Lessons learned—and a charitable commitment to the communities it serves—kindled a rags-to-riches comeback for GoodWorks Insurance, says Chad Yonker, the former minority investor who took over the agency as CEO in 2011.
GoodWorks Insurance
Glastonbury, Connecticut
Founded: 2006
Employees: 34
Lessons learned—and a charitable commitment to the communities it serves—kindled a rags-to-riches comeback for GoodWorks Insurance, says Chad Yonker, the former minority investor who took over the agency as CEO in 2011. The original agency, which traces its roots to another Connecticut office established in 1913, nearly failed in 2011—not because of a poor business model, but “due to the effects of overpriced and poorly executed acquisitions,” Yonker says.
Since then, the agency has more than tripled in size while giving half its growing profit base to charities in the Northeast. With 11 producers and growing, GoodWorks’ 2015 sales totaled approximately $6 million, and the agency expects up to 50% growth for 2016. Agency owners, including Yonker, decline compensation in order to boost the profit pool available for giving.
The agency’s most recent acquisition is Metayer Bonding Associates in Avon, Connecticut.
PAUL BRIAN, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
The biggest difference between GoodWorks and our competitors is that our corporate charter requires a minimum of 50% of operating earnings be distributed to nonprofits that support education, health care and public safety in the communities we serve. Our commitment to nonprofits has resulted in growth opportunities that would not otherwise be available from an organic growth perspective or in the M&A arena. We have more than tripled the size of the company since 2011, and we expect to continue to grow organically and through M&A. We currently do business with customers across the nation and internationally.
We focus on the following key specialty areas, many of which are backed up by key trade association endorsements or recommendations: nonprofits; wholesale and retail energy distribution; commercial contractors and surety bonds; manufacturers, with a focus on aerospace parts; financial institutions; brewers and bottlers; and high net-worth or private client personal lines. We consider continued growth in each of these segments key to our future success as an agency.
CHAD YONKER, CHAIRMAN & CEO
While watching the original GoodWorks Insurance fail—along with our original investment—was difficult, lessons learned have been critical to our success since the recapitalization and change of management and ownership in 2011. Being flexible and finding win-win solutions for both buyer and seller is key to long-term satisfaction. It requires a disciplined approach that we feel we do extremely well. As proof of this, the former principals of the agencies we have acquired since taking the reins at GoodWorks have all become happy members of the GoodWorks family and have been our best marketers in finding other merger & acquisition opportunities.
Our motto is: “Big Enough to Help. Small Enough to Care.” We pride ourselves on being large enough to provide expertise and market access on par or even in excess of the large national brokers in our key areas of focus, while also being small enough to provide the local and personalized service that differentiates independent agencies from their larger rivals.
MICHAEL METAYER, PRESIDENT, METAYER BONDING ASSOCIATES, A GOODWORKS FINANCIAL COMPANY
Metayer Bonding Associates, the most recent GoodWorks acquisition, has become the largest independent surety-only agency in the Northeast and, as such, adds another critical tool to the specialized growth arsenal of GoodWorks. We will continue our efforts to expand our surety bond business. GoodWorks, which was already selling surety bonds, has become a major player in the surety business. We’re making a big push to expand our contractor business in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and nearby states. Few other agencies have comparable bond and construction-insurance expertise.
The two companies fit together hand in glove. We can now offer insurance to all our clients, with the same high level of expertise and service our clients have come to expect from us. And we have a dedicated bond division that can manage the bonds for all GoodWorks clients. GoodWorks Insurance and Metayer Bonding share the same philosophy: to treat our clients right every time. Established in 1996, Metayer Bonding has supported charities from the American Cancer Society to the St. Francis Foundation. Now that we’re part of a larger organization, we can do even more for the community.
