Wow, 2022 has been going by in a blur!

Both TrueNorth Companies (TNC) and First MainStreet Insurance (FMSI) have continued a very strong year. TrueNorth’s Risk Management team is having one of their best years yet, investing in organic growth and making some key talent acquisitions. Among many other areas, these two components have resulted in many of TNC’s producers having their best year on record.

FMSI has also continued its significant growth pattern, not only showing the ability to get deals done on the mergers and acquisitions front but also past investments in some organic growth areas are proving to show very positive results. Despite a hyper-aggressive M&A landscape that is fueled by private equity and publicly backed firms, FMSI has produced many new partnerships in 2022. From Dec. 31, 2021, to Sept. 1, 2022, we have onboarded seven insurance agencies onto the platform. Simply put, more and more insurance agencies are lining up after finding the immense value our platform creates; not only for themselves but for their staff, their clients and their communities.

Joining the platform in June was Hagge Insurance Agency. With three locations in Southeast Iowa, Hagge Insurance is led by two brothers—Jeff and Jason Hagge. It is our pleasure to welcome Jeff and Jason as our newest partners on the platform. As a second-generation insurance agency with roots dating back to 1975, Hagge Insurance comes to us with a strong lineage of growing their insurance operations, investing in their staff and giving back to their communities. With a great collection of insurance carriers and a ton of talent inside their walls, we could not be more excited to have Hagge Insurance Agency and its five staff members join our family of insurance agencies.

The second agency to come to our platform is Ringgold Insurance Services (RIS), located in Mt. Ayr, Iowa. Ted Smith has owned and operated this agency since its inception. His daughter, and FMSI’s new partner, Renda Smith, will be joining the team and helping lead us forward. Now with two locations in Mt. Ayr (Tyler Insurance Services), we are excited for the future of our partnerships in this Southwest Iowa town. Ted will continue to help guide the office in conjunction with his daughter and we are happy to have the three new team members join the FMSI platform. 

“I was brought into First Mainstreet for a couple of reasons: First, to create a path and process to increase levels of organic growth and, second, to implement those strategies within our production staff. I’m a firm believer that creating organic growth does not have to be difficult. As a matter of fact, two words come to mind that can lead to amazing results - simplified and focused.

“We have created a process within First Mainstreet that produces predictable and guaranteed results that we refer to as the ‘DEEP Experience’ (Delivering Excellence in Every Process). This process is not about collecting policies and quoting them to save money, it is about taking a true risk management role to our clients and creating value, while managing their Total Cost of Risk in a way that they have never experienced before. We aim to raise the bar in every move that we make and change the way they view insurance.

"Over the past seven months, we have had multiple large wins and the producers responsible for these wins would give credit to this ‘simplified and focused’ process. The road map is simple, it’s just not easy. My job is to continue to push our producers to become the best versions of themselves so that they experience a life of no regrets, only ‘re-greats.’ The road to success is not a straight line but having a path to follow and trusting the process will lead to a new level of accomplishment, confidence and ultimately, financial freedom.”

Matt Hughes
Sales Strategist FMSI

As we wrap up this edition of E-Merge, we continue to gain momentum in the marketplace. We will extend our partnerships and move forward while continuing to build up existing partnerships so they not only compete and win in this marketplace, but are able to perpetuate their agencies in their local communities. Local ownership is of the highest order for us and meaningful for our platform to continue its impact in our local communities.

We ask you to reach out to start a discussion with me. Maybe you won’t like what you hear, maybe you will, but I can promise you it will be a fun conversation.

Cheers to you all and best of luck as you head right into the fourth quarter!

Dan Driscoll
Director of Strategic Expansion and M&A

DDriscoll@truenorthcompanies.com
319-739-1444