Nick Bruns named Best Insurance Agent in Best of the Best

Kathy Steiner, The Jamestown Sun, N.D.The Jamestown Sun

Dec. 17—JAMESTOWN — Nick Bruns says education is an important part of his work to help people make informed decisions about insurance.

Bruns was voted the Best Insurance Agent in the Best of the Best contest.

"Super excited and grateful," Bruns said in reaction to the award. "Our goal is always to have top-tier customer service and go above and beyond for our customers, so it's always exciting to have that be recognized."

Bruns owns and operates the Nick Bruns Agency — Nodak Insurance Company, with offices in Jamestown and LaMoure. The business provides home, auto, excess liability coverage, commercial/business and farm/ranch insurance.

Bruns credited his staff for the Best Insurance Agent award.

"This isn't my award by any means," he said. "There's no way we could be who we are as an office without working as a team and working together. I always view it as an office we earned it, not myself as an individual."

In April 2026, it will be 10 years since Bruns opened the business in Jamestown, which is located at 302 1st Ave. N. He said the goal of the business is customer service and to be a resource for people.

"Insurance can be really boring and dry, and we all have an understanding that we should probably have it, but not always an understanding of what it does or how it works," Bruns said.

He said their goal is to provide coverage and make sure people have what they need. His favorite part about what they do is education, so people have an understanding of what they're paying for, why they have it and what it does.

"For us as a company, we're based here in North Dakota, started back in the '30s, and so we, I think, have a really good grasp on what's happening here in the state of North Dakota," Bruns said. "And with that, there are policy endorsements and coverages that we're able to offer because we're paying attention to how things change and move in the state of North Dakota."

It's important to give people an understanding of insurance so they view it as an asset or resource to them, Bruns said. He says most people have a basic understanding of insurance but do not realize there's a lot more depth to it. Their goal is education so people can leave feeling more confident about what they're purchasing and what it can do for them, he said.

"In policy structure, if you're at fault in an accident, how does it protect you," Bruns said. "What about your family and your vehicle if you ran the stop sign? How does your policy come back around to help? What if somebody hits you and they don't have insurance, what does that look like?"

Bruns said he thinks people don't realize they have more at risk than they see, adding that a large part of that is related to income.

"Maybe you don't have a big savings, but you have an income that provides for you day in and day out," he said. "And what happens if you were to be sued because you ran a stop sign, how would that impact your income, and if a percentage of that income was taken away because you were at fault, how does that impact your daily living. Just being able to pay your bills. It can sound really scary and ... intimidating, but at the end of the day, my goal is, if we do it right, it's no longer scary or intimidating because you have understanding of what it's going to do for you instead of thinking or hoping it's going to work the way that you want it to."

Other fully licensed employees who can assist new and current customers at the Nick Bruns Agency — Nodak Insurance Company are Anita Soupir and Jamie Klettke in Jamestown and Anastasia Swiontek in the LaMoure office.

"We're always happy to review policies and help people ... as a business within Jamestown, we assist a lot of people," Bruns said. " Maybe they aren't customers of ours, but they're just looking for direction. And so again, we sell insurance, but our goal is to be much more than that and be a resource to the community. And as a business, we operate to try and be a business that's moving the community forward and a part of good things happening in Jamestown."

Hours for the offices are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday. They all operate off of one telephone number, 701-252-1590, which people can call or text, Bruns said.

"If there's an emergency, they can send a text and I'll get that into my system, and so we can communicate," Bruns said, "so again, wanting to go above and beyond the threshold of just the normal operating hours, that, if something happens, that we can be there to help somebody."

He noted the severe storms on June 20 set a record for claims filed by his agency, adding that their goal is to be there to help people through those difficult times.

"We're thankful to be in Jamestown and the opportunity to win this award again is super fun for us and it's encouraging to be recognized for it," Bruns said, "but really at the end of the day, it's us doing our job and wanting to make sure that we take care of our customers in the community we serve."