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SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS Owens Insurance Agency
w ritte n by SH E R I L BE N NE T T T UR NE R & photo g raphed by E L I ZABE TH M OR R I SEY
people. She taught herself how to type, she taught herself how to keep books, and she also learned insurance, which was amazing. My first customer was Mr. Claud Baughcome, the manager of Graham-Cash.
Q: Your son, Riley, joined you in the business in 1980?
Y
ou know you must be doing something right when your business lasts as long as Owens Insurance Agency, now celebrating 47 years of service to the community of Greer. I talked with patriarch Don Owens, who started the business, his son Riley Owens who is the current owner and President, and new Vice-President and business partner Shane Lynn, about the past, present, and future of Owens Insurance.
Q: Don, tell me a little about yourself and how Owens Insurance Agency began? Don: After graduating from Greer High School, I started at Clemson, but then I went into the Navy. When I came back to Clemson, after being in the service, Clemson was a little bit tame. I finished at Draughns Practical
Don: Yes, that’s a funny story. When Riley was a senior at Clemson, he said ‘This year, don’t give me any presents, just give me money, I want to take a trip when I graduate.’ So for Christmas, his Business College. After working for B.A. Bennett & Co. for 4½ years, I started my own business on April 1, 1952. Next to Mutual Home Store, the building beside the old Ford place, there is a sidewalk that goes all the way back. At one time, there was a beauty shop back there, and I opened up my office across the hall. You could go into Mayfair Restaurant from that same hallway. James Waters of Waters Jewelers fixed up that back room so I could have an office there. I worked the first couple of months by myself, but I was in the National Guard, and we were going off to camp. So my mom, Ellen, said ‘I’ll come and help you until you can find somebody.’ She ended up working for me for nearly 28 years. She had worked at Graham-Cash Department Store (where the Starlight Ballroom is today) so she was familiar with
birthday, and for graduation, everyone gave him money. He got out of school in May, went to work at Winn Dixie Warehouse, and saved his money. Around the 4th of July, he sold his car, quit his job, bought a Eurail Pass, put a backpack on his back, and took off to Europe. I told him when you get down to X dollars, turn around and come home. Well in November, Riley called me from Paris. He said ‘Daddy. I’ve been sitting in this train station thinking. You don’t have anybody to help you, do you?’ I said, ‘No, I don’t.’ He said ‘Can I come to work with you?’ I was stunned. Riley: I think he paid me $125.00 a week. Don: Not for long. He was living at home, and I knew he had been looking for an apartment. I said, ‘Riley, can’t you find a place to move?’ He said ‘Dad, I don’t make enough to make rent.’ So I said, ‘Son what would GreerNow MARCH 2009
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it take?’ Well he got a raise, and he moved. Q: How has your business changed over the years? Don: I guess I had the first computer of any agency in town. I bought a Radio Shack TRS-80 for a thousand dollars. Riley: I remember when we got that first computer for rating. It was huge, as big as a refrigerator. Don: I had a friend out of Arkansas that put the rates Pictured from left to right: Shane Lynn, Don Owens, Riley Owens on a floppy disk, and I’d load them. It was kind of limited in what it with more respect in the community, could do. Later, we put in computers not only here, but within the business when I found a company that could community outside of Greer. I told give us multiple workstations. Don and Riley, my goal is for there Riley: And now we’re entirely always to be an Owens Insurance online, out in cyberspace somewhere. Agency in Greer. Riley: It’s like everything was Q: I know that Don retired from aligned to bring Shane back. He the business 16 years ago. Recently wanted to come back, but he needed a though, Shane, you joined Riley as push. When his job situation in Ohio a business partner. How did that changed and he would have to move happen? anyway, he decided he would rather move home and be with his family. Shane: I grew up in Blue Ridge. He’ll never regret spending this time Right out of college (Mars Hill), I with his family, his parents. I see my worked for Pennsylvania National Dad every day, and I wouldn’t give Insurance, where I had occasion to anything for that. I wouldn’t live work with Don and Riley both. So, anywhere else. I’ve known them since the 90s. My career then took me to Indianapolis Q: How do you fit as business and then to Columbus, Ohio for a partners? number of years. The operation that I ran merged with another operation, Shane: It’s a great fit. Riley and I had a choice to move again obviously knows the operational with the company or to come home. side of the insurance agency and also Riley and I had been talking for a the sales end of it. I’ve been in P&C couple of years about me coming (Property and Casualty) for 19 years, into the agency, so the timing was so I know the products, I know the right. I wanted to come home and services. When you combine the two— get into a business with a high level Riley’s experience in dealing with the of respect within the community. customer and my insurance knowledge You’re not going to find an agency and abilities—we’re a great team.
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Riley: We came from the same industry, but two separate sides of it. Shane brings the company side of experience and I have the agency side of the experience so that’s why it’s such a good fit. Don: When I started, you could have a one-man agency, but times have changed a bit. You reach a certain plateau, and that’s it. If you intend to grow, you’re going to have to have some help, and that help should be a partner. One man can only cover so much business and look after the people. With two people, instead of doubling, you can triple and handle three times the amount of business that one person could. These things change and they evolve, and where I had someone like Riley come into the business, Riley now has Shane. It’s perpetuation.
Q: What are the plans for future growth of the business? Riley: We’re located in Greer, and it’s a good central location. We service Greenville and Spartanburg so we’re right in the middle of a vibrant area. We’re in an area that has been spared the worse part of what’s going on in
the country right now. We’ve been lucky we’ve been here, in this area. We’ve had a loyal customer base over the years and we’ve had continued growth. We have a good marketing strategy and we’re going to continue to grow. Within the very near future, we also intend on bringing in another partner. Shane: We want to grow and expand our service to other cities, but we never want to lose focus of Greer as our home. Greer has made us what we are. Being from this area and knowing the reputation of the agency, we can’t grow faster than that because that’s what’s made the agency what it is. That’s what made me turn down other job offers to be a part of it.
Charles & Teeny’s
One sign of a great company is the longevity of its employees, as is the case with many of the Owens Insurance staff. Office Manager, Pam Hammock, celebrating twenty years with the company, says “It’s a great company and I’ve always been honored to work here. Don, next to my own Dad, is the man I most admire. I’ve always respected his opinion and valued his advice. The insurance business has changed somewhat over the years, but our agency has not changed all that much. Our customers are long-time customers and generations of customers. Word of mouth has always been our big thing. We like to be the agency that people feel free to call or come in the office. Even though we are growing, that will never change.” d
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