Thursday, Feb. 14, 2008

Goal achieved for Gantz in Perry

by Kenneth Lassiter

Since entering the insurance field a few years ago, Angie Gantz’s goal has been to open an office in her hometown of Perry.

Brooks and Gantz

She made that goal happen Jan. 11 with the opening of A G Insurance in the Kaw Valley Professional Building east of First State Bank and Trust. The office is a branch of the Tozier Parkway Housh and Jones insurance agency, which Gantz joined in 2006. She started her insurance career with Jefferson County Insurance in Oskaloosa after working in the mutual fund business.

Gantz is planning an open house at the new office from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.

Gantz grew up in Perry as the daughter of Bob and Norma Trude. She lives outside of town on Gantz Farms with her husband, Mark, and their three children – Emma, 16, Morgan, 11, and Ella, 3.

“I had been working in the Lawrence office for Tozier Parkway Housh and Jones but I had always wanted to come back to my hometown and set up an office,” Gantz said. “These are the people I grew up with. This is my community and it was my goal all along to get an office here. I want to be able to deal with people in a rural setting.”

Gantz brought along her assistant from Lawrence, Joshua Brooks, to the new office after he joined Tozier Parkway Housh and Jones last summer. Brooks is a South Dakota native who lives in Lawrence with his wife and their son, Samuel. As a former haul trucker who ran a trucking company in Kansas City for a couple years, his specialty is construction and transportation-related insurance, although he is qualified in all types of insurance.

Gantz said one of the strengths of A G Insurance is the power it brings from Tozier Parkway Housh and Jones, which represents 14 major insurance companies from Allied and Progressive to AIG and Safeco. She said the wide variety of companies represented can give the customer a full range of options for their needs. Another advantage Gantz brings to the new Perry business is the portfolio of customers she has built since her beginnings at JCI.

“If someone needs something insured, we can insure it,” Gantz said. “We’re not captive to any one insurance brand. Hopefully having an office here can make it more comfortable for my customers out here. It’s a location a little closer to home.”

Brooks, who came to Kansas when his wife got a full scholarship to do master’s degree work at the University of Kansas, said he has adjusted fairly well to the insurance field.

“When I first got into it, I was kinda concerned about what I felt was selling a product to people,” Brooks said. “The more I got into it, the more I realized it’s really about helping people, and I feel like I can really help people by finding them insurance that works best for them.”

Brooks said Gantz’s commitment to her community shows.

“Her heart is putting money back into the community, so she’s very dedicated to that,” he said.

Gantz said it’s been a case of so far, so good with the new business. The space it’s in formerly housed a beauty salon.

“We’re staying busy,” Gantz said. “We went to the farm show last month and got a good kick off from that. Josh does a lot of work out of the Lawrence and Kansas City area, as he knows his way around pretty well from working in the trucking industry. Hopefully we’ll prosper here.”