Hollister Agency To Merge With Oswego Valley Insurance Agencies

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OSWEGO, NY – Hollister Agency, Inc., of Mexico, will soon be merging with Oswego Valley Insurance Agencies and their growing family of insurance agencies.

OVIA is the umbrella organization for companies that have included: Streeter & VanSanford, Dowd & Harrington, The Barrett Agency, and Whorrall Agency.

They also recently opened a new office location in Brewerton this past spring.

The merger will take place in January 2009.

Hollister Agency, located at 3382 Main St., Mexico, will continue to operate under the Hollister name, with the same management and staff, but now under the OVIA umbrella, according to Jerry Hollister, owner of the 100-year-old agency.

“We’re very enthusiastic about our new partnership and merger with OVIA,” said Hollister. “Their rich history, shared customer service philosophies, and similar product lines will be of great benefit to our many customers. In fact, customers will truly see no difference in their level of service, or the products that we’ve offered in the past.”

Family-owned since 1913, and originally established in 1905, Hollister Agency provides more than 100 years of experience and a staff with an average of more than 23 years each within the industry.

“As the insurance industry has changed over the years, it’s become more challenging for local companies like OVIA to compete with online or national firms,” said Chuck Harrington, vice president of OVIA. “Our niche as a community insurance provider, however, is something that our customers and others still feel strongly about. People like to know their agents, and the addition of a respected agency like Hollister in the Mexico market build upon that value of OVIA.”

According to Harrington, both Hollister and OVIA also work with the same insurance providers, making it an easy transition.

“It was a very convenient ‘marriage’ of companies for our customers,” he said. “And, our customers should only expect good things from this.”

According to Hollister, since 2000 both Hollister and OVIA have achieved the honor of being named to Kemper Insurance Company’s Top 50 performing personal lines agencies nationwide.

OVIA began expanding a few years ago as larger insurance companies began to compete with the local, smaller firms like Hollister.

“Our competition used to be down the street, now it could be across the country or across the globe,” Harrington said.

“With that kind of competition, it’s comforting to find reputable people to compete with, not against,” Hollister added.

OVIA was founded in 1997 upon the merger of two longstanding local insurance agencies that provided service to the community since the late 1800s.

Dowd & Harrington Inc. and Streeter & VanSanford Inc. merged to form OVIA, and today operate five offices in Oswego County including Oswego, Fulton, Phoenix, Brewerton and now Mexico, servicing more than 10,000 clients.

OVIA offers customers a broad range of business and personal insurance including property, liability, automobile, life, health and financial products.

For more information, call (315) 343-6310 or visit www.insureit.com

For additional information on the Hollister Agency, call (315) 963-7263 or visit www.hollisterinsuranceagency.com missing or outdated ad config

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