Kahrl & Company to showcase rich history

Kahrl & Company Insurance is ready to celebrate more than 100 years of serving Knox County by showing off its new home.

The insurance company has called downtown Mount Vernon home for many years, but recently moved to 1375 Coshocton Ave., Suite C, a much bigger and better location. They will celebrate the move with an open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony on Tuesday, Aug. 5, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“Shortly after the business changed hands, we added to the staff and we were considering doing a remodel to our 11 S. Mulberry St. office,” said business president Corey Harrmann. “During the time of trying to figure out how to do that, it came to our attention that this building was going to be coming on the market. We were able to see the place and make an offer.

“The location offers us more offices than we had in our previous location. And then, maybe even more importantly, the off-street parking for our clients. The visibility for us is nice, too. Being able to park off the street without having to worry about getting out of your car is nice for the clientele to see us,”

Harrmann, who has been with Kahrl & Company for 10 years, took over as president upon the passing of Josh Kirby last year. He and Kirby had planned for Harrmann to become a partner in the company and had just started the process when Kirby passed.

Harrmann is a 1999 Mount Vernon High School graduate who has two daughters with his wife, Michelle. After working as a manager at Applebee’s and craft beer manager at Columbus Distributing, he met and became friends with Kirby at his church. When Kirby offered him a position at Kahrl & Company, Harrmann jumped at the opportunity. 

“It came up organically at a time when I was starting a family and we were living in Mount Vernon. Traveling to Columbus, it was time for something different. There’s a joke in the industry, nobody graduates and says I want to be an insurance agent. I fell into the job,” Harrmann said.

Kahrl & Company now employees 13 staff members with a second office in Mount Gilead. Three of the employees work remotely. Harrmann likes the idea of having several insurance companies to work with in finding residents the right policy.

“We are an independent agency, which means that we write with multiple, different carriers. We offer anything from your personal lines of insurance, so home, auto, motorcycle, boat, that kind of stuff; health insurance, life insurance, farm insurance, commercial. We can essentially write anything that is out there, as long as we have the right carrier for that risk,” Harrmann said. “Grange, Erie, Auto Owners, Wayne – we have a whole handful that we work with. It makes it nice, too, because prices have not been great over the last few years. We can look at other carriers within house and hopefully retain business or find something best for our customers. It gives us way more flexibility. It’s a lot harder because each carrier is a little different – what their appetite is, what their rules are, so it’s a little more to know, but it does allow us some flexibility to shop out and find people something.”

The company has been around for more than 100 years, and Harrmann feels the idea of working with a local agent is very helpful when filing a claim.“There’s something to be said for a local agent. It’s so easily done online or to pick up the phone. What I’ve found with the convenience of local is whenever there’s an issue, a claim, when there’s something you need, that personal touch, you have the agency you can call on your behalf and be that middleman between you and the insurance carrier. You don’t necessarily get that when you’re not dealing local. They can come into the office, we can come to them,” he said. “Unfortunately, those things happen. You don’t want anything bad to happen, but it happens every day. Sometimes things get lost in translation or the coverage isn’t there like you thought it was supposed to be. That’s where we can step in and be that voice for the client, try to help them settle their claim.”

During the move, Harrmann has also been discovering the rich history of the company he works for. Kahrl & Company was started by Fred Kahrl in 1907 as a real estate agency. Harrmann plans on showing off that history during the open house. The ribbon cutting is expected to be at noon.