On August 5,
Wallace recognized Michael Mercer, Vice President of Operations, for 34 years of service, and Kevin Malloy, Vice President of Marketing, for reaching the 30-year milestone with the company.
Wallace, of Smyrna, started with Pratt Insurance as
a salesperson in 1973, after serving in the U.S. Marines.
At that time
the company had seven employees. Just three years later, he bought a
50 percent stake in the business, and he acquired the remaining 50 percent
in 1980.
The company moved its offices from downtown Smyrna to the Village
of Garrison’s Lake on Route 13
about three miles south of town in 1975,
at the far south end of the shopping center. In 1990, Pratt bought
the
Internal Underwriters building in the shopping center, and then added
the second floor in 1995.
In 2003, the company built a 17,000 square
foot addition to its offices to accommodate the growing staff
which
now includes 39 employees.
What Wallace has enjoyed most is “watching our staff
grow,” he said. “I’ve hired everybody here and watched some people grow
from file clerks to vice presidents. It’s very rewarding.”
“The interaction among our staff and the longevity of
our staff are the key,” said Wallace. “We work well together and we
have that experience. Most people in our company have been here for
15 years or more.”
While technological changes like computers and the internet
have changed the speed at which the company does business, Wallace said
experience and personal service are what has helped the company thrive,
a company that dates back to 1880.
“We will never have an automated answering machine,”
said Wallace. “We’ll always have a human being answering the phone when
you call.”
Pratt Insurance is very much a family business, too.
Wallace has two sons, a daughter, and two daughters-in-law who work
for the company.
“We’ve lived here. Our children have grown up here and
gone to school here, and now our grandchildren are going to school here,”
said Wallace. “While our company has expanded – we’re now licensed in
30 states – we’ve kept a very local presence, and we’re very involved
in the community.”
Mercer and Malloy said the family feeling is evident
in the company. |
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“It’s
certainly a pleasure to come to work here,” said Mercer. “These are
great people to work with.”
Mercer,
of Dover, started with Pratt Insurance after serving in the Air Force
from 1968 to ’74 and then working for Farmers Bank in Dover, now Citizens
Bank.
As he has worked his way up to Vice President of Operations,
he said customer service has always been the most important aspect of
the business.
“We’re
selling a piece of paper. It’s the service that goes behind it that
makes a good agency,” he said.
In his 34 years with Pratt, he’s seen a lot of insurance
companies come and go with mergers and consolidations, and he’s seen
a lot of changes in the conditions of the insurance market and rates.
“Especially in worker’s compensation because rates have
gone down about 40 percent in the past few years because of legislative
reform,” said Mercer.
Malloy, who also lives in Dover, said the family atmosphere
at Pratt has been rewarding.
“I know people who have been in the insurance business
the same amount of time I have, but they’ve worked for four or five
different companies because of attrition and mergers,” he said. “It’s
great to have the stability and longevity we’ve had.”
The biggest change in the industry has been the internet.
“The response time as far as underwriting is almost immediate,”
said Malloy. “What used to take three to five days or even weeks, now
takes 10 to 15 minutes.”
“We’ve grown from local to global,” he said. “We could
be working with a mom-and-pop business in Smyrna that – with the internet
– develops a nationwide or even a worldwide business. There’s never
been a day I’ve left the office that I haven’t learned something new.”
Again, though, Malloy said the success of Pratt Insurance
is because of the great staff. What he’s enjoyed most has been the teamwork
and “watching people grow and mature.”
“To work with people for so long has been very rewarding,”
he said.
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