Investing in Employees Is a Priority at Deland, Gibson

As Deland, Gibson Insurance Associates Inc. (DG) approaches its 125-year anniversary, the Massachusetts-based independent agency is expanding its footprint and revenue. DG is also continuing its tradition of treating employees right.

For the second straight year, DG has been recognized in Insurance Journal’s Best Agencies to Work for competition. DG has earned the 2024 Silver regional award in the East region; the agency was recognized in the Bronze category in 2023.

DG secured the Silver award based on anonymous employee responses to the annual Insurance Journal survey. In those responses, staff praised the agency’s focus on growth, team atmosphere and community giving.

“We have a great culture,” an employee said in the survey. “There is opportunity for advancement, continuing education, expectations are clear and communication agency-wide is very good. It really is collaborative, the team is closely-knit and you feel there are always people around willing to help.”

Chip Gibson and his brother, Ted, took the reins of DG from their father, Charlie, in 2020. Since then, Chip has served as CEO, and Ted has been the agency’s president. The brothers are 50-50 partners and the fourth generation to lead the family business in its 124-year history.

Reaching its quasquicentennial will be a big milestone in 2025. But 2024 has been memorable for DG, too. The agency acquired three agencies this year and opened a new location on the south shore of Boston. Building relationships with the new team members has been a positive experience, Chip said.

Since Chip and Ted took the lead at DG, they have invested in the creation of training platforms, formalized a donation committee with employees, and doubled the staff size from about 40 people to more than 80. In that time, revenue has “almost tripled,” Chip said.

“We got really disciplined around planning and breaking down our goals and attacking them,” Chip said. During a planning session — Chip couldn’t recall the year — he remembered a goal of $20 million in revenue was set by the team.

Back then, it felt far away. But fast forward to today, and “we’re going to blow through that in the next three years or less,” Chip said. “It’s taking it day by day. If you can take a step back, figure out goals that will help your organization, and then have accountability within the organization and day-by-day work at them, things have worked out for us. We’ve been fortunate.”

DG’s core business is personal insurance, commercial insurance and employee benefits.

The agency’s benefits team experienced a metamorphosis in 2019, when DG added new talent and grew from servicing primarily small groups to competing with national players. DG’s “1900 Club” handles high net worth accounts, and the agency recently hired a director of VIP accounts and practice groups who is tasked with formalizing service offerings and risk management strategies.

Chip added that the agency plans to continue to develop and hone DG’s industry practice groups.

One respondent to the Insurance Journal survey highlighted that DG’s leadership “understands the importance of being competitive in the marketplace.” Another said that the “owners of the agency are always thinking ahead” and pointed to one-, three-, and 10-year plans posted at each DG location “so that everyone can see daily what our goals are.”

DG hosts an annual meeting during which yearly goals are discussed, and in each employee’s individual reviews, “they can see how their individual yearly goals will roll up to the goals of the agency,” the employee said. “This helps everyone to understand that they are part of something bigger and because the culture is inclusive and people are treated so well, everyone wants to do well to help the agency achieve its goals.”

Chip said the folks at DG constantly strive to be better. “It’s easy for someone to be a business owner and hire someone and hope they just sit in that role for the next 40 years,” he said. “But the best people don’t want that. The best people want to grow. The best people want to make more money. They want to do more.”