Owego business owner sees “exciting things” happening

OWEGO — As the owner of an independent insurance agency with many local individual and business customers, Jennifer Welch has her pulse on the area’s progress. And, she says right now is a tremendous time in Owego. 

“We have a lot of exciting things just in the village of Owego. We have the new Gateway Building being built. I’m seeing growth. It’s an exciting time right now,” says Welch, owner of the Tom Ash Agency, based at 185 Main St.

The nearly $3 million Gateway Building project is transforming a hole in Owego’s historic downtown business district on Front Street into a mixed-use structure of apartments on the upper floors and commercial space on ground level.

Welch also points to the growth in new housing in the Owego area. “I’ve been writing new homeowners’ insurance policies. People are buying new homes. I am seeing growth and activity.”

It’s also an exciting time for Welch’s business. The Tom Ash Agency recently expanded into Broome County with a new office in the hamlet of Endwell.

The business held a ribbon-cutting ceremony with the Tioga County Chamber of Commerce on Aug. 15 to formally open the new office at 519 Hooper Road in Endwell (town of Union).

Welch tells CNYBJ that she decided to open a second office because “we were ready to expand. And we do have current clients this way.” It was the first time the agency had opened an additional location.

She says the Endwell office first opened to customers in late April and adds that the ribbon cutting had to wait until she secured a new sign for the storefront.

“This is a great location here, nice central location… Sits in a nice shopping plaza here,” Welch says. She leases her space from Fishs Eddy IV, LLC, which owns the plaza. She wasn’t sure of her square footage. The one-story shopping center, which was built in 1970, encompasses more than 6,400 square feet on 2.4 acres of land, according to Broome County’s online property records. 

Welch adds that there was also a “bit of nostalgia” behind her decision to select the Hooper Road site for her insurance office. “I grew up on the north side of Endicott, not too far from here. Across the street now is a Best Bagels in Town. But it was a Carvel ice cream shop when I was a kid and my dad would take me there a lot,” 

The Tom Ash Agency has operated at 185 Main St. in Owego since 1975. Tom Ash started the insurance agency in the early 1970s, at first from his home, and led the business until retiring at the end of 2014. Welch says she worked for Ash for 12 years as a licensed agent before buying the agency’s book of business and Owego building upon Ash’s retirement.

When asked why she decided to buy the business, Welch says, “I loved the way Mr. Ash treated customers. I loved being in that office… Mr. Ash treated clients as family. We knew their names. Many of the customers would come into the office just to have a cup of coffee and hang out… I loved his sense of community… It was the right move for me.”

The Tom Ash Agency has one employee in Endwell and two employees in Owego, for a total of three staff members for the business, including Welch. Two of the employees are licensed insurance agents, she says.

Welch says she spends three days a week in the Endwell office and the other two days in Owego.

The Tom Ash Agency offers home, auto, and business insurance. It also provides specialty lines of insurance, including personal umbrella, boat, ATV, motorcycle, snowmobile, travel trailer, golf cart, and workers’ compensation. The insurance carriers whose products it offers include Progressive, Travelers, Utica Mutual, and Eastern Mutual.