NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Longtime North County insurers Deep Associates Insurance Agency have sold to Wheeler & Taylor but manager Carrie Ann Kondel said clients should expect little to change.

 

"Customers should expect business as usual," she said. "Just more access. We're going to have even more market access and support for them."

 

The late Michael Deep opened Deep Associates in the early 1980s. Deep's sister Ellen Millard, who was with the agency from the very beginning, said there was never an urgency to sell, but after Deep passed in 2022, they began to talk about it more. 

 

Kondel, who is Deep's niece, agreed and said the business is thriving, and that when Wheeler & Taylor reached out to the agency they saw it as a chance to grow.

 

"We got talking to them, and we liked them. They had the same work ethic and community-minded focus," Kondel said. "They were great people and the more we talked we liked the support of a larger agency but still with the same hometown feel."

 

Wheeler & Taylor President Scott Rote said he was excited to welcome Deep Associates into the fold. He said as the group expanded throughout the region, they wanted to keep firm roots in their home, Berkshire County.

 

"Our roots have always been in Berkshire County and in the past several years, with changes in the market and everything, we knew that the best way to grow was to get out of the box and start going north, south, east and west," Rote said. "Mike was a well-respected insurance representative in the area. He was known well by many of my predecessors … they were an obvious choice to try to partner up with because of their philosophy and their style."

 

Kondel said this was incredibly important to Deep Insurance as they wanted to continue the legacy of Deep.

 

"We wanted Deep Associates to really go forward. My uncle, he built something really great and we wanted his hard work to be reflected and grow," she said. "We want to keep the business flourishing and the added support will help."

 

Rote said conversations with Deep Associates go back about a year after Wheeler & Taylor opened up an agency in Adams.

 

"Carrie will probably tell you, it took a lot longer than we thought it was going to. We hoped to have had this done last summer, but It's done," he said. "As of yesterday, Feb. 1, Carrie and Deep Associates have become a member of the Wheeler & Taylor Insurance Agency, and we're very proud to have them." 

 

Kondel, now manager of North County operations, said Deep Associates will stay at its current location at the corner of Ashland and Summer streets. She said the same employees and business methods will be maintained.

 

"Nothing is changing. We will just have more support. Deep will still be written on the door," she said. "... We are trying to continue my uncle's legacy and this is a great group."