In the snowy landscape of Alberta, trucking, coal, oil mining and forestry are key elements in the province’s livelihood. Since 1977, Rogers Insurance has been servicing these industries’ insurance needs and has become one of the province’s largest suppliers of corporate insurance for labor companies.

Founded by Peter Rogers, president for the first 26 years of business, the company is now thriving under the guidance of Lee Rogers, Peter’s son and the company’s second president. Each year, Rogers Insurance makes more than $150 million between its three Alberta offices and over 150 dedicated employees.

Unique Service

What sets Rogers apart from the hundreds of insurance companies throughout Canada is its willingness to adapt to the constantly evolving needs of its customers. “We are willing to look at different ways of placing coverage for our clients,” explains Lee, noting that his firm’s philosophy is different from that of many other firms. “I think the traditional broker will look at traditional ways and that hasn’t changed [over time], but we try to look outside the box and come up with new ideas to structure programs that will benefit our clients, and at the same time be something that’s palatable for the insurance company.”

In addition to its primary market of corporate insurance for construction and mining companies, Rogers provides insurance for businesses in many industries, including hospitality, energy, transportation and manufacturing. Also offered by the company are group home and auto insurance plans to employers and unions, as well as high-end private coverage plans. The company focuses 85 percent of its work in commercial insurance, however, as well as on ways to provide the best service in this area. One way is through supplementing its services with risk management assessments that help guide a company’s growth and decisions, and also significantly decrease the monetary amount of its insurance policy.

Lee has been in the insurance industry for 17 years, learning the ropes of the complex business from his father, who remains the company’s chairman. During his tenure as president, Lee has guided the company towards continued growth and has widely expanded the markets that the firm provides coverage for. Lee and Peter have centered the company on giving back to its community, and as an important area of focus, Rogers is a supporter of the Calgary Humane Society, the Discovery House in Calgary, the Kids Up Front Foundation, the L’Arche Association of Calgary and the Calgary Herald Christmas Fund.

Embracing Growth

“We’re a heavily growth-focused organization, so our focus is around driving growth through sales and we’re stepping that up this year,” Lee explains, adding that the firm must be more proactive than ever about its intentions to grow, due to the stifling economy that has negatively affected much of Alberta’s construction industry since 2009. Conditions have forced some companies to minimize their accounts with Rogers, or to close entirely. “Our intention to grow is becoming magnified now by the fact that the economy is not going to help us do that,” Lee shares candidly. He recognizes conditions may be hard, however, he doesn’t see that growth has to be compromised. Instead, Lee chooses to rev up his efforts and focus harder on accomplishing his company goals.

Lee believes that Alberta’s construction industry is going to see a worse year in 2010, economically, than it did in 2009. “We’re heavily weighted around gas in this province,” he says, adding that many gas and oil projects have been stalled because of a significant and debilitating lack of funding. “Those projects aren’t being replaced,” he laments. Because of this, the company looks for new areas in which to accomplish its tasks.

“We’ve already moved into a new market over the past 12 months, which is the trucking business, so we are now the largest trucking broker in the province of Alberta,” Lee says. “That was a strategic move that we made at the beginning of this year, it hasn't paid off today, simply because trucking is down given the economy, but it’s something that when [the economy] rebounds, we’ll be well positioned for.”

Whether the economy picks up this year, or in 2011, Rogers Insurance is poised for a quick surge in growth when it does happen, thanks to well thought-out preparation and strategic positioning. Careful management and solid structure within the firm has already yielded a tremendous amount of success since the company’s founding in 1977. As for the future, Lee wants to double this success, and profits, over the next decade, and looks set up to achieve this with his strategic plan to widen the amount of markets Rogers Insurance services and to maintain the firm’s role as a trusted insurance provider throughout Canada.