A pair of Cortland insurance agencies plan merger [Business Journal, The (Central New York)]

CORTLAND - The owners of the George B. Bailey Agency and Place Insurance are trying to merge without losing any name recognition.

"It's two independent agencies, and both names are known well," says Chuck Spaulding, owner and president of the Bailey Agency. "So why wouldn't we take advantage of using both names?"

On , the two Cortland-area area insurance agencies announced that they plan to merge. They will operate under a new name, Bailey Place Insurance.

Spaulding will be an equal partner in the new firm with Place Insurance owner and President Stephen Franco. Spaulding will hold the title of chairman of the new group, while Franco will be president.

Neither Spaulding nor Franco is disclosing financial terms of the deal. It is set to close in the second quarter of this year. Kane Bowles & Moore PC of Liverpool is providing accounting services for the transaction.

For the Bailey Agency, it will be a physical move as well as a structural one. The agency expects to leave its current Cortland location at 18 Tompkins St. and move the six employees working there several blocks to Place's headquarters at 2 N. Main St.

However, the office changes are limited to Cortland. The Bailey Agency's 2,600-square-foot office at 5 South Street in Dryden, where six more employees are based, will not be relocating. It will take the Bailey Place Insurance name, though.

"The one thing I think that's very important is that we are not closing the Dryden office," Spaulding says. "That office will remain open and operating - business as usual. The Dryden office is a very important part of our plan for the future."

The Bailey Agency is set to move from about 1,200 square feet it leases at 18 Tompkins St. in Cortland. The agencies decided to combine at Place Insurance's current headquarters because Franco owns

that building.

Franco's building totals about 16,000 square feet, although Place Insurance is not its only tenant. The agency currently occupies 3,000 square feet. It will grow into an additional 1,000 square feet of space once the agencies' merger is complete.

Place Insurance has eight employees, meaning a total of 14 people will work at Bailey Place Insurance at 2 N. Main St. Franco and Spaulding do not plan any layoffs, so the merged company will have a total of 20 employees between its Cortland and Dryden offices.

Franco believes the firm could grow beyond that.

"I'm hoping that we're going to be increasing our staff," he says. "We're looking for producers or salespeople."

Premium volume at Place Insurance has nearly doubled between 2009 and 2012, according to Franco. And the Bailey Agency grew its premium volume by 2 percent last year, Spaulding says. Both Franco and Spaulding decline to be any more specific or share revenue totals.

"Place Insurance has enjoyed tremendous growth over the last three years because we've been active in soliciting new business," Franco says. "I believe we'll be growing above industry average once we merge."

The merger comes as former Bailey Agency co-owner John Bailey prepares to leave the business at the end of 2013. He sold his interest in the agency in 2012, but will remain with the merged company through the end of the year.

While Spaulding has no immediate plans to retire, he wanted to partner with some younger blood.

"Chuck was looking for someone to partner with to see the business on to the next generation," says Franco. "I looked at this as an opportunity to take our agency to a place that I may not be able to get to in 20 years by trying to do it organically."

George B. Bailey founded the Bailey Agency in 1936. Place Insurance traces its history back to the 1850s. Both companies have wide-ranging portfolios, according to Franco.

"We really tried to get involved in a lot of different types of risks," Franco says. "We both insure a lot of municipalities. We also have some schools on the books. We have, I think, most of the large commercial businesses in Cortland and Tompkins counties. In Cortland County we have the larger, medium-large businesses.

"The nice thing about both agencies is you're still working with the owners, you're still working with the people that live in the community."