By: Karen Singer, Business New Haven

Stone Agency
35 Boston Street
Guilford, CT 06437
Phone: 203-453-2701
Fax: 203-458-7009
Ownership: Nancy Oman
Milestone: 145 years

Timeline: In 1996, Nancy Oman purchased an old family business, and thus transitioned from partner to owner and president of one of Connecticut's oldest independent insurance agencies. Now, seven years later, she commemorates the 145th anniversary of her business, the Stone Agency, in Guilford.

Transitioning her business into the 21st century has not been an easy task, but with careful planning and sensitivity to the needs of her clients, she has ushered in a new era for a well-respected establishment.

"When I came to work here, Leverett Stone was here," Oman recalls of her first days at the thriving insurance company. "His father had retired, and he'd bought out his father's interest. When he left, there was a bit of rocky road. We lost a few customers, but the rest we still have today. Our customers are very loyal."

That means that Oman's job is "to maintain what our customers are used to while running a 2003 business. We can't be that, 'Hi, you know me, give me a policy' company any more - insurance companies and the regulators just won't accept that. We had to move into the present day, and we had to do that without losing our clients.

"That's one of the reasons why we haven't changed our name. We've been around for so long, and have maintained a presence here, that if we did change it would just shake things up. Our loyal customers really don't want to see change, so most of it has been internal."

Oman says the biggest change her business has faced entering the new era has been the transition to computers.

"When we meet with our clients," she explains, "we do it with a pad and a pencil. None of our agents carry a laptop. You still sit down and talk with one person, because it's an extensive process. Our goal when we meet new customers is to gather information and make it as easy as possible. It's just not efficient to do it with a computer, because it just doesn't go that quickly. It's like going to a bank for a loan."

Oman recruited her brother, Robert J. Oman, to handle the commercial sales lines of the company, and Douglas F. Danaher to handle the personal lines. Both were working at large, successful agencies in New Haven, and both are now partners and vice presidents at Stone.

"I really consider us kind of a hybrid," Oman says. "If we went totally corporate, we'd rent one of those glass buildings along Rt. 1 and get an 800 number. We could do that. But it's not the same - we're really a part of the community here. We get a lot of walk-ins. The people here come into town, go to Page Hardware across the Green and then to the bank and then they come into our agency to take care of their insurance needs."