Reliance Partners, a Chattanooga, Tennessee-based commercial insurance agency focused on transportation and logistics, has expanded to Wisconsin with a new branch in Franklin.
Reliance said it chose to open a southeastern Wisconsin office to meet the increased market demands “in one of the most valuable trade corridors in the nation.”
The new office, located at 9779 South Franklin Drive, is the agency’s seventh location. Existing offices are located in Austin, Texas; Chicago; Birmingham; Vero Beach, Florida; Victoria, Texas; and Chattanooga.
John Seidl, a vice president of risk services who leads the new office, said Reliance has six employees at the Franklin location and expects that number to double over the next two to three years.
“There is a need for the kinds of services we offer because we offer a value-add that others can’t,” Seidl said. “The demand for services is what will spur the growth. If we were just another insurance brokerage, it would be harder to grow. But when you have a value-add others just don’t have, people clamor toward our agency.”
Agency-wide, Reliance expects to add 40 new jobs over the next 36 months.
Being in southeastern Wisconsin positions Reliance in a region that transports more than 30 million tons of goods, worth over $2.4 billion, the company said.
“We’re excited about our new office in Milwaukee,” said Chad Eichelberger, president of Reliance. “We’re ready to expand our presence and offerings to the region.”
A native of Racine, Seidl was formerly a state patrol trooper/inspector in the Racine and Kenosha area, an investigator for the federal government and later a HAZMAT agent with the Federal Aviation Administration in Chicago and Milwaukee.
“Given my background, I used to be a state trooper enforcing trucks at roadside; I used to be an investigator with the federal government, so when it comes to understanding regulatory compliance and making trucks safe, that’s where I come in,” he said. “Instead of just selling insurance, we try to make help (trucking companies) improve their safety, which in turn reduces their insurance costs.”
