Shop locally county commission
How often do we hear, especially this time of the year, to shop locally, spend our dollars in our own community to enhance tax revenue, keep our employment up, and support our local businesses that pay a wide variety of taxes in the community. I believe that our county commissioners should “practice what they preach.”
Recently the Nodaway County Commission changed their insurance agent through an Agent of Record (AOR) submission. They did NOT change their insurance company but only changed the agent that represents them. The County’s insurance is through Missouri Public Entity Risk Management Fund (MOPERM), a shared pool with other Missouri public entities that provide insurance coverage to government agencies at a reduced rate that many other companies can not compete with. The Commission met with a company, Higgenbothem & Associates, located in Springfield, Missouri. Their headquarters is in Fort Worth, Texas, with the office in Springfield only for the purpose to meet requirements to write, sell, and cover the insurance needs of Missouri government entities. The Springfield location is the only office that this company has in Missouri.
The Commission changed agents from our local Jackson RMI agency, located right in downtown Maryville, to these carpetbaggers from Springfield. Jackson Insurance has helped Nodaway County’s insurance needs for many decades, dating back prior to the late Carrol Hess who owned the company for many years and sold the agency to Kevin Henry 14 years ago. Our local Jackson Insurance company is a strong supporter of the community, helping out in many ways that most folks never are aware of. Kevin Henry is a member of the Maryville Host Lions Club and has been a strong supporter of many of the programs the Host Lions contribute to. He has helped the Nodaway County Senior Center for many years, not only as an insurance agent but contributing to many causes and needs the Center has faced over the years.
I have always heard that there are only three ways to lower insurance premiums, first lower the amount of coverage to decrease costs, the second is to raise the deductible, the amount that one has to pay “out of pocket,” and the last is to change to a different insurance company that will often offer a very low rate initially and then raise the costs exorbitantly later. An old adage concerning insurance is that your insurance is only as good as the agent that represents you. The Commission did not change their insurance company, MOPERM, only the agent that represents them. The agency that represented them is right here in Nodaway County, downtown Maryville, and has always been available and helpful when needed.
I am just curious how the carpetbaggers from Springfield are going to help the county when needed when Jackson was just a few blocks away when assistance was required. Furthermore, I am also curious how many tax dollars Higgenbothem is going to spend in our community, how many philanthropic ventures they will contribute to, and how many employees they have in Nodaway County. I would wager that they will not support a local golf tournament, contribute to our local food pantry, join a local civic organization, or help out when needed on a local cause. I am fully aware that the word LOCAL was used repetitively, I hope my point is obvious.
Shop LOCAL, that’s the theme but darn it, I am certainly not going to enjoy the drive to Springfield, Missouri, spend dollars there, benefiting that community, when my own county needs the business. I would hope the Nodaway County Commission reconsider their AOR and keep their insurance needs locally with Jackson RMI.
Joe Baumli
Maryville
