In today's business environment, office attire runs the gamut from old-school-tie conservatism to far-out faddish. In most insurance agency offices, business casual is about as funky as it gets...but if you follow Florida agency owner Rudy Howard on a client call, you're just as likely to see him in yellow diving gear as in suit and tie. At R.V. Howard & Associates, Inc., in the coastal city of Port St. Lucie, going the extra mile is what it's all about, whether it's into the briny deep (the agency insures an underwater engineering company) or up, up, and away (another client owns a fleet of aircraft).

On terra firma, of course, are more conventional risks—contractors, restaurants, garages, and personal auto and homeowners—but whether located on land, sea, or air, every client of R.V. Howard & Associates receives the kind of star treatment that builds volume, profits, and retention.

Incorporated in 1996, R.V. Howard & Associates began operating in 1997 as a one-man shop. "I started out on my own, selling commercial lines," Howard says. "I had brochures printed up and went from door to door trying to drum up business. About a year later I hired my first employee, and things took off from there. I specialized exclusively in commercial insurance until about 18 months ago, when I began to offer personal auto and homeowners. Some of my commercial clients were pressuring me to move into the personal lines area so they could do all their business with my agency." Also in response to his clients' wishes, Howard has initiated discussions with a life insurance producer who would join the agency and offer life, health, and benefits products.

Although he built his agency from scratch, Howard was anything but a neophyte; his nearly 30-year insurance career encompasses experience in claims, training, and brokerage for Sentry Insurance, General Accident (now CGU), Crum & Forster, and Tri City Insurance Brokers in New York City.

Today R.V. Howard & Associates employs a full-time customer service representative for personal lines, a secretary/receptionist, and Howard's wife, Brenda Howard, CPCU, who works part time. The agency's premium volume stands at about $2 million, of which 85% is commercial lines and 15% is personal lines. Lead carriers for commercial business are Travelers Property Casualty and Zurich Insurance Services; homeowners is written through New America Insurance Company in Tarpon Springs, Florida. Howard also works with a number of specialty wholesalers.