Owners of two local insurance agencies — Rick and Roxi Connally of the Connally Agency and Kelvi Place of Place Insurance — have recently joined forces at the Connally Agency office at 105 W. N. Main St. in downtown Ellsworth to offer area residents a unique opportunity in the insurance industry.

Call it one-stop shopping, serving Ellsworth County clients all under one roof with health, farm, crop, home, auto and life insurance and Medicare.

“It’s just a place where people can come to for all their needs,” Rick Connally said.

In addition to giving Place a storefront for her business, Rick Connally said teaming up with Place also helps both businesses with more traffic and referrals.

“It’s a convenience for clients,” Place added. “We offer everything in one place.”

“This is the first time in my 30 years (as an insurance agent in Ellsworth) that I’ve had the opportunity to be a part of something like this where we can work together,” Rick Connally said.

The Connallys represent Farmer’s Insurance Group. They also offer crop insurance through RCIS (Rural Community Insurance Services) and Farmer’s Mutual Hail.

Place said she strictly handles Medicare and health insurance.

“I have been independent for about four-anda- half years now,” she said. “I am licensed with all of the major carriers — United Health Care, Humana, Cigna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Etna.”

Place said in the Medicare world, nobody’s coverage should look the same.

“Each case is different, so it allows me to have a toolbox to shop different carriers,” she said. “I am very familiar with Medicare supplements, Advantage plans, Part D.”

Place said she recently started doing ACA (Affordable Care Act) Marketplace insurance for families and individuals under 65. She said it’s going to be nice to provide more availability to clients in Ellsworth.

“For the past four years, especially during the annual election period, I’ve just been on the road servicing a lot of the state of Kansas,” Place said, “and now I get to really focus a lot of my time here at home to help provide a service here at home that really hasn’t had that opportunity here in Ellsworth.”

Place said she felt humbled that the Connallys chose to team with her.

“In the little time I’ve spent down here, I’ve noticed that Rick has extremely loyal clients,” Place said, “and in the insurance industry, that speaks volumes for what kind of agent he has been over the last 30 years.”

Rick Connally said perhaps the biggest area he sees people falling short on when it comes to insurance is not having enough liability coverage on their autos. Life insurance coverage is another area as well as disability income.

“People have more needs than they have coverage,” he said.

He said Place’s knowledge in health insurance will be very helpful.

“Because that’s a very misunderstood policy,” he said. “I think in our area, the rural area, the ACA program is misunderstood as well. There are some really big potential savings if ACA is used correctly.”

“Between the three of us, we all collectively have over 40 years experience in insurance,” Roxi Connally said, “so I feel like we offer the most knowledge and value and care. All of our roots run deep in Ellsworth. We are all very active in the community.”

Building on Rick’s Connally’s earlier remarks regarding the lack of insurance coverage, Roxi Connally said umbrella coverage is something that not many people know about.

“It’s at minimal cost and it can save your rear end financially if you ever get into an auto accident,” she said.

She said she, Rick Connally and Place are always available to their insurance clients.

“We have somebody in our office full-time,” she said. “We have a fully- licensed staff. If it’s after office hours, we’re still available — contact Rick on his cell phone (785) 472-8674) or contact Kelvi on her cell phone ((785) 4721029). There’s always a chance to get a hold of somebody, regardless of what your needs are. I think that stands out. We don’t treat our clients as a commodity — they are our clients. We have relationships with them, and we take pride in that.”

For more information, call the Connally Agency office at (785) 472-9593.