Years ago, while discussing the hospitality-centric nature of the Branson market that’s home to Connell Insurance Inc., a consultant told the company leadership “Heaven forbid a bomb ever goes off in Branson, or there’s a recession.”
That statement has proven to be ironically prophetic, as the recent recession muted the long-running Branson tourism boom and the proverbial bomb was manifested, first as the 2007 hailstorms and later as the 2012 Leap Day tornado that tore through the Highway 76 strip. Fortunately for his company, President Tim Connell had taken the consultant’s rhetorical nudge to heart, spurring diversification long before it became a survival tool.
That diversification is just one reason the company was chosen by the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce to receive the 2013 W. Curtis Strube Small Business Award at a Small Business Week luncheon May 8.
The award, named for the late W. Curtis Strube, who was the director of Breech School of Business at Drury University and founder of the chamber’s small business council, also recognizes response to adversity, innovative products and services, business philosophy and community contributions, according to
SpringfieldChamber.com.
As a full-service, independent agency with 31 employees, Connell Insurance has always provided a wide variety of insurance products, including commercial, personal, group life, and health plans, but since purchasing the agency from older brother Pat Connell in 2005, non-traditional offerings have come into strong focus.
Connell attributes much of his Hollister-based agency’s success to the robust selection of ancillary business services available to his clients, including 401(k), business planning, human resource consulting and educational services. Additionally, Connell is one of only five agencies statewide offering workman’s compensation consulting.
Connell said his company has aggressively pursued relationships with traditionally under-insured entities such as local governments, educational institutions and nonprofit organizations and has become the second-largest writer of municipal insurance policies in the state. Despite recession plus two of the worst claim years in the company’s 44 year history, the company has grown just more than 38 percent during the past seven years.
Connell and his nephew Chad, along with fellow partners Randall Gammill and Mike Nangle, have created a culture of community service, leading by example through their deep-rooted involvement in a wide variety of area civic and non-profit organizations throughout the Ozarks.
“My job as president of this company is to be the watchdog of culture and attitude,” he says. “When you have those two things in line, everything else falls into place. When our clients are successful and the community is successful, then we will be, too.”
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