THIRTY–FOURTH ANNUAL 2022 ROUGH NOTES AGENCY OF THE YEAR CANDIDATE One of the agencies featured in a Rough Notes cover story during 2022 will be named Agency of the Year. The winner will be selected from votes by previous Rough Notes cover agents. The principals of the winning firm will be presented with the award at a dinner held in their honor this spring. The nominees for this year’s award
Agency of the Month
CREATING A FRIENDLY DIGITAL AGENCY Ohio agency utilizes technology to enhance their personal touch rather than to replace it By Barley Dennison Hertvik Insurance Group, Medina, Ohio, traces its origin back to 1946 when “my grandfather started a life insurance agency out of his house,” says Jack Hertvik, president. Other lines of business were added slowly until the early 1980s when “my father joined and turned it into a primarily
PROTECTING FAMILIES AND CREATING LEGACIES D.C.-area agency measures success by its impact on the community By Dennis H. Pillsbury “Insurance is our way of helping people, so we need to provide as many products, lines and financial education offerings as possible to accomplish that,” says Eboné Granger, who, along with her husband Jeff, serves as managing partner of Granger Financial, Sterling, Virginia. “I realize that makes us different from a
THE CUSTOMER IS THE MISSION Nashville agency focuses on helping people, and all the rest follows By Dennis H. Pillsbury In 2020, three months before COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, Martin & Zerfoss, Nashville, Tennessee, implemented an internal perpetuation plan that saw three new owners purchase the shares of founder Tee Zerfoss. This was in keeping with the long-term philosophy of the agency that treating its own people as part
A 72-YEAR-OLD START-UP Twin Cities agency focuses on its four C’s: customers, culture, carriers and community By Dennis H. Pillsbury Cox Insurance, St. Paul, Minnesota, is an entrepreneurial start-up that was founded by Frank Cox in 1950. Now represented by third gener ation leadership, the agency is surprisingly young in spirit, passion and actual age. “The average employee is just under 40 years old,” notes Ryan Wagenman, CAPI, partner and
