EVERETT — Petershagen Insurance celebrates a milestone this year after 120 years of serving the Everett area.
Perry Pearson has been the steward of the independent insurance broker for the past 25 years, serving an equal mix of commercial and personal clients.
Petershagen Insurance’s lineage dates to 1891, when Richard King started an insurance business in the Lowell area. Namesake Henry H. Petershagen arrived in Everett in 1906. He was involved with several insurance businesses before he became a partner in 1920 with A.D. Lewis in what was King’s original business.
Petershagen’s sons, Al and George, joined their father’s business in 1937 and ran it until 1981. Pearson entered the insurance business in 1968 as a representative and underwriter for Fireman’s Fund, calling on independent agents across his Western Washington territory, including the Petershagens.
“It got me to know a lot of the independent agencies, and this was one of the ones I called on,” Pearson said.
When Pearson bought the agency, he changed its name to Petershagen Insurance because he wanted to retain the historical business name for the community. Everett is a town that appreciates loyalty, he said.
At the time Pearson took the helm, Petershagen Insurance focused primarily on personal insurance for homes, cars, boats and recreational vehicles. He gradually diversified into commercial lines and now keeps the split with personal lines “as close to 50-50 as possible.” Petershagen offers insurance through 10 primary carriers, several specialty carriers and surplus lines companies for commercial coverage.
The diversification helped Pearson’s agency weather the housing bubble and recession unlike agencies that concentrated their coverage on housing contractors and land developers during the housing boom. He said some agencies covered nothing but contractors and developers during that time.
In Petershagen’s case, Pearson said policies covering contractors and developers made up only 20 percent of the commercial half of his business.
Just like the local banking industry that was left staggering under bad loans when the housing bubble burst in 2008, “some of those agencies were hit hard, too,” he said.
Looking back on when applications were filled in by hand and it took days to get a quote on a policy, Pearson now appreciates the technology that’s improving the insurance industry’s efficiency and speed.
“The faster you are, the more business you get,” he said.
“It’s a good thing, the speed,” he said. “But you lose touch with the customers. This used to be a ‘people’ business — that’s just my opinion. Now some of these people we don’t even see. … I miss the personal contact.”
Even though Pearson has reached retirement age, he still likes what he does.
“In 10 years, I wouldn’t doubt I’m still doing the same thing, as long as I’m enjoying it,” he said.
Pearson aims to spread that satisfaction among his two agents, Shelley Hutcheson-Smith and Melissa Pepper, and bookkeeper, Teri Austin.
“I try to make the atmosphere in the office a place where people want to work,” Pearson said. “I try to make it an eight-hour day where you’d like to come to work.”
Gazing into the future is always a tricky proposition, but Pearson thinks there will probably be fewer small to mid-size independent agencies like Petershagen Insurance a decade from now.
“We don’t plan on being sold to one of the big guys,” he said. “As long as we keep a relationship with the companies we represent and our clientele, there’s a place for us.”
Learn more
Petershagen Insurance is located at 1511 Wall St., Everett. To talk to an agent, call 425-252-5197, email agency@petershagen insurance.com or go to www.petershageninsurance.com.
Kurt Batdorf: 425-339-3102; kbatdorf@scbj.com.
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