This September marks Knapp Tedesco’s 90th year in business. Our clients and community know us for our core values of integrity, exceptional service, trusted advisor, customer focus, and community, but are perhaps unaware of how Knapp Tedesco Insurance became the business it is today. Take a look at a brief outline of our past 90 years!
- 1926 Ames Native, Seaman Knapp, started Knapp Insurance at the location of 5th and Douglas. Seaman was the only employee.
- 1951 Seaman’s son AB (Beezer) joined the agency, bringing the number of employees to four.
- 1970 Ted Tedesco opened Tedesco Insurance.
- 1971 Ted and Beezer merged the two agencies to form Knapp-Tedesco Insurance and were located at 616 Kellogg.
- 1972 Labor Day weekend, Beezer died of a heart attack in Minnesota. Ted purchased Beezer’s share from his widow, Annie Knapp.
- 1973 Ted hired Brian Anderson, an ISU Graduate, as a file clerk with the promise that he could “move up in the company” if it worked out.
- 1976 Brian became part owner of the agency.
- 1978 The office location moved from 616 Kellogg to 414 Northwestern. Because of growth, an addition was built allowing for more office space in 1988.
- 2001 Ted retired from the insurance industry and sold his share of the business to Brian. That same year, Brian also purchased Gaarde Insurance from Arnie Gaarde.
- 2007 Brian purchased the former PCI building located at 627 Main Street. Construction began on July 1, 2007 on the remodeling project.
- 2012 Brian Anderson sold the agency to the current owner of Knapp Tedesco, Steve Goodhue.
- 2016 Knapp Tedesco Insurance celebrates its 90th anniversary. We currently have 12 employees and we’re a long-standing trusted insurance advisor. We operate on the values of integrity, exceptional service, trusted advisor, customer focus, and community.
We invite you to help us celebrate these past 90 years on September 13th, 2016! Check out our Facebook page for more information. For a free insurance quote, call us today at 515-232-7060 or visit us online at www.knapptedesco.com. We look forward to serving our clients during our next 90 years!
