History of the Agency

 

Professional Insurance Services started in September of 1989 when the owner and president, Richard Aardsma, purchased the Glenn Swanson Insurance Agency.  Prior to that time Rick worked in sales  several years for the Equitable Life Assurance Company in Chicago and was employed at Mitchell Corporation in his home town of South Holland, Illinois.  The Mitchell Corporation provided an excellent training ground but after five years with them he felt God had a different direction for his life.  Rick thought that he needed to move into a smaller agency where he could take on more responsibilities to gain knowledge and experience in the service and management areas.  

 

 

 

Rick met Glenn Swanson, a year or so prior to purchasing his agency, at a training seminar/school in Springfield, Illinois.  Although the meeting was brief they seemed to be compatible and Rick thought Glenn would be the perfect person to talk to about the possibility of  adding a partner to his business.  At that same time Glenn was working with two friends to become a partner in their awning business so when Rick asked to join Glenn in the insurance business he said “No, but you can buy my agency.”  Frankly, Rick was shocked by that response, since in his  mind he was not ready to become an owner that soon.  At that point Rick had only been married a few years and his wife was pregnant with what would be their second daughter in 13 months. He had hoped for a few years of training rather than have the responsibilities of ownership that quickly.  However, after careful consideration the buy-sell agreement was signed and the new agency was on its way!

 

At the time of the purchase, Glenn had been working with another agent toward merging their two agencies together.  They continued in those negotiations which ultimately led to the purchasing of another book of business from Ken Sisk.  Ken agreed to work at the agency a few years, until he reached 65, and brought two full-time customer service representatives.  Combining the agencies gave them  “economies of scale” providing several insurance markets to choose from and the needed personnel to efficiently run the agency.  A few years later the agency merged again with Stefaniak-Conrad Insurance, and more recently the Select and Patterson Insurance Agencies to bring them to the current position.

 

As you can imagine the merging of this many agencies has taken its toll on the agencies operations.  The agency has been forced to move several times to accommodate the growth.  Some insurance companies refused to partner with them for one reason or another and getting the right employee mix has taken time.  However, they feel now they are in the best shape ever by moving to Dyer, Indiana.  Rick believes, “Dyer is part of Indiana’s fastest growing area and we are one of two independent agencies in the town.”

 

Rick left us with this final thought, “We look forward to the coming months and years.  The insurance industry, recently fallen on ‘hard times’, is now poised to make a come back and we feel as if we are in the perfect position to move ahead.  We feel confident we can provide the best in quality selection and service for our valued policyholders.  We are really looking forward to he future here at Aardsma Agency.”