Brightway Insurance The Sterner Agency Our Business Spotlight In St. Cloud FL
Brightway Insurance The Sterner Agency Owner GeorgeSterner Is Our St. Cloud FL Business Spotlight ThisMonth
Jeanine Corcoran broker of Corcoran Connect interviewsGeorge in this month’s episode. Welcome to the 28th episodeof Discover St. Cloud Florida. Brightway Insurance TheStern Agency is located at 1451 E. Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway inSt. Cloud FL.
Jeanine sat down with George in her office and had a great timeinterviewing him. Jeanine’s first question to George was howlong has he owned his business, Brightway Insurance? George replied that he has beenin business for 14 years in St. Cloud. He continued that he hasseen some definite market changes, but he is happy to be where heis at.
Jeanine then asked George how he got started in the insurancebusiness and why did he choose it? George answered that never in amillion years did he think insurance would be his career, but ithas become his career. Prior to getting involved in the insuranceindustry, he was in the construction business.
Back in 2008 when the market started to crash, George’sstepdad said he said look at insurance as it is a recession-proofindustry. George’s stepdad found an insurance agency calledBrightway that had just started up. When George took it over,Brightway Insurance was #25 and now they are the largest privatebrokerage firm in the US.
Brightway Insurance Is The Largest Private BrokerageFirm In The US
Jeanine then asked George to tell the audience a little bitabout himself. He said that he is a family man first, he is abusinessperson and is involved heavily in the community of St.Cloud. He loves the outdoors and enjoys hunting and fishing. Georgestated he spends a lot of time with his family and friends.
Jeanine then asked George if there was a top product atBrightway Insurance? He said that was a good question becauseinsurance is a very broad spectrum. George said his bread andbutter was home insurance. He said he can compete with anyone inthe market in home insurance. His claim to fame is he has everyhome insurance company that is writing business in the state.
Jeanine followed up and asked how many home insurance companiesare there? George said there have been as many as 57-60 at anygiven time but now there are fewer companies as the market haschanged. Jeanine asked why these companies go out of business. Heanswered that people find loopholes in the policy and find ways tomake claims where they can get money.
George gave an example using “stucco cracks” when hefirst started. Private adjusters would travel around and tellhomeowners, hey I see stucco cracks in your house and there ismoney in them. These adjusters would tell homeowners if they make asinkhole claim, they can receive money from their insurancepolicy.
State Run Insurance Agency Citizens Is The Only OptionFor Home Insurance
There were so many people making these claims that the state hadto step in and make a statute to prevent this, so it didn’tkill the insurance industry.
George then said fast forward to today with the roofingsituation. He said the roofing loophole has put them in thishorrible situation they are in now. Jeanine commented and said shesaw this coming with the roofers going door to door, she knewinsurance rates were going to go up.
George used to be able to say to people that he had 57 homeinsurance companies that want to write your home. Now, if your homehas aged just a little bit, I now say I’m one of the onlycompanies that have Citizens which used to be a dirty word.Citizens is our state-run insurance company and are about the onlyoption homeowners have at this point.
Jeanine then asked George what made her decide to move to St.Cloud, Florida? George replied that it was funny when he was in thebuilding industry because he is such an avid outdoorsman, he had agreat place to hunt in St. Cloud.
He continued that St. Cloud is one of those places that is stillcountry and small-town-focused. He said a big part of our life hereis the cattlemen and the ranches which is one of the reasonsI’m here. I’ve hunted here for a long time and met goodfriends and built great relationships.
Are You Considering St. Cloud FL As Your NewHome?
Jeanine asked how long George has lived in St. Cloud and heanswered for 14 years ever since he started Brightway Insurance.She followed up and asked George what he might say to someone whomay be considering St. Cloud as their new home? He replied that itis a great place to be and there are some undiscovered places likeHarmony which is within St. Cloud.
George told his father-in-law and his uncle when they werethinking of coming here. He said there is a place called Harmonythat has an unbelievable golf course and there is wildlifeeverywhere. It is a community that is built around nature.
Jeanine then asked George what one place he would recommend thatpeople go see when they come to St. Cloud? He immediately repliedthat the downtown area has become really cool. We have some niceplaces to eat, some great places to have a drink and of course,there is the lakefront. He said you can always have a great meal atCrabby Bill’s.
George said the one thing that is unreal about my team is theiraccomplishments. Mark, one of his agents, is the number oneBrightway agent in Central Florida and has been for over 10 years.George said he built a support team around Mark. He said his teamis very experienced and they know exactly what to do in anysituation.
Stern Dog Hunts Teaches People How To Have A GreatExperience Outdoors
Jeanine asked George to talk about the second business herecently started called Stern DogHunts. He said he started a second business in St. Cloud, andit is a quail hunting operation as well as hog hunting. The realtheme here is passing on the legacy. What he means by this is oneof his goals is to pass on the outdoor situation to the youth inour community.
George said he is raising his kids in the outdoors, and they aredoing things that most kids don’t. He said his kidsdon’t sit at home playing video games or watching T.V. Hiskids are always outdoors, and athletics is a big piece of this aswell. George coaches as well.
George said with Stern Dog Hunts they are not only involved withthe youth but also, works with Wounded Warrior Outdoors. They arean unbelievable organization that helps our warriors that werewounded in battle and are missing limbs. He said they take themhunting and we have great experiences. George said he teachespeople how to have fun in the outdoors in a very positive way.
We hope you enjoyed Jeanine interviewing George Sterner ofBrightway Insurance The Sterner Agency as our featured St. Cloud FLbusiness spotlight. This will continue to be a monthly focus forthe Discover St. Cloud Florida podcast.