Philpot & Delgaty Celebrate 100 Years of Service
by Scott A. Sumner
www.thunderbaybusiness.ca
A familiar name in the business community of Thunder Bay has just reached the amazing milestone of 100 years of service. This is certainly an accomplishment for the team of Bill Covello, President and his partner Pauline Wittich of Philpot & Delgaty Insurance. They can be very proud. Philpot & Delgaty has been in the South Ward for 100 years.
“We were originally on May Street across from the Royal Edward Hotel. When Centennial Square was built we were the original tenant. Our company also did property management at that time. We moved three
times in Centennial Square, first in a smaller spot, then down by Thunder Bay Travel and finally we moved to the old TD Bank location which is 6200 square feet in size,” said Bill Covello. “When I first started here we had fewer than 10 people. In the beginning there were probably under four. Today we have 24 people on staff most of who are licensed as brokers.We are in the top ranking of insurance companies in Thunder Bay and especiallyin the South Ward. We contemplated moving from the South Ward but we have three generation of customers here. We still take cash payments and many people walk here to our location. We still try to be some of the old with the new. Our personal line of clients live mostly in the South Ward. My role has been in commercial and we have expanded the commercial lines area tremendously.”
Bill Covello was born in Thunder Bay and started his career in Business Administration at Confederation College. He was hired right out of college and trained in Toronto as an Insurance adjustor and appraiser and became the manager before moving into the insurance
industry where he was hired by AON and took his brokerage training. “We bought into Philpot Delgaty and I am partners with Pauline Wittich. I enjoy being an entrepreneur. It is interesting. It certainly has its challenges, especially in this market place. As we are smaller in the scheme of things, there is a lot dependent on us to create to stay automated. We are truly independent as we have all the ownership. We do have the benefit of companies like INTACT which have been very helpful. A lot of the companies that we deal with are our partners and try to help us thrive. We can dovetail with their systems,” said Covello. “The name was changed to broker in the insurance business because we broker the business to many insurance firms to find the right fit, product and price.”
At Philpot & Delgaty, they offer the full line of insurance; including your home, car, cottage, travel and RV’s. They do the full line of commercial insurance which is virtually endless including contractors and surety bonding. Philpot & Delgaty still have the ING Bank products to offer value added to their clients, including high yield saving accounts which has been a plus for them. “It is a huge milestone to achieve 100 years. Very few businesses I believe achieve this. We feel it is worthwhile to recognize as we are locally owned and always have been locally owned. Our staff are local people. We support a large range of activities like the Thunder Bay
Kings hockey, Thunderwolves hockey and local young athletes. We like to sponsor a lot of activity,” said Covello, age 52. “I think the city of Thunder Bay is a survivor just like business. We always seem to find a way to turn the corner. The woodland scene is affecting everyone but I don’t really see where we have skipped a beat in our business. We are growing and not in a stay hold mode. Our plans are to move forward.”
