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2019 Trusted Advisers Insurance Agent: Paul Long

Ollis/Akers/Arney

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Paul Long is a risk mitigator. As vice president of Ollis/Akers/Arney, he assists clients in developing an insurance and business plan that suits their individual needs as they prepare for whatever the future might bring.

“This plan is developed with a quarterly presence going through discovery, design and implementation, then continuing that process through a signed statement of accountability and management with each client,” Long says. “I enable my clients to focus on their business and lives while I focus on their insurance and consulting needs.”

Long built his knowledge of the insurance industry through multiple classes and workshops where he continues to meet required testing, class hours and requirements to stay up-to-date in his field. He currently is finalizing training as a Life Underwriter Training Council Fellow through the College for Financial Planning. In 2006, Long founded his own insurance agency, Bolivar-based The Paul Long Agency LLC. Twelve years later, his firm merged with Ollis/Akers/Arney, which now operates out of four offices with 55 local employees that specialize in property, casualty, life, health benefits and business consulting. In addition to being vice president, Long oversees the firm’s core solutions department, northern division market and he’s a commercial, benefits and estate adviser. In 2018, he managed 125 client accounts with $5 million in individual premiums sold.

Long is at ground zero with businesses when embarking on a new venture and makes himself available all hours of the day and night. This around-the-clock schedule, he says, is just part of what it means to be an insurance consultant, and he’s embraced that career for more than 20 years.

“Almost on a monthly basis, I am called upon to examine the insurance risk and need for a new venture or an avenue they might be considering, making me a very integral part of the business plan,” he says. “My clients, in most cases, are like family to me. I have made myself available 24/7/365 to them my entire career. Being an insurance agent, you can be called upon at any time. … Being an insurance adviser is a profession, not a job, so that means we are always available to help our clients.”

Long is involved with giving back to his community, as well. He is board president of the Bolivar Economic Development Alliance, board member of Bright Futures El Dorado Springs, member of El Dorado Springs Chamber of Commerce Inc.’s Economic Development Committee, president of the Mt. Gilead Cemetery Foundation and committee chairman for the Civic Service Award issued by Bolivar Missouri Rotary Club. Long also is a 19-year member of the Missouri Association of Insurance Agents, serving on multiple boards and committees – currently on its political action committee. MAIA honored him with the Young Agent of the Year award in 2003. He also received a local Judy Sorensen Memorial Award in 2010 from the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, of which he has been a member of since 2009.

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