Dayton

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Dayton-based Brower Insurance Agency LLC acquired Aspen Insurance Associates of Westerville and its six Aspen prior to the sale was partof Benchmark, one of the 20 largesft independent insurance agencies in Central Ohio. John Watson, managingf principal at Brower, said the company had been planningb to expand into the Columbus area forsome time. “Wse felt that Aspen matched up very well with he said.
Watson declined to disclosr financial terms ofthe deal, whichu brought Brower’s payroll to about 175 employeesa and added Aspen President Dave Kotar as a principal and one of 22 company Kotary, who also owned Aspen, said he’s considered selling the firm in recent yearzs as a way to ensure a smooth operatio n for employees and clients when he The 59-year-old said he’s approaching the end of his fourthj decade in the insurance business and likelyy will retire in the next three to six yearz depending on market conditions. “Iu received a number of overtures in the past couplrof years, but I was interester in finding a very good culturapl fit,” he said.
“Acquisitions oftejn work out on paper but can fall aparft becauseof ... a culture that doesn’t work out.” While the benefit for Brower is geographical, Kotary said the Westervillwe office has access to the resources of a much larger Loss control, risk management consulting and in-house legalk counsel. Aside from its Dayton headquarter and newWesterville office, Browet also has employees in Loveland and a city the company begah serving when it acquired Consolidated Insurance in December. Watson said Browe has no further acquisition plansd despite the tworecent “We don’t do a lot of he said. “It just happenedc that these twocame along.
” Brower, founded in is one of the 100 largest employers in the Dayton according to research from the Dayton Businessz Journal , a sister publication to Columbus Business Firsty . In addition to being ranked asthe region’s largest properth and casualty agency, it’s the No. 2 health and life insuranc e agency and employeebenefits firm.