The Andrews Agency merges with Ollis & Co.

by Melissa Wilson

SBJ Staff

The dramatic changes in the way health care is distributed in Springfield drove Ted Andrews of The Andrews Agency to merge his company with Ollis & Co. Feb. 1, Andrews said. Ollis & Co., in Springfield since 1885, is located at 2274 E. Sunshine.

Andrews' agency and Ollis & Co. will form what he calls a health source center, which will act as a conduit for a variety of health-related services, education and insurance contracts.

"We've found that the idea of someone using health care and claiming it on their insurance plan is much more complicated than it used to be ... we've instituted a number of things to combat that, such as educational programs and health informational bulletins published out of my office once a month," Andrews said.

"We want to take that to a another plane because we've found the corporate entities, as well, are having greater and greater needs for health information. There are a number of vendors of health insurance and health products for the corporate entities. We're going to be acting as a single source for those vendors," he added.

Andrews said Ollis & Co. has been involved on the occupational side of the corporate health issue for many years while The Andrews Agency has been involved on the non-occupational side.

"It just seems natural that we've pulled together the occupational and non-occupational needs the customer has and put them under one roof," Andrews said.

Ollis & Co. has an employee ownership program which Andrews said he and his employees will participate in with the other Ollis employees.

"We think that this is the best way to form a small company these days," Andrews said.

Andrews said two Andrews Agency positions will become more focused over time as corporate clients are added and third-party administration services will also be expanded as a result of the merger.

Ollis & Co. now has seven employees in the health benefits department.

Andrews worked as a mail carrier while majoring in English literature at Southwest Missouri State University. After graduation, he continued with the post office in another position before entering the insurance business in 1976. He bought Professional Insurance and Investment Management Inc. in 1982 and renamed it The Andrews Agency, which provided employee benefits services, business continuation and estate liquidity.

Andrews said Ollis & Co. will provide the same services The Andrews Agency provided and, except for the new telephone numbers, customers can expect to experience business as usual.

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Ted Andrews' move to Ollis & Co. will expand Ollis' health benefits department.[[In-content Ad]]