Siegel Insurance Celebrates 60 Years

Siegel Insurance, an independent insurance agency in Atlanta, recently celebrated its 60th anniversary at the Marriott Century Center alongside around 150 current and former employees, partner insurance carriers, and clients.

In the midst of the celebration, raffle, and hors d’oeuvres, Andy Siegel shared the story of his dad, Jerry Siegel. Jerry Siegel founded the agency in 1964 after working for his uncle, and for a long time had only one employee besides himself.

Andy Siegel joined after graduating from the University of Georgia in 1985, when the agency had six to seven employees, and immediately started working with his father.

“There was a closeness – that I got to work with my dad every day for 27 years before he passed away,” said Siegel. “We leaned on each other a lot. When I started, we had different strengths. He was all about relationships, and I had all the technical training.”

The former, Siegel learned, was the real key.

“The thing I learned most from him was how important relationships are in terms of our business,” he said.

Siegel Insurance has honored his legacy, sponsoring the Jerry Siegel Legacy Golf Outing, which raises funds for Atlanta Jewish Academy, for the past 10 years.

Over the years, the company has grown to more than 18 employees providing nearly 3,000 clients with their personal and business insurance needs and has been recognized as a Best Practices agency by their national trade association nearly every year since 1993 when the program started.

“I’ve seen how important insurance is in helping protect yourself and your family and your assets,” said Siegel. “The industry itself – if it didn’t exist, you wouldn’t be able to buy a house, or own a car, or start a business.”

As an independent insurance agency, the company’s model is to match the needs of their clients to the plans of insurance carriers they work with. While the technology has advanced over the years – Siegel remembers a time when they used to rate by hand – the model has remained the same.

I’ve seen how important insurance is in helping protect yourself and your family and your assets. The industry itself – if it didn’t exist, you wouldn’t be able to buy a house, or own a car, or start a business.

“The needs really haven’t changed about what’s insured,” Siegel said. “At the end of the day, it’s a personal product that needs to be fit for each individual client and business.”

This individual focus remains the source of their success, as well as a significant source of pride.

“To me it’s the best hidden industry in the world,” said Siegel, “where if you treat people right, they refer business to you.”