By William Hamilton
PBN Staff Writer
In an era when even the most established businesses can – and often do – vanish in the wake of a merger or acquisition, the staff at East Providence-based Starkweather & Shepley Insurance Brokerage Inc. never has to worry.
That’s because the 129-year-old company isn’t owned by an individual, or a corporate entity that is charged with creating profits for faceless shareholders. Starkweather & Shepley is owned by a trust.
It’s part of what makes the insurance brokerage a great place work, according to Steven E. Deware, senior vice president.
“The goal of the trust is to run the agency to the benefit of the employees,” Deware explained. “And that’s allowed us to reward our employees because we really do value our people.”
Those rewards include a generous benefit package, profit-sharing, and a “high level of confidence and trust” in the top executives, according to Deware.
The arrangement has certainly paid off.
Established in Providence in 1879, the agency in recent decades has grown organically and through about a dozen acquisitions. Most recently, Starkweather purchased Stabile and Associates LLC in Warwick. (READ MORE)
The company is now one of the largest independent brokerages in the country, and it provides insurance, employee benefits and risk-management services in the United States and abroad. Last year, it was ranked as the nation’s 86th-largest independent insurance brokerage by Business Insurance, a national trade publication.
Deware says it all starts with the people who work at Starkweather, because much of the business is about personal service.
There are 109 employees at several branches offices in Rhode Island and 40 other workers in Massachusetts.
“It’s great people working for a great organization,” Deware said. “Customers don’t want to buy their insurance over the Internet. Our business is high-touch as well as high-tech.”
Starkweather wasn’t always trust-owned. That didn’t happen until 1935 after several costly successions – when company stockholders, in an effort to develop a perpetuation plan, put their shares into a trust.
Deware said the trust also allows the company to avoid the uncertainty of succession created when an agency owner passes away. The issue has led other agencies to either close or merge with others. Such security helps employee morale, Deware said.
As proof that Starkweather is a great place to work, Deware pointed to the number of longtime employees: eight have worked at the agency for more than 30 years, 25 for more than 20.
Tripp has been at Starkweather for more than 40 years. Both Calamis and McGillivray have worked at the agency for more than 30 years.
Deware himself has worked at Starkweather & Shepley for 11 years, having worked at another agency for 20 years before it was purchased by Starkweather.
“I wish I could’ve come here 20 years earlier,” he said. “We have just an outstanding team.” •
