Pub. 1 2020 Issue 2

26 Kentucky Trucker Kentucky Trucking Association P hil Brown started his insurance agency in 1988. The new business focused on association plans because Phil had previously worked at Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Kentucky as manager of associ- ation markets. Phil’s son Scott started working for the agency in 1999. Scott thought the job would be temporary at first, but he liked the work and decided to stay. At the time, many of the local agencies were family-owned, but they didn’t necessarily have a succession plan in place that would allow company leadership to hand off control to the next generation. That opened the door for banks, private equity firms, and other national agencies to buy up most of the smaller agencies. There were some offers to buy Phil Brown Insurance, too, but as Phil and Scott began to talk seriously about a transition plan for the company, they decided they wanted to keep control of the company so it could continue to be client-centric and provide them with meaningful work. That is the reason why Phil Brown Insurance is one of the few insurance agencies left in Kentucky under family control. Scott replaced Phil as president on Jan. 1, 2019, and the company is continuing to operate independently. How- ever, Phil is still active in the business and continues to work full time. The company has always done well because of loyalty: Phil and Scott have always taken good care of the staff, the staff has taken good care of its clients, and in response, the trade associations gave the business their support, too. As a result, Phil Brown Insurance has a high retention rate with its employees and its clients. The company has also done well by using technology when it makes sense to streamline processes such as enrollment. By moving away from paper and using one ASSOCIATE MEMBER FOCUS, PHIL BROWN, PHIL BROWN INSURANCE AGENCY