Brown around

Ben Brown Insurance Inc. had been around about 30 years in the 1980s when Russ Brown, son of the founder and agency namesake, won a contract to handle commercial insurance for Meyer & Gabbert Excavating Contractors Inc.

Since being acquired by WCA Waste Corp., Meyer & Gabbert for years was one of the largest excavation and demolition firms in the region. And with competing insurance firms bidding for the work, it was a sizable coup for Sarasota-based Ben Brown. “It was one of those proud-to-have accounts,” says Ryan Brown, Ben Brown's grandson, Russ Brown's nephew and a vice president and agent at the firm. “When people found out we had that account, it said a lot about us.”

Another aspect of the 22-employee firm that says a lot is its longevity as an independent, family-run insurance firm. The company turns 60 this year. Revenue at Ben Brown Insurance, now headed by Ben Brown's other son, Michael Brown, has been up double-digits each of the past few years. Michael Brown declines to release specific figures for sales or premiums.

“The last few years have been really strong,” Ryan Brown says. “We've been really cranking.”

Ben Brown Insurance, which counts both individuals and business clients, has won several other big accounts through the years, beyond Meyer & Gabbert. The client list includes Lakewood Ranch-based Gold Coast Eagle Distributing, a $164.6 million Anheuser-Busch distributor with facilities in Ohio and Florida; D&D Garage Doors; Atlantic TNG, a $13 million concrete products firm; and the Old Salty Dog, a restaurant with three Sarasota County locations.

The core task now at Ben Brown is to land more big hits like Gold Coast and Atlantic TNG. The agency has taken several steps to do that, including recently hiring two new producers, one for commercial lines and one for personal lines. It's also doing some external marketing and branding for the first time, in regard to its 60th anniversary.

“We are aggressive,” says Evan Brown, Ryan Brown's brother, who is also a vice president and agent at the firm. “We don't sit around and wait for the phone to ring.”

For individuals, Ben Brown handles auto, home and life insurance, working with more than a dozen personal insurance carriers. For businesses, the firm targets eight industries, from self-storage to home health care agencies to nonprofits, and two of its top areas are construction and wholesale-distribution companies. The agency works with another dozen or so commercial insurance carriers, including Lakewood Ranch-based FCCI Insurance Group, where it's a chairman's club member for its high levels of business.

Another challenge the firm is about to grapple with is succession. Michael Brown, 65, joined the firm right out of college in 1973 and took over the firm in 1994 after Ben Brown died. Russ Brown remains with the agency, handling personal lines.

Ryan Brown, 36, joined the firm in 2004 and Evan Brown, 33, came aboard in 2005. Both Brown sons have bachelor's degrees in risk management and insurance from Florida State University.

The younger Browns have begun to attend firm management and strategy meetings, and the company recently hired a consultant to guide them through succession planning. Michael Brown says there's no timetable for the actual transition of ownership, but he wants the firm to be prepared when it does happen. “We want to remain a family business,” Brown says, “and we need to change to stay relevant.”

— Mark Gordon