Community Insurance, Capitalizes on Growth & Opportunities in Spencer

Community Insurance has always had a simple, straightforward mission: to provide comprehensive coverage and topnotch customer service.

Many families and businesses in the Spencer community have come to rely on Community Insurance to make good on that mission. It’s more of a promise for the team located at 315 Grand Avenue – right in the heart of town – and one that the team looks forward to keeping each and every day.

“Our team loves working with our clients and getting to know them on a personal level, as well as being there when unexpected, life-altering events occur,” said Agency President Scott Simpson. “We help navigate the claims process to offer support during these various situations, helping clients in any way we can.”

Combined, the team of 11 at Community Insurance has 163 years of insurance knowledge and experience that allows them to serve their clients, which are located throughout 13 different states.

All from right here on historic Grand Avenue!

Community Insurance, Chamber offer opportunities

Although Community Insurance has been an integral part of the Spencer business community since 1988, the Simpsons were not far behind. In fact, Alison is originally from Spencer.

After the couple graduated from Bemidji State University in 1995, Alison was hired by Spencer Community Schools. Scott joined Community Insurance shortly after they made Spencer their home.

“Community Insurance offered me an opportunity to get into the insurance industry, and I have not looked back,” he said. “Through this business, I have met many different people of all walks of life. I have been blessed to have mentors who have helped guide me along my journey, and I now enjoy mentoring others.”

Community Insurance and the Simpsons are strong supporters of the Spencer Chamber and the Chamber Foundation.

“We feel that the Chamber is a very integral part of the success of our community,” Simpson said. “I have served on the Chamber Board of Directors, and have been a Chamber Ambassador since 1996.” Alison also serves on the Chamber Foundation board.

Simpson noted the Chamber’s many activities throughout the year allow ample opportunities for professionals to network with other likeminded community members.

“They also have many resources to help small businesses,” he said. “I would suggest reaching out to the Chamber to see how they can positively impact and support your business.”

Agency’s rapid growth leads to new venture

As for itself, Community Insurance has experienced tremendous growth in the last several years.

The agency started in Spencer in 1988 as a full-service, independent agency, then in 2004 joined Community State Bank. That partnership lasted for 13 years.

Scott and Alison purchased Community Insurance from Community State Bank in 2017. In an interview with KICD following the news, Simpson said both the bank and the agency had experienced considerable growth leading up to the purchase, which created the need for additional space in the bank.

“We’d been trying to find ways to deal with that good problem, and in throwing things around, we came up with the idea of moving the agency out, and the bank offered the opportunity to Alison and me to purchase the agency,” he said.

That’s when they made the decision to relocate the business to its current location on Grand Avenue. That building was the former location of Fabric Warehouse. When Community Insurance bought the building, they decided to go all-in on revitalization.

Although it was less of a revitalization and more of a restoration, Simpson explained.

“We worked with our contractors to help renovate and reinvigorate the building to its current state,” he said. “We basically brought the building back to its original architectural rendering from 1931 when it was first built as the Woodcock Building.”

New partnership broadens agency’s future

Simpson and his team are constantly exploring new opportunities for better products and services to help its clients protect what matters most to them. As a smaller agency located in rural Iowa, they were finding it increasingly difficult to have access to carriers and additional tools and resources available to agencies in larger market areas.

Through their ongoing efforts to improve product offerings, Community Insurance began to explore the potential of joining forces with a larger agency. Finally, through a long vetting process, the agency was introduced to AssuredPartners (AP).

“We felt the culture and product offerings of AP were a perfect fit for our agency,” Simpson said.

The partnership between Community Insurance and AssuredPartners officially began in January 2021.

“It was a seamless transition,” Simpson said.

“This merger gave us access to many more services, such as loss control, legal assistance with claims, technology platforms, association and captive programs as well as other resources – yet we are still able to operate with the local control of our agency, as we did prior to our merger. Our slogan has always been to provide service you can count on and protection you can rely on, and our partnership with AP has helped us take that to a new level.”

Shortly after the partnership was made official, Community Insurance acquired Insurance Associates of Spencer in February 2021. That agency had been a staple in the Spencer business community since 1984.

Community Insurance has not only been able to serve the clients of Insurance Associates of Spencer, but Scott and Alison were also then able to purchase the business’s building at 328 Grand.

The building is currently home to Community Housing Initiatives, as well as Wildflour Bake Shop and Market.

Now, it’s the Simpsons and Community Insurance who are providing opportunities for other Spencer businesses and organizations.