Walk into the Connell Insurance Inc. office in Hollister, and there’s nary a desk weighted down with paper.
The office is abuzz with work; the clean desks are just a benefit of a fully computerized office that went virtually paperless six years ago.
Using the company’s system network, employees are able to make notations and changes to files electronically. Tim Connell, president and production manager, says revenue per employee has increased 30 percent since the switch to paperless.
Connell Insurance focuses mainly on commercial policies such as property, casualty and workers’ compensation, and some group health and life policies – built on the Connell family’s 40-year commitment to the business.
At one time, hospitality made up at least 80 percent of the company’s business, Connell said, but in 2006, diversification brought more financial institutions and municipalities into the customer base.
“Our consultant came to us in 2006 and said, ‘What if something happens in the hospitality industry such as a recession?’” Connell recalls. “We did some work for municipalities and financial institutions, but hadn’t developed them as a niche.”
Now, hospitality drives 70 percent of the company’s business, and other types of small businesses, financial institutions and municipalities, including Greene, Christian and Taney counties and the city of Ozark, make up the rest.
The company grew to 4,429 clients this year from 3,468 clients in 2007, and premiums grew to $27.6 million from $25.9 million for the same period.
Connell’s brother, Pat, became an associate with the company – originally called Jack Neil Agency – in 1970 and five years later purchased it from founder Jack Neil.
The company was located in Kimberling City, but as the agency grew, the owners moved it to Hollister. Pat Connell and his partner, Dan Howe, acquired other agencies and built a niche as a commercial insurer, and Tim Connell joined the company in 1985.
Howe retired more than a decade ago, and Pat Connell, who is still an agent with the company, sold his interest in the business to his son, Chad, and brother, Tim, five years ago.
While the group has added three new partners – Randall Gammill, Randy Holm and Mike Nangle – Tim and Chad remain majority partners.
“I felt a number of partners would provide us with a different perspective, and we would complement each other,” Tim Connell says.
Nangle previously worked in the hospitality industry, Gammill worked for the Missouri Division of Workers’ Compensation, and Holm was a marketing representative for another insurance company.
The company also has a wellness coordinator to help clients with preventative programs. Bringing those different points of view to the table ensures that the Connells can retain their focus on what they need to do.
“Chad and I did not see ourselves sitting behind the desk,” Connell says. “We are still producers. We have to sell in order to eat.”
Connell says about 75 percent of the company’s business is commercial, 15 percent is group health and life insurance, and 10 percent is personal/family line insurance.
As an independent agency, the company can work with any carrier, but its carrier lines include New York Life and Allied Insurance.
Although the number of clients has grown, revenues have remained flat at $2.9 million since 2008 due to a soft pricing market in commercial insurance lines.
“We don’t see that changing any time soon,” Connell says.
And rising health care costs continue to drive up health insurance costs, he says.
“Even the healthiest people have catastrophic illness and that causes an adverse selection in the group coverage,” he says.
Connell doesn’t yet know how recently passed health reform will affect his business, but he says the firm’s diversification strategy might help if the legislation has an adverse effect.
Taney County Commissioner Jim Strafuss says Connell Insurance provides trustworthy assistance on insurance matters, as was the case with a recent agreement with a bus line to ferry people to the county-owned airport in Branson.
“We contacted Connell to make sure we had adequate liability coverage before we signed the agreement,” Strafuss says. “Tim answered our questions, and we were able to enter into the agreement in a timely fashion.”
Strafuss says Connell also makes it a point to stay on top of changes and legislation.
Larry Case, executive vice president with the Missouri Association of Insurance Agents in Jefferson City, says Connell is an active member of the organization and currently serves on the government relations committee, which sets the group’s position on insurance-related legislation in the state.
Connell Insurance has presented three free seminars a year for each of the past four years to provide businesses with information on changes in legislation and insurance requirements. The seminars, such as the Workers’ Compensation Conference slated for July 16, also provide attendees with continuing education credit certified by the National Human Resources Association, and Connell says those seminars attract 80 to 100 people.[[In-content Ad]]
