OSWEGO — Oswego Valley Insurance Agencies (OVIA) didn’t have to go very far to acquire Bartlett Insurance Agency in a transaction that takes effect Jan. 1. Chuck Harrington, OVIA president, announced the deal in a news release on Dec. 12. Bartlett Insurance Agency currently operates at 131 W. 2nd St. in Oswego, which is not […]
OSWEGO — Oswego Valley Insurance Agencies (OVIA) didn’t have to go very far to acquire Bartlett Insurance Agency in a transaction that takes effect Jan. 1.
Chuck Harrington, OVIA president, announced the deal in a news release on Dec. 12.
Bartlett Insurance Agency currently operates at 131 W. 2nd St. in Oswego, which is not far from the OVIA Oswego office at 166 W. First St.
“It’s not like we haven’t known each other,” Harrington says in a follow-up interview. “We’re only a block away from each other.”
OVIA didn’t release any financial terms of the transaction.
Bob Bartlett founded Bartlett Insurance Agency in Oswego in 1949. Susan Bartlett, the founder’s daughter-in-law, has operated the business “for years,” and just recently announced her retirement, the OVIA release stated.
Bartlett has plans to move “to a different state,” says Harrington. “She’s actually leaving [which was] the impetus for her to sell,” he adds.
The two agencies started discussing a purchase agreement about six months ago, according to Harrington.
Bartlett is now working through the end of the year to assist OVIA Insurance Agencies on the transition.
“We greatly appreciate the trust and commitment that Susan has shown our agency, and wish her only the best in her retirement,” Harrington said in the release.
“We look forward to providing her customers with the same level of service and attentiveness that she has provided for so many years.”
OVIA isn’t adding any new employees, as Bartlett operated the agency on her own, Harrington says.
Bartlett sent a written notice to her agency’s customers about the acquisition.
“To ensure continuous and uninterrupted service to the Bartlett Insurance Agency customers, I have made provisions with OVIA to continue to service our accounts,” Bartlett said in the letter to her clients. “They have a history in the insurance industry that dates back more than 100 years, and I have every faith that you will find them as attentive to your account as I have been.”
When asked about the number of new accounts OVIA would service following the acquisition, Harrington indicated it was hard to say because OVIA is still reviewing the paper files.
“We’re still going through them,” he says.
OVIA currently services more than 10,000 clients. The firm offers business and personal insurance, including property, liability, automobile, health, and recreational products.
OVIA resulted from the 1997 merger of two “longstanding,” local insurance agencies that operated since the late 1800s.
Dowd & Harrington, Inc. and Streeter & VanSanford, Inc. merged to form OVIA, and currently operate six offices in Oswego, Onondaga, and Jefferson counties including Oswego, Fulton, Phoenix, Brewerton, Mexico, and Clayton.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com