Client Profile: The Lewer Agency

Oftentimes, business ventures that begin with hope fail to survive the unrelenting competitive market pressures that are characteristic of the American economy. However, this is a success story of a business that has not only survived, but has thrived in the hostile and changing environment of today’s marketplace. The company has achieved significant success over the decades, and remains strong as it approaches nearly 50 years in providing insurance services to a growing and impressive list of customers.

The Lewer Agency, Inc. specializes in life insurance, retirement, financial and estate planning, marketing and administration of both comprehensive group health benefits and limited benefit plans, and business succession planning, as well as the marketing and administration of a student insurance program for international students in the United States and a companion plan for U.S. students studying abroad.

While Lewer’s product and service mix is not necessarily unique, its methods of operation and its markets are. Most of its competitors are far larger in size than Lewer. Yet this modest-sized Kansas City-based firm can be compared to “the little engine that could,” made famous in children’s books. Going head-to-head with much larger organizations, the Lewer Agency has consistently shown that it could deliver the goods and now counts among its customer base many of the very largest enterprises with such well-known names as: Hallmark, Purina Mills, Conoco Phillips, Exxon Mobil, Shaw Carpets and Yamaha, among others in providing benefits to their independent marketers.

Although every business success inevitably includes some amount of good luck, luck alone is not adequate to ensure business profitability and long life. Did “luck” have anything to do with Lewer’s success? One is reminded of Sam Goldwyn’s quote, “The harder you work, the luckier you get.” Success must begin with a vision that is fulfilled through strong leadership and management skills. For the Lewer Agency, these characteristics are clearly embodied in the founder, Chairman of the Board and President of the company, D.C. “Chuck” Lewer.

In profiling this company since its beginnings, it is difficult, if not impossible, to separate the man from the company. Chuck Lewer speaks often of his ongoing commitment to the mentoring of a qualified and dedicated management team—many of whom have over 25 years’ experience with the company. He is also quick to acknowledge the significant contributions of his hard-working employees and staff. His vision launched the company in 1956, and his single-mindedness and dedication in pursuit of that vision is an ongoing source of pride for all of the members of the Lewer organization.

Mr. Lewer’s unfailing enthusiasm for his work is obvious upon meeting him. Though not at the office each day, it is clear that in his work from home and in his many travels on behalf of the company, he remains fully engaged. When asked of his age, he replies, “I’m 76 years old, but you know sometimes I feel like I’m 46, or 36.” While listening to the story of the company’s beginnings and of Mr. Lewer’s drive to make it happen, one cannot help but be impressed by and envious of the work ethic he possesses. Born in Wisconsin, at the age of 28 he found himself in Fort Worth, Texas, selling and marketing insurance for $400 a month advance against commissions. With an unbridled desire to succeed and a need to support his growing family, he began The Lewer Agency. Spending three weeks of each month in the field earning his advance, he reserved the last week of each month to travel to Houston to call on Conoco, Mobil and Exxon, which, in 1961, after a three-and-a-half-year effort, led to acquiring Conoco as his first major account. Chuck Lewer had envisioned a market in which he saw a void that needed to be filled. In the words of the company brochure:

“…His mission was to fill the benefit gap that existed in programs covering employees of large corporations and their independent marketers. He knew that independent marketers needed an affordable, corporate-style benefit program that could be tailored for their individual businesses.”

In fashioning a custom-made benefits plan for Conoco, Lewer created a template that could also be adapted to serve the needs of a host of other companies whose independent marketers would subsequently become clients of his firm. Now licensed in all 50 states and all of the Canadian provinces, The Lewer Agency and its operating entities have come a long way since the founder’s vision was first formed. This includes the affiliated Lewer Life Insurance Company, which has shown significant growth of its own since its inception in 1987.

As noted earlier, it is near impossible to separate the company and its success from the man whose persistence and hard work made it possible. He speaks of the importance of always doing the right and moral thing, and of the importance of honoring a commitment once entered into. While the company requires a significant portion of his time and energy, Chuck Lewer also shows enormous pride in the more personal side of his life.

He speaks glowingly of his wife of nearly 60 years, Mary, and of his five sons and four daughters. He beams as he speaks of 26 grandchildren and his immediate family of 46, commenting with a smile that such a large family “provided lots of reasons to work.”

Finally, when asked what led him to engage the services of Meara, King & Co., his response was to the point. He recognized that his firm’s expertise was not all-encompassing, and commented, “We wanted a firm with qualified, dependable, trustworthy and capable people with the expertise to review our procedures and make recommendations that will serve to strengthen our company even more. That’s why we chose Meara, King & Co., and we look forward to that relationship.”

You can learn more about the Lewer companies by viewing www.lewer.com, or by contacting Mike Dlugolecki, Senior Vice President, at (800) 821-7715, ext. 103.

For more information, contact The Lewer Agency at their website: http://www.lewer.com