Ollis mixes old, new for success

by Diane Rarick

SBJ Contributing Writer

Nepotism is on its way out at Ollis & Company, according to Richard Ollis. Started as a family insurance business on Springfield's bustling Commercial Street in 1885, Ronald A. Ollis & his son Richard are carrying on a family legacy that now includes its owner-associates.

The employees of Ollis & Company own 60 percent of the company, while the remaining third and fourth generation Ronald and Richard Ollis own 40 percent.

"It's not a family business anymore in that there's no room for anybody else to rise to the highest level of management or sales. Everybody has an equal opportunity to do that. We've designed it that way to get quality people in the business. My real love is in the sales arena, in helping clients out in the field, counseling them. I'm going to be a big part of the business, but it's not my aspiration to be the manager of the business," said 36-year-old Richard Ollis.

"We feel that (our employee stock ownership plan) has really been a benefit to our organization. We were founded in 1885 by my great grandfather, and basically through three generations, we had enough family members and interest in the business to have a good viable small business."

But when the fourth generation came along, "which is me and only me we came to the realization that in order to grow and be viable, we're going to have to bring other people into the business," Richard Ollis said. "We've been able to attract quality people into the business. Our business is a people business, and we feel like our advantage is the people we have in the agency."

Although Ollis & Company has faced many family changes as the torch has passed from one generation to the next, one of the most interesting challenges came when Richard's grandmother, Hester Ollis, took over part of the business in 1955 after her husband, Lawrence, died.

"At the time she was a homemaker. Back in the 1950s, you can imagine there were very few women in business. My dad was 17 years old. My grandmother stepped up and said, 'My son's only 17 years old and just graduated from high school and he wants to go on to college. I'm going to step in and take over my husband's accounts and start getting involved in the business."'

Hester Ollis had no formal business background or viable experience except that "she was great with people. She was very, very strong," Richard Ollis said.

"When she went out on my grandfather's accounts, it didn't take long for her to build a rapport and trust and friendship with those people to where they relied on her. That was a real trying time in the agency, but also a real good-feeling time as we moved forward," Richard said.

Hester Ollis relied on several male friends for business mentoring and support, and she stayed active in the business up to a year before her death in 1993.

Over the years, Ollis & Company has been involved in all kinds of financial services, including insurance, real estate and mortgage loans.

Since 1985, the company has focused on insurance and is divided into four departments: commercial insurance (business property, liability, and workers' compensation)[[In-content Ad]]