Last year,
American Family Insurance agent Monte Hack opened his second insurance office in Grand Island, Nebraska to capitalize on the growth in the area and in his business.
It was the latest step up the career ladder for the nearly 20-year industry veteran, who got his start in sales for various food and beverage companies.
Hack, who is from Genoa, moved to Grand Island in 1975. He received his business degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, but it would be a few years before he discovered insurance. Hack was a manager for the Coca-Cola distributor in Grand Island, and also spent time in Austin, Minnesota working for Hormel.
When the company transferred him back to his home state of Nebraska, he decided to stay.
It was there that Hack began interacting with the community and discovered the need to insure the biggest investments in their lives, from auto to home and business.
“I have worked with a lot of Realtors and lenders over the years,” he told the
Independent.
He quickly went through the interview process, passed the necessary exams and gained qualifications before being approved by the state and company to sell insurance in Grand Island, where he eventually opened his agency.
Hack enjoys American Family’s rich history. Herman Wittwer started American Family Insurance originally to sell auto insurance to Wisconsin farmers, seeing that these drivers represented a lower threat than those in the city.
The agency, opened in October 1927, began as
Farmers Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. before growing from rural areas to small towns, and eventually to suburbs and metropolitan areas. In 1963, Wittwer changed the company name to American Family Mutual Insurance Co. to reflect these changing demographics.
The flavor of Hack’s agency in Nebraska, however, has changed but little.
“We focus strongly on, and most of our success has bene around, homes and autos, along with life insurance, small business and farms and ranch,” he said.
The opening of the second office came in response to that success.
“There seemed to be a need in that particular area of Five Points],” Hack said. “There used to be an American Family Insurance agent on that corner for decades. It was just an established area for American Family for decades, and I thought it would be a good situation to move back into that area, and it has been.”
