Page 30 - BusinessWest October 3, 2022

This was the third such acquisition over the past two years, coming after Dowd bought the J. Raymond Lussier agency in West Springfield
“I’ll usually have one conversation with them and
let them know that we’re not interested in selling and are happy to stay the way we are. And then when they call the next month with the same question, my patience starts to wane, and I start to wonder about how obligated
I am to answer every email and every phone call, especially when I’ve already talked to them and told them my plan.”
and the Wilcox agency in Westfield and Feeding Hills. This expansion has given the agency much greater size, and in insurance, as in banking and most all other sectors, size matters, and it bring benefits.
“The advantages come with volume with car-
riers,” Dowd explained, noting that the firm is roughly 30% larger than it was a few years ago, and almost double the size it was a decade ago. “The more volume you have, the better compensation you negotiate, as well as profit sharing, services, and other perks. We’ve been able to achieve some of that volume leverage through aggrega- tion with other agencies and through M&A.”
Moving forward, the agency will continue to look for opportunities for growth organically, and also through additional acquisitions, said Dowd, adding that it approaches this assignment with an eye toward smart growth and not taking on too much too quickly.
“We want to continue
to grow, but want to make
sure we’re not growing
too quickly; we don’t
want to get over our skis, as we like to say,” he noted, borrowing a phrase used often in business to connote getting ahead of oneself with a spe- cific strategic initiative. “A healthy company grows organically and also through M&A. With the M&A, it has to be measured growth, but organic growth
Staff Photo
John Dowd Jr., seen here next to a photo of the company’s founder, Joseph Dowd, says the Dowd Agencies targets controlled, ‘smart’ growth, both organically and through acquisition.
30 OCTOBER 3, 2022
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is essential — that’s boots on the ground, bring- ing in new clients, retaining your current clients; that’s good, healthy growth, augmented by acqui- sition, which comes with debt, which obviously has to measured and balanced.”
Meanwhile, there are other matters to con- sider, said Dowd, including succession planning