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The story of Ironpeak

Welcome to our story — one over 100 years in the making. The story of a local family business that became a national network focused on helping agents and carriers continue to grow stable and robust businesses for the long term. 

Before there was Ironpeak

For four generations, we’ve been immersed in the business of insurance. This family legacy has impacted every aspect of our business from that day to this — when we say we’re built by agents for agents, we really mean it!

1935
Deep roots

Arthur P. Budd (great-granduncle to current CEO Laurie Branch) runs a successful insurance business in Brewster, New York in the first half of the 20th century.

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A newspaper ad for A.P. Budd, insurance and real estate, in the 1935 Brewster Standard in Brewster, New York.

This ad is from the 1935 Brewster Standard. We love that his phone numbers were two and three digits long!

1936
Both, Branch & Hendrix formed

Partners Byron (By) Both, William (Bill) Branch, and Tobias (Toby) Hendrix form Both, Branch & Hendrix, Inc., an independent insurance agency focusing on property and casualty lines in Olean, New York.

A carrier appointment certificate for Both, Branch & Hendrix from 1937 from Glen Falls Insurance Company.

A carrier appointment certificate for Both, Branch & Hendrix from 1937.

1949
Growing the family business

Paul Branch, son of Bill, graduates from Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business with a degree in railroad finance, and surprises his classmates by returning home to join the family insurance business. He is followed by George Hendrix, son of Toby, who joins the firm eight years later, after a stint playing professional baseball. The two eventually take over the business and build Both, Branch & Hendrix into the premier insurance agency in the region. 

The front of a marketing brochure for Both, Branch & Hendrix, Inc., professional insurance counselors, circa 1960.

Front of a marketing brochure for Both, Branch & Hendrix, Inc., circa 1960.

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The anomaly — and the opportunity

While on a semester break from Dartmouth and prospecting customers outside the agency’s local geography, Laurie laments to her father at the dinner table, “It’s not fair. My coverages are better, and my price is lower, but the local agent still gets the last crack at the business!“

1977
Local advantage

We’ve always known that local independent agencies were at an advantage with the customer — but at a disadvantage when it came to accessing carriers and being compensated the way larger agencies were. Laurie’s frustration spurs Paul to determine a way to help local agencies better compete against larger agencies, and get a fair shake on compensation. This realization changed everything.

Paul starts to focus on acquiring local agencies and supporting them in retaining their unique community identity and spirit (never changing their names!) Company legend has it that we purchased over 200 agencies in Western and Central New York state. These are consolidated into six regional agencies operating independently and still very much ‘local’ in nature.

Engraving with a man’s profile and the Iroquois Group logo that was presented to Iroquois Group Members in the early 1980s.
Engraving on a company plaque presented to our Members in the early 1980s.

Expansion and growth

The foundations of today’s Ironpeak were laid by the creation of the Member Agreement in the 1980s. With that in place, we grew our team and Member Agents and never looked back.

1984
Building the team

Laurie Branch and Greg Chiapuso join the company, bringing new skill sets, perspectives and experience. As we grow, we realize we don’t have to ‘own’ the agencies to have them included under relationships with carriers. The Member Agreement is created, outlining a new way to partner with agencies and carriers for everyone’s mutual benefit. This lays the foundation for the network you see today; Ironpeak is born. 

Polaroid of Iroquois’ Greg Chiapuso sharing doughnuts with the first three Iroquois Members in Maine in 1992.

Greg Chiapuso (far left) sharing doughnuts with our first three Members in Maine in 1992.

1985
Heading North and South

We set our sights on expanding beyond New York state and recruit Matt Ward and Amy Branch to lead that effort. Explaining the concept of a network to independent agencies who have never heard of such a thing is daunting, but these two are up to the challenge, with Amy opening up Vermont and New Hampshire while Matt heads south to further develop Pennsylvania and then expand into Virginia. Today, Virginia remains our largest state in terms of number of Members and premium volume written. 

Matt Ward receiving the IIAV Company Person of the Year Award in 1998.

Matt Ward receiving the IIAV Company Person of the Year Award in 1998.

1988
A new model for a new era

The Direct Access Model, giving each Member a carrier subcode, transforms our way of doing business — and changes our industry, too. It starts with a question: Why is Ironpeak in the middle? Most groups use a central placement model, but we wonder why Members can’t treat our carriers like their own, and access them directly. Connecting Members directly with underwriters leads to a more collaborative way of working, strengthening our results and reducing the adversarial atmosphere that marks the 1980’s insurance industry.

Cartoon of Paul Branch, three of his children, and his nephew that was used in Iroquois trade show presentations in the mid-1980s.

Trade show presentation slide from the mid-1980s showing Paul Branch with three of his children and his nephew.

1992
Lessons from Hurricane Andrew

Hurricane Andrew causes $27.3 billion in damage, and is the costliest disaster in U.S. history. It precipitates a tumultuous period for the property insurance market, with many carriers caught off guard and going out of business. 

Thanks to our strong carrier relationships, we literally ‘weather the storm’ as well as can be hoped and come out of the experience even more committed to building successful long-term relationships where a “win” means a win for all, including the carrier, agency, customer — and Ironpeak. We also learn the importance of diversifying by carrier, line of business and geography for a better spread of risk. The enormity of the event reinforces the need for us to remain agile as a company, a lesson we still apply today.

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PartnerPlan® launches

In 1998, we introduce a new way of sharing revenue with Members that endures today — our PartnerPlan®. Focusing on growth and profitability, the model rewards Members who put more of their most profitable business with our carriers by significantly boosting their commissions and bonus payouts.

“It’s predicated on a win-win-win model — the better our Members perform, the more profits our carriers will make, and the greater the bonuses they can share with us. It creates an incentive to place profitable business with us, and rewards partnership performance at the highest levels.“
Matt Ward
Creator of PartnerPlan®

The New Millenium: Growing stronger — together

We enter a period of exciting geographic expansion and significant growth by expanding our team and welcoming even more Members into our family.

2001
Toffee fever

When Bob Stallings joins the company, he brings more than just his hard work and talent with him — he brings his wife’s family’s special holiday toffee recipe, too.

At first, it’s just Bob and Lisa cooking up a storm in their kitchen and gifting us all delicious treats. The next year, a few regional managers join them, and now, there are a baker’s dozen of us measuring, stirring, pouring and packing — and enjoying a post-Thanksgiving drink. It’s a great reminder that at heart, we’re not only a family-run organization — we’re a family!

The Ironpeak Southwest team and guests make toffee for the holiday season in a large kitchen.

The Ironpeak Southwest team making toffee for the holiday season! Get on their distribution list, if you can!

2005
Recruiting more family

We continue to grow stronger together, expanding further into the South, with David Ward leading the way.

2010
No dues revelation — and revolution

It’s simple, really. We knew we have a stronger value proposition than a pay-to-play model. So, we drop the requirement for Members to pay dues. 

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Laurie Branch, current CEO of Ironpeak, is sitting with her dad, Paul Branch, and a retirement plaque.

Laurie Branch, current CEO, with her dad, Paul Branch, during a newspaper interview in the early 2000s.

2016
Thanks a billion

Thanks to our Members and carrier partners, we cross a billion dollars in premium with our network carrier partners.

2020
Navigating a year of global pandemic

In truly unprecedented times, we focus on three priorities: keeping everyone safe, making sure there’s no delay in paying commissions and helping people manage through the chaos and uncertainty. 

We work from home, adjust to seeing each other only on screens, and make sure that commission payments go out on time — no interruptions. Even as businesses fold and our industry reels, we help our Members and carrier partners by providing more certainty in a wildly uncertain world. 

Nine medical workers in scrubs and masks holding signs thanking Iroquois and carrier partners for support during COVID.

Working with Members and carriers to support others during COVID.

2021
New leaders and new horizons

We add Ken Koehler and John McCaleb to our leadership team to expand into the Pacific Northwest and extend our reach into territories in the Midwest and Texas. 

2024
Another milestone

We write $3.5 billion in premium with our network carrier partners. 2024 also marks 20 consecutive years of earning record-setting profit sharing from our carrier partners. 

The back of an Iroquois Group $3 billion bill celebrating $3 billion in premium in 2023.

Everyone at Ironpeak’s most cherished bill commemorates reaching $3 billion in premium in 2023.

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A new name for the next chapter

2025 — A lot has changed since we were founded in 1977. We’re now a national organization with 3,000+ Members in 48 states (some of our Members live 5,000 miles away from our home in Olean, New York!) — and we’re supporting the scale and growth of our proudly independent network with a new name and a new brand to match. 

Our name may have changed, but we’re still the same independent, family-owned organization we’ve always been — with the same win-win-win approach to partnering with our Members and carriers.  

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