The insurance business is in Michael Whitbeck’s blood. After all, he’s the third generation family member in the business.
Whitbeck Insurnace Agency, Inc. has been voted Best Insurance Agency in the Best of the Abingtons Readers’ Contest sponsored by the Abington Journal, a publication of the Times Leader Media Group.
Whitbeck’s grandfather Alex Yerabek started in the insurance agency in 1964 out of necessity after being forced to retire early from a bakery. He worked for a friend at an Erie Insurance agency in Old Forge.
Shortly after, he started his own agency, working out of his home in the west side of Scranton for 10 years before officially retiring.
“When my grandfather retired, none of his kids wanted to take over the agency, but my dad (Philip Whitbeck) decided to do it in 1975,” Whitbeck said. “He officially took over the business in 1978.”
Michael joined the agency in 1993 and has been there ever since.
“Dad went into semi-retirement in 2006 and, in 2008, when he started backing out,” Whitbeck said. “I officially took over in 2006.”
Whitbeck is the owner and president of the agency and heads a team of two other agents, Amy Adonizio and Ed Luecke.
The Whitbeck Agency, Inc., located at 504 N. State St., Clarks Summit since 1980, is an independent insurance agency representing several companies but the mainstay of the business has been representing Erie Insurance for 55 years.
“We can represent insurance companies through licensing agreements but, as an independent, we can represent anybody and Erie has been our bread and butter; that’s our main company we represent,” Whitbeck said. “We call ourselves an Erie agency, even though we have other companies that we can use in other spots.”
The bulk of the Whitbeck Insurance business is home and auto policies, but business is not limited to personal insurance.
“We’ve been growing consistently since I’ve been here and, in general, with the nature of our business,” Whitbeck said. “With Ed and Amy here, we plan on continuing to grow and possibly adding an agent in the future.
“We’ve been a part of the community. We all live here in the community here and we don’t see ourselves as selling things; we look at everything from a service perspective because that then helps your sales,” he added.
“If you treat your customers the right way so they stay with you for a long time, that builds word of mouth and referrals and that is the bulk of our business and the life blood,” Whitbeck said. “We have some customers for 50 years.”
Whitbeck Insurance employees believe in backing up their products with service — service that includes auto, home, life, and commercial.
For further information about Whitbeck Insurance Agency, log onto www.whitbeckinsurance.com or call 570-587-4686.
