When Trent Richmond bought a small-town Kansas insurance agency from a family friend in 1999, it's safe to say he didn't know what he was getting into. “I wasn't an insurance agent or a college graduate; I worked for years at a rural electric company,” Richmond said. “I went home and told my wife I thought I was getting into the insurance business. And when I bought the agency, I quit my job before I was even licensed to sell insurance. How dumb was that?”

As it turns out, the agency's original owner, who saw in Richmond solid people skills and first-hand knowledge of the rural insureds they served, was right on the money.

Bridges Agency Inc., founded in 1894, is still one of the oldest businesses in rural Norton, Kan.–”a small independent agency on a downtown street corner,” as Richmond describes it–and still providing protection to the region's second- and third-generation farmers.

But in the 10 years since Richmond and partner Dave Lamb took over, the agency, now Bridges Group Insurance, has grown from 3 employees and written premiums of $1.5 million, to a business with written premiums of $12 million. With operations in 4 rural Kansas towns (each with average populations of less than 3,000), Bridges now has a staff of 12 (including 3 producers, 2 account managers, 4 CSRs and a full-time life-health producer).

And the agency's recent affiliation with Combined Agents of America (CAA), a national network of independent agencies based in Texas, has provided Bridges with access insurance markets that would have been impossible before.

True to its roots

Bridges is founded on agriculture. With an 80-20 percent split between commercial and personal lines business, the agency provides coverage for the region's huge agricultural base, specializing in farm and ranch, commercial agriculture, trucking, livestock confinement, and small commercial business.

“There are a ton of commodities around us; 60 to 70 percent of all the feed lots in America are in the Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas region, and they all need insurance,” Richmond said.

And while Bridges is struggling through the recession like everyone else, the Midwest's agricultural base has escaped many of the economic problems seen on the West and East Coasts. “Agriculture is pretty healthy now; you can say it's recession-proof,” Richmond said. “The weak dollar really helps in the export market and the low interest rates we've been seeing in the recession are good for farmers because it helps to keep their operating expense down.”

Not your grandpa's farm

When it comes to risk, Richmond isn't insuring your grandpa's farm. A typical Bridges customer's property might not look impressive–to a city insurance agent's eye, just a modest home and some metal outbuildings–but beneath the surface is a wealth of risk. Today's tractors and combines, which are valued at $150,000 to $250,000, typically come with GPS, computer equipment and data, all of which must be insured. The average farmer has 2,000 acres to cultivate and harvest, and most are diversified with livestock such as cows and calves. To keep things running, the typical farmer also has 1 or 2 full-time employees.

All of this translates to high-liability umbrella coverage for a plethora of farm-related risks, including driving farm machinery on roads, coverage against livestock getting loose and doing damage, chemical application, and accidents involving the all-terrain vehicles that have replaced the horse when farmers roam their fields.

And on the property side, there are those high-priced tractors, onsite grain storage, irrigation pivots, and the regular home and outbuilding coverage. Add workers' compensation, crop insurance, and life-health (to be able to meet of all the farmers' insurance needs), and the average annual premium can run as high as $40,000.

And agriculture is a changing industry with a future that's tied to energy production. With the federal government investing in alternative energy production such as wind farms and biomethane (which converts animal manure to a renewable fuel), farms stand to make big gains in this area–and face a whole new range of risks.

Expertise is essential

Knowing the needs of these customers is what sets Bridges apart from the competition. A big part of providing that expertise is through hiring experts. Bridges vice president and secretary Dave Lamb used to own a grocery store; the agency's trucking insurance producer also owns a trucking company; and the farm and ranch producer was once a feed dealer.

“Many agents have gotten away from one-on-one renewals and policy reviews, but we try to personally contact our customers at every renewal,” Richmond said. This personal contact results in Bridges' retention rates of more than 91 percent since Richmond bought the agency.

Although this focus on service and expertise sets Bridges apart from its local competitors, things get tougher when they're going head to head with larger agencies in more urban locations. What helps is the agency's affiliation with CAA, which provides access to major national insurance markets.

“We've always done business with regional insurers like Allied Insurance, United Fire Group and Continental Western Group, but now we also work with Nationwide Ag, Great American, The Hartford, Travelers and NAU Country Insurance,” he said.

The tech connection

Probably the biggest change over the years is technology. Bridges uses AMS's Instar agency automation system, and scans, downloads and uploads data.

Richmond also knows how important it is to find, hire and retain good employees. The agency has stock restrictions in place for its young leadership team, which seems to make them feel comfortable by limiting stock sale to inside
our group.

Another strategy for growth is through acquisition. Bridges bought the majority interest in a local agency 4 years ago and is currently in the process of folding its operations into Bridges by the end of the year. Because almost 80 percent of Kansas's independent agencies have annual premiums of $1 million or less and are owned by principals facing retirement, Bridges is working with Reagan Consulting and others to set up a perpetuation plan to offer these agencies a buyout for future acquisitions.

The agency also is poised to diversify into other commercial business. Over the past 2 years, Bridges has hired producers who are experienced in other commercial specialties such as oilfield business to spread beyond agriculture.

When asked what advice he'd give to a new agent, Richmond stressed the importance of finding mentors and joining an agency network to help them succeed.

“I had 3 or 4 really strong insurance mentors who have really helped and coached me through the last 10 years, and I couldn't have done it without them,” he said.

“Someone once told me that being a leader doesn't mean you're the smartest person in the room; you need to rely on experts, and sometimes those experts are within your own agency. That challenged me to listen and to learn from others.”

Special Reports /

Agency Success Story- Building Bridges

Related Stories

Recommended For You