L to R: Thomas Dietz, chairman and CEO; Alvin Roehr, president.

With its Cincinnati roots dating back to 1876, Schiff, Kreidler-Shell (SKS) prides itself on serving regional customers like the Cincinnati Zoo, Thomas More College and St. Elizabeth Hospital. But although SKS is a "regionalobCrLf agency, its partnership in the Assurex Global network-and a focus on risk management and benefits-enable it to compete with large national brokerages on their own turfs.

SKS has 118 employees at two locations. Although 80 percent of the business is commercial, SKS also sells personal lines, life, group benefits and risk management services. "Although we're primarily a generalist agency, we also write many construction, agribusiness, manufacturing and nonprofit accounts,obCrLf said Thomas R. Dietz, chairman and CEO. The agency's gross revenue is $22 million.Strong Local RootsSchiff, Kreidler-Shell Inc. was created in 1984 when Robert Schiff purchased Kreidler-Shell from the Cincinnati Equitable Insurance Co. The firm's history began more than 100 years earlier as the A.R. Witham Co. and A. W. Shell & Co., two of the most prominent names in the Cincinnati insurance business. Through a series of acquisitions in the 1970s, Cincinnati Equitable purchased Witham, Shell and the William H. Kreidler Agency and renamed the organization Kreidler-Shell.Dietz joined the firm in 1980 as a producer and was named chairman/CEO in 2005. As CEO, he provides general direction and leadership to the agency and represents SKS to the community. Alvin Roehr joined the agency in 1984 and was appointed president in 2005; he is the agency's leading salesperson.Primary insurers include Cincinnati, Chubb, Travelers, Acuity, Ohio Casualty, Fireman's Fund, Central Mutual, Great American, Hartford and Nationwide Agribusiness.Changing with the TimesAlthough SKS has grown over the years, it has remained true to its core values of integrity, respect, professionalism, teamwork, enthusiasm and community. "Insurance is a relationship business, and SKS fosters deep interaction with its customers and carriers, enabling the agency to work as partners to solve problems and address issues,obCrLf Dietz said. Services include a loss control department including fire protection, safety and business continuity planning capabilities. SKS also employs an individual qualified to perform thorough loss analysis and trending, with a concentration on workers' compensation and casualty claims.To encourage cross-selling, SKS offers financial incentive for its property-casualty producers to sell benefits and vice versa, even cross-selling personal lines.SKS also uses benchmarking in hiring, setting sales goals and reviewing expense ratios. The agency uses information from MarshBerry, CIAB, Assurex Global and Reagan & Assocs. to aid in its analysis.Ownership and EmployeesSKS is owned by 32 employee shareholders and managed by a nine-member board of directors, all of whom are employee-owners of the agency.Perpetuation is part of its strategic plan focusing on ownership, leadership and client base."We try to get stock to younger people and to appoint our successors so that there is someone backing up each top SKS executive,obCrLf Dietz saidSKS's plans for the future are to remain profitable, to realize organic growth and to expand geographically. Although the agency has not focused on mergers or acquisitions for growth, it is continually seeking opportunities and engaging in conversations with other agencies for potential acquisitions. So far, SKS has grown by acquiring books of business and adding several young producers who are fairly new to the industry or to the sales process, and SKS is grooming them for success.obCrLfIf I had to give advice to another independent agent about how to succeed, I would stress the importance of developing a sales culture based on accountability,obCrLf Dietz said. "Never forget the customer as your main focus, create a culture the employees can buy into, and maintain an entrepreneurial spirit. It's certainly a philosophy that's worked for us.obCrLf