Eight years ago, Bill Varney established the Varney Agency and gave it the important task of meeting the insurance needs of Maine residents. Today, the Varney Agency operates offices in Bangor, Old Town, Machias, Calais, Houlton, and Caribou.

As an independent insurance agency, the Varney Agency represents various insurance companies that offer different policies and coverage. The licensed agents who work for the agency are pleased to sit down with the customers and develop a policy designed to meet each customer’s specific needs.

The Varney Agency offers coverage for personal and commercial lines and also offers various financial services. Personal lines include insurance for homes, boats, automobiles, motorcycles, motor homes, and snowmobiles, while commercial lines include fire insurance, Worker’s Compensation, liability, business automobile, and bonding.

Available financial services range from life and health insurance to annuities, pension plans, estate planning, and disability income.

Bangor

Bill Varney hired Judie Smith six years ago as a bookkeeper for Varney’s Auto Supply. She later did the same work for the Varney Agency, then obtained her license to sell property and casualty insurance.

Smith and Marty Boehmer are the licensed agents at the Varney Agency at 725 Broadway in Bangor; also the office manager, Smith is responsible for personnel administration at all six offices of the Varney Agency. Boehmer is licensed to sell all four types of insurance coverage: life, health, property, and casualty.

The Varney Agency represents more than a dozen insurance companies, Smith said. Agency offices in Calais, Houlton, and Caribou represent the Allstate Insurance Companies, and all the offices except those in Machias and Calais represent the Dorchester Mutual Insurance Co.

The insurance companies represented by all six Varney Agency offices are Vermont Mutual, Grange Mutual, Union Mutual, Metropolitan, Dairyland, Casco Indemnity, Northeast Insurance, New Hampshire Indemnity, Northern Security, Commercial Union under Northern MGA, Excess Insurance Underwriters Inc., Fort Hill Agency Inc., Castle Insurance Associates Inc., Surplus Lines Managers, and Broker Service. The agency also writes policies for insurers belonging to the assigned-risk pool in Maine.

Each insurer has different underwriting guidelines and restrictions, Bolduc said. This difference “means that what we have to offer really is a selection of what’s best for the insured,” Smith said.

By representing so many insurance companies, “we can work with a customer to determine the best possible coverage,” Smith stated. For example, during the last year, she has noticed many people, especially commercial accounts, shopping harder for insurance coverage.

“Businesspeople are concerned about reducing their operating expenses,” Smith explained. “One way is to review one’s insurance coverage to determine what’s not necessary or redundant.”

The Varney Agency works with such customers to tailor policies to their needs, Smith said. She invites both private individuals and businesspeople to stop by the nearest Varney Agency office and discuss their insurance needs.

The office in Bangor is open 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays. The Old Town, Machias, Calais, and Houlton offices are open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The Caribou office is open 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.

Old Town

The Varney Agency opened an office at 481 Stillwater Ave. in Old Town in August 1986. Since then, many area residents and businesspeople have discovered the advantages of dealing with an independent insurance agency that provides personalized service.

Sue Bolduc is the licensed agent and office manager at the Old Town office. Hired in October 1990, Bolduc obtained her state license to sell property and casualty insurance in January 1991. She came to the Varney Agency after working in Florida as an underwriter for the Allstate Insurance Companies.

The Old Town office serves customers living in Old Town, Milford, Bradley, and Penobscot Valley towns north to Cardville and Costigan. These customers prefer having their insurance agent located near them, just a short drive or a quick phone call away, Bolduc said.

“People like to be close to their agent, to walk in and get that one-on-one personal contact,” she pointed out. “Sometimes when an insurance agent lives far away, that personal touch is lost; the customer ends up talking to someone on the phone and never sees the person behind the voice.

“With a local agency, that doesn’t happen. The agent works right there, where customers can walk in and find assistance for their insurance needs,” Bolduc said.

While “the most popular policy that we’re writing right now is personal auto,” the Old Town office has seen an upsurge in commercial activity, she said. Many new businesses have recently opened in Old Town, especially in the downtown, Bolduc observed, and the owners “are shopping hard for the right insurance coverage.”

Carlene Snow, the customer-service representative at the Old Town office, joined the Varney Agency last summer. She and Bolduc strive work together toward an important goal, defined by Bolduc as “providing the best customer service we can for our customers.”

Machias

At the Varney Agency on Main Street in Machias, Wayne Kinghorn and Chris Davis work together to meet the insurance needs of their Washington County customers.

Kinghorn, who has been a licensed insurance agent for 22 years, writes policies for life, health, property, and casualty insurance. A member of the National Association of Security Dealers, he has worked for the Varney Agency since May 1990.

According to Kinghorn, the Machias office has “been very busy. We’ve had a very good year, picking up many commercial accounts” that range from Machias-based businesses to long-haul trucking companies. Between the commercial and personal insurance lines that the Varney Agency handles, “automotive, home, business, and health insurance are the most popular in our coverage area, in that order,” Kinghorn said.

He said that the office’s service area extends from Milbridge and Steuben to Jonesport, Beals, Machias, Cutler, and Lubec.

Davis, who joined the Varney Agency in December 1990, works as the customer-service representative and operates the computer system at the Machias office.

Calais

Linda Severance is the licensed agent and office manager for the Varney Agency at 163 North St. in Calais. Licensed to sell property and casualty insurance, she services customers living in eastern Washington County, from Princeton south along Route 1 to Woodland and Calais and farther south to towns like Perry and Eastport.

With so many Canadians passing through Calais daily, Severance often talks to people moving to the United States who must change their insurance coverage. The questions cross the border in the other direction, too, as people planning a move to Canada stop by her office and ask how to obtain insurance on the New Brunswick side of the border.

The Allstate Insurance Companies are most popular at the Calais office, which writes some commercial lines. Among all the policies that Severance writes, “automotive insurance is very important among our customers, particularly since the state mandated (liability) coverage a year or two ago. Home-owner’s insurance is much in demand, too.”

Teresa Kowalski in the customer-service representative in the Calais office.

Houlton

Eileen Folkins, the licensed agent and office manager for the Varney Agency at 64 North St. in Houlton, joined the insurance agency as a bookkeeper on Jan. 5, 1989. Thoroughly interested in the insurance industry, she went to Bangor on her birthday in July 1990 and passed the state examination for her license to sell property and casualty insurance. She plans to test for a license to sell life and health insurance.

From its Houlton office, the Varney Agency services customers living in southern Aroostook County. While most customers live in the towns surrounding Houlton or as far south as Danforth, Folkins has several commercial accounts that are located farther away. These include trucking companies in Presque Isle and Easton and even a white-water rafting company that bases its operations in West Forks.

Among the types of insurance that the Varney Agency carries through its Houlton office are coverage for skidders — very popular in this region where many people making their living in the woods — and Workmen’s Compensation.

Working with Folkins in the Houlton office are Abbie Rairdon, the customer-service representative, and Debra Berry, the assistant CSR and the bookkeeper.

Caribou

Wendy Myrshall is the licensed agent at the Varney Agency at 499 Main St. in Caribou. She sells property and casualty coverage and represents several insurance firms, with the Allstate Insurance Companies being by far the most popular insurer that customers prefer.

Myrshall’s service area extends across northern Aroostook County, from Fort Kent and Van Buren in the north to Mars Hill and Blaine in the south; she even writes some policies for customers living in Houlton. She said that most of her customers live within the triangle bordered by Presque Isle, Limestone (Loring Air Force Base), and Caribou.

Given the great distances that County residents travel, Myrshall expressed no surprise that “we sell more automobile insurance than any other types of insurance to customers of all ages. Everyone who lives and works in Aroostook needs a car, and we work hard to provide them with the insurance coverage that they need.” She has recently noticed an increase in the policies being written for new cars and trucks, a trend that she believes a good economic indicator.

Although she refers customers interested in life and health insurance to the Varney Agency in Bangor, Myrshall services the accounts at her office.

— By Brian Swartz