Josh Krage and Dennis Overland are independent insurance agents. Krage’s office is in Lanesboro, while Overland is based in Rushford. One might think they’d be fierce competitors, but they actually help each other out, and nowadays, both Krage and Overland serve on the state board of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA), which promotes independent insurance agents, and Overland recently joined the PIA national board, as well.
The two explained that some insurance agents are “captive” agents, meaning that they have a contract with only one insurance company. The other type of agent is an independent agent, who can have multiple contracts with any number of companies. Both Krage and Overland are independent agents, and that is who the PIA works to support.
In describing how his involvement with PIA came about, Overland explained that he first knew of PIA because when the 2007 flood impacted Rushford, PIA helped in the aftermath, and he added, “In fact, that helped me buy my first computer to get back on my feet.”
“Then in 2010,” Overland recalled, “I was approached by (Josh’s uncle) Dale. He was a board member at that time and had only a year left on his term, so they had some openings at that time. I’d been on other various insurance boards in the state of Minnesota, so he knew I was interested in legislative affairs and working for the betterment of agents.” So Overland joined the state board and has been on it ever since.
Overland further explained, “The PIA of Minnesota is the Minnesota affiliate of PIA National… The state affiliates have an executive vice-president and a board of directors. We have six board members right now. Josh is our president currently. I was president in 2012 and 2013.”
Overland said, “Then in 2016, I got onto the national board of directors. I’m still on the state board as an ex-officio officer, but I’m our representative to the national board.” The national board has a total of 30 board members, which includes five officers. Overland said the national board has a three-year term, but no limit on how many terms a member can serve. He hopes to move up to an officer position at some point.
Krage joined the state board in 2016, and he explained that his motivation was similar to Overland’s, stating, “I wanted to do the same thing to help the industry as well, and my kids were at that age where I can.” Regarding his decision to serve, Krage added, “You’ve got people who WANT to do it; you don’t have to do it, but if you don’t do it, then who’s going to help?” Krage said that Minnesota PIA gives scholarships and offers continuing education as part of their support for Minnesota agents.
Regarding his service on the state board, Krage shared that, “We meet once a quarter, so the time commitment is not too great… I always ride with Dennis, I learn a lot from Dennis, because he’s been in it a lot longer than I have.”
On the national level, Overland stated, “We do a lot of lobbying for insurance issues… We go out to DC in April. That’s when our Advocacy Day is, where we get to go and visit with our legislators.” The national board also has a fall meeting, as well as phone conferences on occasion.
Krage and Overland said most independent agents have gotten into the insurance industry via a family business, and that’s true of each of them, as well. Overland shared that, “I was born on a Friday, and my dad signed his contract with American Family on the Monday, so I’ve literally been in insurance my whole life.” His father was a captive agent for 13 years, then went independent in 1979. Overland recalled that he got his own insurance license in 1989, but at that time his main job was playing in a band. Eventually, the band cut back on the number of gigs they played, which allowed him to help out at his dad’s agency. “In 1996,” Overland said, “I purchased my dad’s agency. Then in 2002, I purchased another agency here (in his current Rushford office), and I’ve been in here since then.”
Josh is one of four owners at the Krage Agency. In describing his family tradition of working in the insurance field, he stated, “I think it’s kind of neat… About 1977, my grandfather started Krage Insurance Agency, and my uncle Dale came in 1979, and my uncle Ken came in 1980. It’s neat to see that it’s grown from their vision. And then I came in 2006. So our business has grown because of people, obviously, but also because of technology… where we can write (policies) in Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and South Dakota. We just hired someone, too, so we have seven in our office. It’s growing in leaps and bounds.” When asked what they wish the average person would know about independent insurance agents, Krage replied, “Agents love questions… we want people to be educated as far as what (coverage) they have.”
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