Keystone Insurers Group to Expand into Seventh State: Tennessee

NORTHUMBERLAND, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Keystone Insurers Group, with more than 215 franchise partners in six states, today announced it will expand into Tennessee early next year. The privately held company is owned by its employees and partners in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky.

“We met with Chuck Bidek, executive director of the state association and its director of communications, Dan Smith, to discuss Keystone's intentions and to answer any questions they wished to ask”

Executive Vice President Colin Buzzard, in announcing Keystone's expansion, said, "We anticipate launching Tennessee in the first quarter of 2011 with around 15 'pioneer' partners. That select group will set the direction for Keystone in Tennessee and will dictate future partner opportunities. We place great confidence in that initial group. They are ultimately the ones who bring the best together."

Every partner within the Keystone umbrella is an independent agency, individually owned and operated while benefitting from an enhanced array of services and support that comes with being part of the larger group. The model has proven so successful that over the past 10 years, Keystone has grown from 16 to 215 franchise partners – all, for now, in the Mid-Atlantic and Midwestern regions of the country.

Buzzard said that in anticipation of next year’s entry into Tennessee, Keystone has been in contact with influential insurance industry representatives there. Insurors of Tennessee, a statewide association of independent insurance agents, is key.

"We met with Chuck Bidek, executive director of the state association and its director of communications, Dan Smith, to discuss Keystone's intentions and to answer any questions they wished to ask,” Buzzard said. “We are huge supporters of the associations. We’ve made a practice over the years of apprising them of our intentions, explaining how Keystone operates and letting them know what corporate partners can expect from Keystone."

Buzzard said Keystone is designed to enhance the value of an independent agency. He called the Keystone model “mutually beneficial” to the individual partners and the larger group.

“Keystone consistently provides greater opportunity. It’s staffed with people who work for the partners and who treat others as they wish to be treated. Additionally, and maybe most important, our current Keystone partners in all six states take an active role in populating a state, encouraging candidates and educating their peers to the benefits.

“Entry into any state is a process of education, communication and determining mutual benefits,” he explained. “We don't get consumed with which agency is the biggest; rather, we're interested in who is the most respected, who is involved in their associations and communities, who wishes to increase agency value and who wishes to perpetuate their agencies into future generations."

About Keystone Insurers Group (KIG) – Founded in 1983 and headquartered in Northumberland, Pa., KIG is owned by its employees and franchise partners, each of which is an independent agency. With property/casualty premiums exceeding $1.4 billion, KIG is ranked fifth on Insurance Journal's 2010 list of Top 100 Privately-Held Property/Casualty Agencies. For more information, go to www.keystoneinsgrp.com