| AGENCY PROFILE |
BRIEF HISTORY
Fuqua Insurance Group was founded in 1973, in
Hesston, KS by Larry Fuqua. The agency began as
financial services – life insurance primarily. Larry
began selling property and casualty business in 1981.
Chad Fuqua, Larry’s son, joined the agency, after a
four-year career as an insurance adjuster, in 2000.
The agency has grown from 2 employees in 1999 to
11 total in 2018 with offices in Hesston, Newton, and
Lindsborg, KS since Chad joined his father.
WHAT MAKES FUQUA UNIQUE?
Our staff and their deep involvement in the
communities in which they live and operate. We
believe that we are in a relationship business first
and foremost, and all of our staff is encouraged to
bring new ideas on how we can get better at serving
our clients. We operate as a team, rather than a top
down organization. Every one of our employees has
input into how we operate on day-to-day business
and how we achieve our goals of delivering a service
to our clients that exceeds their expectations. Our
agency and all staff has embraced the time we live in
where constant change isn’t just a requirement, but
it’s an exciting journey.
WHAT ARE FUQUA’S
FUTURE PLANS?
Continued growth throughout Central KS, both
organic growth and acquisition if the opportunity
should arise. Our organic goals will be met by hiring
quality producers and service staff that understand
our philosophy of developing a relationship with
our clients, rather than just sell to them. Acquisition
growth will only occur when we find an agency
principal looking to retire that cares deeply about
their clients having a very high standard of service
continuing after he/she exits the agency business.
Fuqua Insurance Group
Fuqua
Insurance Group
Location:
Hesston/Lindsborg/Newton
Year Established:
1973
Years in Business:
45
ANY MARKETING THAT HAS
REALLY TAKEN OFF FOR FUQUA?
Some of our best marketing has come from our
employee involvement in the community. We
don’t just sponsor events, we get involved. Our
staff enjoys being in the community, talking to
our clients about our/their passions not related to
insurance. Really getting to know our clients and
prospective clients. Some of our staff have used
social media to interact with a growing number
of our clients that communicate via social media.
But our best source of marketing comes from
our existing clients who are willing to share their
experience of working with us to their friends,
family, and colleagues.
ANY TECHNOLOGY THAT HAS
MADE YOUR ORGANIZATION
MORE EFFICIENT?
As insurance agents, it may come as
somewhat of a surprise, but none of us
are really smart enough to invent our own
technology to become more efficient. So we
just spend a lot of money on other people’s
ideas. We use Applied EPIC as our agency
management system. It seems like we learn
something new every week that we can do
with EPIC. We were the first agency in KS to
use the EPIC platform from Applied in late
2008, and there have been some bumps in
HOW HAS KAIA/AScK HELPED YOUR AGENCY
KAIA has helped the agency by providing a legislative voice, education
and career development opportunities for our entire staff, as well as many
networking opportunities with other insurance agents and insurance
company representatives.
Chad got involved with the KAIA in 2004 as a member of the KAIA
Golf Committee and has chaired the committee since 2006. In
conjunction, Chad has been the KS State Chair for the Trusted Choice
Big “I” Junior Golf National Championship since 2006. Tim Tyner
invited (insisted) Chad to join the KAIA board in 2012 after the
KAIA board approved his request to host the 2015 Trusted Choice
Big “I” Junior Golf National Championship at Prairie Dunes CC in
Hutchinson, where Chad served as a host chair for the event. Chad
has kept in touch with several of the junior golfers he has met through
this capacity over the last 12 years and is proud to have some of them,
and some of their parents, as clients. Even more proud that one of the
Number of full-time staff:
11
Principals:
Chad Fuqua
Mike Dreier
the road. But we are very pleased with how
easy EPIC made going paperless, which we
completed in 2009, among several other
issues which makes working the volume of
clients we have much more efficient. EPIC
has several bells and whistles that can make
life as an agent much easier.
ANYTHING ELSE YOU WOULD
LIKE OTHERS TO KNOW ABOUT
YOUR AGENCY?
In 2013 Fuqua Insurance Group joined
Combined Agents of America (CAA), a Texas
based aggregator that has helped the agency
develop into a better service agency via the
intellectual capital shared, access to additional
markets , ownership in a Premium Finance
Company, and networking with like-minded
partners in the industry that all share the
common goal of being the very best we can be.
And we have a noncompete agreement with each
other, so we can be free to share ideas without
any concerns.
National qualifiers from 2009 chose to join Fuqua Insurance Group as
a producer after he graduated from Kansas State in January 2015.
Chad has also had the pleasure of serving on the Government Affairs
committee since 2008, when Bob Fee appointed him to the committee,
and has been the Government Affairs Chairman for the last two years.
“This has been one of the most interesting and educational committees
to serve on during my insurance career and truly is the most important
thing the KAIA does for all independent insurance agents in KS,” Chad
says. “From Healthcare reform to Work Comp reform to minimum
liability limits to insurance pool legislation; the Government Affairs
committee is active in protecting the interest of all member agencies,
agents, and the clients we all represent via legislative intervention. If I
were to meet an agent wanting to get involved with the KAIA, I would
highly recommend that they request getting involved with Government
Affairs. It’s the most important and rewarding volunteer experience
you can get involved with at the KAIA.”
| March - April 2018 | KANSAS INSURANCE AGENT & BROKER
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