HANKS INSURANCE GROUP, INC.
Roots to 1925
in
Powell, Texas

H. H. Hanks Insurance Agency was founded in the 1920’s in the lobby of the Powell State Bank by Hamp H. Hanks. As an officer of the bank, Hamp needed to insure homes and autos financed by the bank, and the easy way to get the job done was to do it himself.

The actual date the agency was founded is in some doubt. The Home Insurance Company of New York was represented by H. H. Hanks Insurance Agency in 1925, and that is the earliest record of the agency found to date.

For thirty years or more, Hamp operated the agency from the bank lobby and wrote primarily family insurance on autos and homes.

In 1955 Hamp H. Hanks died, and his wife, Aliene C. Hanks inherited the agency. Aliene had worked in the bank with Hamp, but she had very little knowledge of the insurance business. It was a struggle for her to learn the business, pass the licensing test and continue to provide family insurance to customers from the Powell area and eastern Navarro county.

Even though her start in the insurance agency business was difficult for Aliene, she saw the agency as a way to serve her community and, at the same time, provide some extra income for a single mother. Her persistence in her effort to learn the business and continue the agency paid dividends for thirty-seven years, and she was still active in the agency business until her death in 1992.

The current Hanks is Dock C. Hanks, the son of Hamp and Aliene Hanks. Dock was interested enough in the family business to major in Finance with an emphasis on Real Estate and Insurance at Texas Tech University and graduate with a BBA in 1967. After a few months as a Corsicana life insurance agent with Pan American Life of New Orleans, Dock purchased the Frances M. Cushman Insurance Agency and started his Corsicana career in the property and casualty insurance business.

Dock purchased the Rosa George White Insurance Agency and the Willis Insurance Agency in 1969 and added the Gabe Goldburg Insurance Agency in 1973. In 1978 the combined agencies, known as Hanks & Co. Insurance and Bonding, began to market to contractors in North Texas, East Texas and Central Texas. Dock continued his education in insurance and received his Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) designation in June, 1981. The agency experienced steady growth until 1983 when Dock sold Hanks & Co. to the Corsicana Insurance Agency. After a year of working for the Corsicana Insurance Agency as a commercial account executive, Dock left Navarro County for a short time to operate an insurance agency in Austin.

In 1988, Aliene C. Hanks assumed ownership of an existing corporate insurance agency, Hanks Insurance Group, Inc. and with Dock C. Hanks as President of that corporation, Aliene owned both agencies for the four years prior to her death in 1992. Hanks Insurance Group, Inc. was based in Corsicana.

With his background in commercial insurance, Dock operated Hanks Insurance Group, Inc. as a commercial lines insurance agency and Aliene continued to operate H. H. Hanks Insurance Agency as a personal lines insurance agency.

In 1991 Aliene combined the two agencies in Hanks Insurance Group, Inc. and turned all day to day operations of the insurance agency over to her son, Dock C. Hanks.

Aliene was never far from the insurance business as she helped Dock place her customers with new companies, and she was available for advice and support for agency management until her death in April, 1992.

The Hanks Insurance Group, Inc. agency started a period of steady and healthy growth in 1992 that continues. The agency had only a part-time employee in 1991. Kathy York, ACSR was added full-time in late 1993, Debbie Hanks, ACSR was added full-time in early 1995, and Shelley Compton was added full-time in early 1996.

Kathy serves as the Commercial Lines Manager with a department of four, Debbie now handles agency accounting and marketing and Shelley is getting impressive results as she builds a personal lines department for the agency.

Kenneth Dunagan, a former account executive for contractor accounts with Hanks & Co. has rejoined Dock at Hanks Insurance Group, Inc. to call on contractor accounts again along with Jerry Sartor, a new commercial account executive in the North Dallas area.

Patrick A. Deem, Sr., CIC of Austin became Vice-President of Hanks Insurance Group, Inc. in April 1997. Patrick brings such a wealth of insurance knowledge to the agency that insurance agents all over the United States attend classes taught by Patrick to learn more about commercial insurance.

The agency now represents Aetna/Travelers, Garfield Farm Mutual Insurance Association, Bituminous Insurance Company, Fidelity & Deposit Insurance Company of Maryland, Wausau Insurance and The Maryland Insurance Companies as well as several fine managing general agencies that provide quality insurance products.

In 1995, Hanks Insurance Group, Inc. became a member of Group 500, a national organization of less than 500 quality insurance agents that work together to provide quality products to their commercial insurance clients nationwide. This affiliation provides the agency resources not available to non-member agencies. Some of these special resources give Hanks Insurance Group, Inc. some solutions for commercial insurance accounts not available through any other agency in the area.

From H. H. Hanks Insurance Agency in the lobby of the Powell State Bank in the early 1920’s has evolved a family business in Navarro County that provides insurance services to clients all over Texas as well as serving client needs in eight to nine other states. That original one man office has grown to become an insurance agency organization capable of handling complicated insurance accounts in 10 states with employees and account representatives in three different cities.

Hanks Insurance Group, Inc. has served the insurance needs of families and businesses of Navarro County and Texas for over 70 years, and that service continues.

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