PHOTO PROVIDED The staff of The Hartman Group pride themselves on the company’s focus on serving customers and the community.

By MARK MARONEY

mmaroney@sungazette.com

A big heart greets the guests outside of The Hartman Group located on Sycamore Drive in Loyalsock Township.

The heart is a part of the company’s symbol on its signage and is not there by accident.

It is an integral part of the insurance agency’s philosophy and can be seen in bright red color at the front entrances to the parking lots of the business at 1720 Sycamore Road and the branch office at 1051 Shiloh Road in State College, and on its front doors.

The heart is symbolic of how the agency’s 34-plus employees operate on a daily basis.

“We are motivated each and every day by three main pillars: Our customers, our employees and our community. We love them all,” said Michael P. Gaetano, president of The Hartman Group, a proud member of the Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce.

The heart, too, is a symbol of a pulsating and vibrant independent insurance agency, one that consists of professionals, young and old alike, who are dedicated to their work – and that is to provide the best insurance service and insurance consulting options available to their loyal and sometimes first-time customers.

The management expressed for this article how it was a true honor to be considered as the cover story for this month’s Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce Chamber Connection.

A longstanding tradition of excellence

Since 1932, the agency has cherished the community it serves, Gaetano relayed alongside Mark Sitler, vice president of The Hartman Group.

For those doing simple math, that’s 92 years of serving customers with the best property and casualty insurance, risk management for businesses – large, mid-size and small, and individual insurance policy coverage.

Now in its fourth wave or generation of leadership, the agency has stayed focused on its core principles: Hard work, knowledge and integrity.

“For us, it goes back to the important valuable service offered, which is always centered on three main pillars: Our customers, our employees and our community,” Gaetano said.

That, along with a commitment to leadership and strategic planning are components that make The Hartman Group a successful business and service to north central Pennsylvania.

Gaetano and Sitler stated some people might be familiar with the location of the agency’s former office, which was for the longest time in downtown Williamsport on William Street.

Today, the business is located in a modern building on Sycamore Road, right off Four Mile Drive.

The relocation accommodates the growth of their business and is accessible to the many customers served by the agency with ample parking.

“Don’t get me wrong, we still love downtown Williamsport and we are grateful for all of the years in the downtown office,” he said. This new office building, however, provides the agency with room to grow and a more efficient floor plan to continue to offer the best insurance service in the Susquehanna Valley.

Growth of the business

Today, the Hartman Group team consists of an exceptionally motivated group of employees.

“They, the employees, are our keystone,” observed Sitler. “We are a family and believe in total support of each other,” he said.

Such pride is exemplified in the agency being consistently awarded by its insurance peers.

“We are most proud of being honored for the third consecutive year as one of the elite independent insurance agencies across the nation,” Sitler added.

The Hartman Group is in an elite category of independent insurance agencies around the nation who participated in the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America (IIABA) or Big “I”) Best Practices Study Group.

Only 282 agencies out of 40,000 in the U.S. receive such an honor.

The Hartman Group was nominated and selected three times based on its operational excellence.

Such awards do not come easy, as the agency has received them only by providing those measuring insurance agencies with accurate analytics and data validating the firm’s commitment to efficiency and delivery of high quality insurance service to all customers.

“The awards validate our efforts and support our continuous effort as we strive to improve each year,” Sitler said.

When asked what these executives sought in someone interested in working for the insurance agency, they did not hesitate to answer.

“A college degree is preferred but not always necessary,” Gaetano stressed.

More so, the company seeks out and hires individuals who demonstrate a stronger work ethic, who obtain necessary knowledge through listening, research and learning, and who have integrity.

As part of the commitment to customers, the agency prides itself on being an integral part of the community, whether that is through volunteerism or serving on various boards or being involved in civic groups.

“We give back,” Gaetano said, adding that when he sees employees who have worked for many years, seasoned and loyal workers, who are at a company picnic – as was recently at Knoebels Grove – and he sees that they now have kids and grandkids – that means “we’ve contributed to their lives.”

“We have outstanding employees,” he said, those with incredible work ethic, who are skilled in communications, many of whom have an affinity with numbers and figures, which is critical to the insurance industry and who bring their “A Game” – each day arriving with energy and a willingness to serve their community and perform their jobs to the best of their abilities.

It’s truly a team effort, Gaetano said. He is modest but proud to have served for two years as Chairman of the Williamsport-Lycoming Chamber of Commerce as well as serving on many boards.

“Again, it’s our customers, our employees and our community,” he said. “It is what drives us, motivates us to go to work each day.”