Mike, Greg and Ken Hotchkiss.
Texas firm takes top honor
By Dave Willis, CPIA
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The votes are in. Past Rough Notes cover agents and brokers have spoken. And we have a winner. Selected from the cast of wildly successful candidates, the 2025 Rough Notes Agency of the Year is Hotchkiss Insurance—a Texas-based firm that celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2025.
The agency was founded by Douglas Hotchkiss, CPA, CIC, CRM, who led the agency through 2015 and then transitioned to Founder and Strategic Advisor in subsequent years. With Doug now enjoying retirement, his three sons are among the team that drives the agency’s vision, inspires its employees, and directs its client-focused strategy. They are: Mike Hotchkiss, CPA, CIC, CRM, chief executive officer; Ken Hotchkiss, CIC, CRM, chief operating officer; and Greg Hotchkiss, CPA, CIC, CRM, chief financial officer.
The responsibility of choosing the Agency of the Year falls to leaders whose firms have graced Rough Notes covers since the late 1980s. These professionals review each of the candidates’ stories and cast a vote for which firm they believe deserves our top honor.
Past cover agency leaders who cast votes often share comments along with their choice. One such agency leader wrote, “This was the most difficult year ever to select a frontrunner. So many great agencies and stories.” Others echoed the sentiment.
“I enjoyed my journey down memory lane this morning, looking at all of these fine agencies and how they all seem to have their special recipe for success,” another past cover agency principal commented. “I love all the new innovation that is taking place.”
One agency leader who cast a vote for Hotchkiss Insurance wrote, in support of their decision, “I love their mix of culture, education and community, along with growing an incredibly successful business in a really competitive state. Impressive.” Another shared, “I love their story, particularly the ‘fundamentals’ and that they achieved such revenue growth.”
“I am choosing Hotchkiss Insurance,” wrote another cover agency leader, “as it epitomizes a true independent agency. Fifty years of family with a commitment to education, culture and giving back to their community. Impressively well rounded.”
“[T]heir growth is clearly fueled by systematic,
intentional people development through The Hotchkiss Way.
It’s a model where culture drives performance, not the other way around.”
And yet another firm—a past Rough Notes Agency of the Year—minced no words when they weighed in, saying, “Their results are undeniable, and their growth is clearly fueled by systematic, intentional people development through The Hotchkiss Way.
“It’s a model where culture drives performance, not the other way around,” they concluded.
Hotchkiss Insurance will be recognized at a dinner in the agency’s honor in Indianapolis this spring that takes place in conjunction with the Rough Notes Agents Editorial Advisory Board meeting. The Hotchkiss Insurance cover story appeared in the March 2025 issue of Rough Notes magazine. Visit the agency website at hotchkissinsurance.com.
