophy
Agency of the Month FIND A NEED AND FILL IT Startup leaders find difficulty getting insurance so they create their own agency in New York By Dennis H. Pillsbury Mark Peter Davis worked at a venture capital firm when he decided to leave and start up his own technology company. He was successful at attracting $3 million in capital, and the investors insisted that the new start-up have D&O insurance
Agency of the Month BRAND, CULTURE, AND THE POWER OF RELATIONSHIPS FAST-GROWING NEW ENGLAND AGENCY FOCUSES ON COIs By Dennis H. Pillsbury When Matt Naimoli and Zack Gould met, they were friendly competitors at Liberty Mutual, where both were outside sales representatives striving to be the best. As the insurer’s top two agents nationally, they met at company functions for top producers and quickly became fast friends. That led to
