Matt Petro is carrying on his father Donald Petro’s legacy of building long-term customer relationships — and exceeding their expectations.
R.J. Carignan & Company, located at 1396 Crescent Visher Ferry Road in Clifton Park, has been selling personal and commercial insurance since 1935. It was first started in North Troy by Reginald Carignan.
“Reg Carignan was a man about town and he also owned the Troy Fifth Avenue Bus Company … and he was a real estate agent. Back then, people did more than one thing,” said Matt Petro.
Donald Petro worked with Carignan from the late ‘50s and took over the company when Carignan could no longer work. Petro worked until 2009 when he retired, and has now passed the torch to his son Matt Petro, who along with his wife Amy has succeeded him in the business.
In November of 2010, the Petros decided to move the company to Clifton Park because they wanted to bring their business to the community where they have lived for more than a decade.
“It was kind of a no-brainer for us to bundle our lives a little closer to home,” said Matt Petro.
About three-quarters of what the business R.J. Carignan & Company does is commercial insurance for manufacturing and processing facilities, municipalities, doctors, construction companies, restaurants and water districts.
The remainder is personal insurance focused on families and individuals for home, auto and watercraft coverage.
“We’re an independent insurance agent, which means that we act as an intermediary. We have a contractual relationship with our companies and we’re agents for them. Our relationships with our customers are very similar,” said Petro.
He also said that in New York, insurance is highly regulated when compared to other states, especially for businesses, and he and his staff are there to help.
“Businesses have a lot to think about in New York. They need a lot of help navigating how to lay out, design and acquire business insurance and do it cost effectively,” Petro said.
Petro draws on traditions built by his father and Carignan himself to foster long-term relationships with customers and have them endure. He said some customers have been doing business with the company for 75 years and are now in their fourth and fifth generations.
This is indeed a testament to the company’s dedication to their customers and not something available by surfing the Internet for the lowest insurance rates available.
“We really value the face-to-face consulting that responsible insurance buyers want,” he said. “We sell our promise to be here when our customers have a problem and we’ve been able to do that.”
Prior to working for R.J. Carignan & Company, Petro earned a bachelor’s of science in finance and economics from Western New England College and worked for three years on Wall Street for an investment bank.
Find R.J. Carignan & Company on the web at www.rjcinsurance.com.
