sharing the former hotel space on West Sixth Street. Throughout the office, signs of the hotel still exist.
The original white, green and brick-colored, retro-style tiles form the word,“ Leland,” near the entrance. Inside, the former hotel lobby has a modern, rustic feel with exposed brick and plenty of natural light, but also reflects the 1920s with touches like tin ceiling tiles and doorways framed with dark wood trim.
But the guys haven’ t forgotten to add their own flavor.
Not far from Brannon Green’ s desk hangs a piece of the former college football player’ s past. The framed jersey is a reminder of his time as a starting tight end at the University of Oklahoma, where he transferred after playing two seasons at Fort Scott Community College.
Though each man found success individually, it wasn’ t until a trip from Kansas City earlier this year, the two decided to go into business together. The decision, Dickey said, just made sense. They not only knew each other from their football days at Fort Scott, but they had experience and a similar philosophy when it came to the insurance industry and serving their clients. Even Brannon was engaged to Zac’ s sister.
“ We saw an opportunity for this market, and a new way to approach it,” Dickey said.“ We had two hours to talk, and learned we really operated much the same way. But, we knew we had to forfeit our income in order to start a business.”
On the walls, Green displays his Sooners football jersey, while a framed photo taken during PSU’ s national playoff game reflects a moment in Dickey’ s milestone year. Even a stuffed gorilla sits on a sofa in the lobby area.
A more intimate workspace in the back of the building is often called the war room because of its large dry-erase boards business strategies and goals scrawled across them in red ink. And while the team is focused on getting their business off the ground, there’ s also time to blow off steam. A glossy, wood-grained conference room table converts for a game of ping pong, and a slackline is nearby for anyone needing a quick break.
“ A lot of businesses, for whatever reason, are taking their business out of Crawford and Bourbon counties,” Dickey said.“ We want to ask people to keep their money local. It’ s a big drain on the local economy for insurance premiums to be leaving the area when they could be staying right
“ We knew it would be a lot of hard work, but we didn’ t deem it as impossible. The hard part was we had to call it quits with both of our employers, so we could get started on this process. It was very, very scary because we had to forfeit all of our income, and then try to get the agency started.”
“ I think I suggested it before Zac,” Green said.“ But it was one of those fairytale thoughts … maybe someday. But some things happened that really pushed us over that ledge( because) we knew that if we didn’ t do it, someone was going to.”
So in March, they quit their jobs and began working full-time on opening an agency in downtown Pittsburg. By April 5, they opened the doors to Next Generation Insurance in the former Leland Hotel building, which operated from 1908-1928.
The agency sits among a funky mix of businesses, including a bar and hair salon, all
One of the more special details of starting a new business, Dickey and Green said, was the development of their agency logo – the white buffalo. The logo, which symbolizes change and a new way of doing business, is prominently displayed on the agency’ s front window and door.
| May- June 2017 | KANSAS INSURANCE AGENT & BROKER
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