FULTON — Eastern Shore Associates Insurance (ESA) recently added 2,500 square feet of office space to its headquarters in Fulton. The new space at 100 Cayuga St. adds to the firm’s current offices at 101 and 102 Cayuga St. ESA — which works with more than 30 insurance carriers to offer personal, commercial, public […]
FULTON — Eastern Shore Associates Insurance (ESA) recently added 2,500 square feet of office space to its headquarters in Fulton. The new space at 100 Cayuga St. adds to the firm’s current offices at 101 and 102 Cayuga St.
ESA — which works with more than 30 insurance carriers to offer personal, commercial, public entity, and construction insurance — was in need of additional space after generating growth in its personal and commercial insurance departments over the past two years, as well as hiring three new customer-service representatives in recent months.
The three new hires were needed as a result of the company’s growth, as well as the recent retirement of other employees, says the company’s chief operations officer, Regina Lunkenheimer.
ESA generated its growth both organically and through a pair of acquisitions, she adds. ESA bought Cronk Agency, Inc. in Central Square in the summer of 2014, and the property and casualty business of Phoenix–based Leon Vickery Insurance at the end of 2014.
ESA leased the additional space in an adjacent building to its offices at 102 Cayuga St. and connected the two as part of a larger renovation effort.
“It was a total renovation of that [new] building space,” Lunkenheimer says. “The whole thing was gutted and remodeled to open the space up.”
The general contractor for the renovations, which began at the start of October, was John Holbrook of Pulaski, according to Lunkenheimer. Subcontractors included Oswego–based MEC Electric Inc., J & K Plumbing Heating & AC Inc. (also from Oswego), Fulton–based Letters Signs & Specialties, and The House Works (also from Fulton). Cicero–based Furnishing Solutions provided the cubicles, she adds.
Lunkenheimer declines to disclose company financial information or the cost of the renovations.
Employees moved into the new space on Nov. 13, which included some reshuffling of different departments.
“Our personal lines office and employees will move to 100 Cayuga, while our public entity group will move into the space vacated by them at 102 Cayuga,” company president Martha Murray said in a news release.
Eastern Shore Associates Insurance has 73 employees (all but two of whom work full time), according to Lunkenheimer. The firm says 39 of those employees work from the Fulton office. The company has seven total offices, situated in Fulton, Pulaski, Camden, Waterloo, Rochester, North Syracuse, and Walworth, according to its website.
ESA offers business and personal insurance, including property, liability, automobile, boat, farm, recreational vehicle, workers’ compensation, bonds, along with financial planning and risk-management services.
In addition, ESA provides other services, including commercial-risk analysis, loss control, and employee benefits.
ESA is an employee stock ownership plan company, and in 2009 it became 100 percent employee-owned, according to its website.
ESA was founded in 1986 by a trio of smaller independent agencies after they “decided to pool their resources to better serve their customers,” according to the site.