Federal crop insurance was instituted in the 1930s. Ten years later, our great-grandfather, Grover Sims, brought the concept of crop hail insurance to Indiana when he founded the first iteration of the Silveus Insurance Group.
Four generations later, the Silveus family was still helping farmers insure their risks. The ongoing success was built on an unwavering commitment to four principles: speak the truth and do what’s right, cultivate a culture of creativity and innovation, show grace and live generously, and build meaningful relationships.
The first two generations of ownership kept the same business model. They employed just a few part-time insurance salesmen who oversaw their territories, and office management took a mom-and-pop business approach.
I joined the business in 1989, just after the 1988 drought and just before the company began to experience exponential growth in the 1990s. I started by selling hail insurance during my summer breaks. I had not planned to make a career out of crop insurance but found it rewarding to help hard-working farmers make an honest living and protect their interests.
My younger brother Cameron joined the family business in 1997, just as crop insurance changed. The federal government approved a new, index-based policy that accounted for the county yield instead of individual farm yields. Previously, most policies had been cheap, insured only low yields, and rarely came into effect. We saw the new policy as a superior product, and our focus became educating farmers on its benefits.
For Cameron, success selling this new type of insurance served as validation he’d successfully educated clients about making the best-informed decision to protect themselves and their assets long-term. It also helped cement his decision to join the family business.
Our sister, Erin, joined the company in 2006. Like my brother and me, Erin did not see herself staying in the family business long-term. She started working part-time, taking calls, and trying her hand as a sales agent but found that was not the right fit. What did fit was overseeing the company finances and re-engaging with the Warsaw, Indiana, community. Silveus Insurance Group’s support of and integration into the community has been one of the underpinnings of our culture.
Since the three of us entered the business, Silveus Insurance Group has steadily grown and added new talents to meet market needs. Our role in farmer advocacy has also dramatically expanded. Shifting our focus from selling hail insurance to federally subsidized crop insurance products, meant stepping up our farmer education efforts and coordinating with industry advocacy groups to ensure continued support of government subsidies.
As we continued expanding our workforce and services, we recognized we were hitting an inflection point. Our business model had been performing very well, but we were beginning to see that our increased size came with new limitations. Previously, our company size and financial standing meant we could afford to try new things at relatively low risk; at a larger operating size, any future expansions carried multiplied risks that could jeopardize our operations.
In addition to our growth challenges, we saw weather and commodity price volatility becoming primary drivers of claims, creating new uncertainties in the industry and amplifying our overall business risk. Being part of a larger, more diverse organization with more resources would help mitigate our risk by diversifying our capabilities and offerings.
We were at a crossroads. We had a great core business that needed to expand beyond that core to best serve the needs of our loyal client base. After much consideration, we decided the best route was to find the right partner company with the right combination of capabilities and acquisition experience to help us and our clients.
We had considered selling a few times throughout the years, but the timing and partner never seemed right. We felt this was the time and Risk Strategies stood out as the ideal partner company from the outset.
In searching for the right partner, our priority was culture. We created something special at Silveus Insurance Group and finding a buyer who would respect and honor what we fostered was non-negotiable. Our first meeting with Risk Strategies took place in Chicago, and we immediately connected with how real, open, and down-to-earth their people were; there was a kindred spirit there we knew we could work with and would work for our people.
We were further reassured this was the right fit when we looked at Risk Strategies philanthropic efforts. Working with nonprofit organizations and making regular donations is central to our company mission to serve both our clients and our community. Seeing the Risk Strategies charitable giving approach almost exactly mirrored our own model solidified a belief this was the right path for the Silveus Insurance Group.
As Risk Strategies first acquisition in agriculture, we saw incredible potential to help shape and build the practice with them. We saw the clear benefit for our clients and core business that would come from their expertise in lines of insurance outside our capabilities. After four generations, the decision to sell our family-run business was not easy, nor taken lightly. But assured that the preservation of what made the Silveus Insurance Group a pillar of our community and knowing the overwhelming benefits of working with Risk Strategies, we are confident it was the right one and are looking forward to a bright and prosperous future.