The WTPhelan Insurance Agency announced this week that it has acquired The Garrett Insurance Agency of Somerville. The acquisition was complete as of December 1, 2011. The Garrett Insurance Agency was founded in 1985 by Ralph and Ellen Garrett in the Davis Square section of Somerville. In the past year, Ellen Garrett, who had been running the agency for a number of years after her husband’s sudden death, made the decision to retire. “I chose the Phelan agency because I felt that they would provide a seamless transition for my valued customers as they represent many of the same companies and provide convenient locations,” explained Mrs. Garrett. Going forward, she will continue on as a consultant to the Phelan agency and her assistant for many years, Judy Sabatino, will join the WTPhelan office in its Porter Square location.
WTPhelan is a fourth generation family-owned and operated insurance agency founded in 1898 and based in Cambridge, MA. It currently boasts five locations in Arlington, Belmont, Cambridge, Lexington and Watertown.
The acquisition of The Garrett Insurance Agency makes the ninth agency acquisitions for the company in the past decade. Robert J. Ramsey, Vice President of WTPhelan says that “While each transaction is unique, we have been lucky to develop close personal relationships with all of our sellers. These transactions have also benefited our agency in that we have inherited some incredibly talented employees and managers.” The other acquisitions of the past decade include:
- Johnson & Higgins (Boston)
- Marsh McLennan (Boston)
- Sedgwick James of MA (Boston)
- Ranieri & Krey (Cambridge)
- Barrett Insurance Agency (Watertown)
- Sweeney & O’Connell (Arlington)
- Ellen Reardon Insurance Agency (Lexington)
- Bartlett-Lee Insurance Agency (Lexington)
- Garrett Insurance Agency (Somerville)
While not ruling out expansion into other geographic areas, Ramsey says the company is happy to be creating a strong brand presence in the greater Middlesex County area. In terms of dealing with the management of the agencies as well as convenience for our customers Ramsey says it is much easier to have all of our offices in close proximity to one another so as to guarantee the same customer experience for our clients no matter which branch they enter into.
Robert Ramsey explains a little more about the WTPhelan Agency in this video.
