STATE FARM INSURANCE
Brian Huffman knows the value of good insurance. Huffman, owner of the State Farm Insurance Agency at 3938 West River Drive in downtown Comstock Park, said he and his staff came to work one Monday morning to find a car had crashed through the building. The driver had overshot the corner at Lamoreaux Dr. and West River Ave.
“It happened late on a Sunday night,” recalled Huffman. “We got here on Monday morning, and there was a car sitting in the office.
“We had good insurance,” he added.
Huffman’s father worked for State Farm, and Huffman followed in his father’s footsteps. Huffman began his career in 1987 working in claims for State Farm in Seattle WA for three years and then a year in Lansing. He decided to become an agent because he “didn’t want to stay in claims…sit in an office.”
“It’s neat to see people come in…their kids were three when they first came here, now they’re driving.”
Huffman moved to the Comstock Park office in 1991 to replace the retiring agent who had been there twenty years and bought the one thousand square foot building. Besides Huffman. There are two full-time employees.
After more than 30 years in Comstock Park, Huffman still likes the location. He says the downtown location agrees with his belief in interacting personally with clients. Things are different in the insurance business than they were when he started, Huffman noted. Technology has lessened the need for in-person interaction, but he still prefers meeting his clients in person and getting to know them so he can assess their insurance needs. During the pandemic State Farm had its best years, said Huffman. The company lowered rates because there were fewer accidents and the accidents that happened were less severe because people were out driving less.
State Farm agents are responsible for their own local advertising. Huffman advertises in the Comstock Park High School sports programs and yearbook, as well as supporting the local Little League and the Relay for Life. Many of Huffman’s clients are local. and he said the worst large-scale catastrophe he’s had happen while in Comstock Park are the straight-line winds in the mid-1990’s that uprooted large trees and ripped roofs off buildings. A very close second was the tornado that tore through Comstock Park in August 2023.
As a State Farm agent, Huffman offers auto, home, renters, life, and business insurance. Being an insurance agent requires continuing education on the agent’s part and learning the history of State Farm.Insurance, headquartered in Bloomington Illinois. The company was founded in 1922 by G. J. Meherle, an Illinois farmer.
“Farmers in the area got together, put their money in a pot so if a barn burned down, it was covered,” Huffman said.
Huffman grew up in Marshall MI graduating from Marshall High School. He graduated from Northern Michigan University with a degree in business management and went to work for State Farm after graduating. He and his wife Kristi, a vice-president at Westrock, a printing and packaging company, live in Cascade and have two grown daughters and a two-year-old granddaughter. Huffman likes to golf. He and his wife enjoy outdoor activities.
(January 2024)