Our Mission
To provide our customers and prospects with the information they need to make informed decisions that support their goals as they pertain to their business or personal insurance needs.
Our Story
Well, our story is like many small businesses that we talk with, we were a couple of guys, college friends actually, from UNCW, and we came up with an idea, we wanted to provide a better customer experience, in this crazy world of insurance. We wanted to do things our way, we wanted to be be independent. So the story begins.
Both David and I were in the insurance business at the time, working directly for a carrier, or what's called a "captive" agent, meaning you could only provide clients with that company's products. Yes, we were certainly, and simply, Insurance Agents, frantically setting appointments, seeing prospects and hoping to write some business! During this time we were primarily in the Long Term Care, Medicare and Life Insurance space. Well it didn't take long, approximately two years, before we started thinking about alternatives. We enjoyed the people we met with in the business, but we knew there may be better options for them with other carriers. We considered going to work for a local independent agency, but instead we took the leap, and we started our own. Pinnacle Benefits Group of NC, Inc. was founded in 2002, here in Wilmington, NC.
We were young guys, just out of college and ready to make a change, a difference in the insurance business world! It's generic, we know, but our goal and focus was SERVICE. Service didn't just mean answering the phone and returning calls, our goal was to provide an exceptional experience, through true non bias review of insurance carriers to our clients. Understanding that these topics in which we worked were touchy subjects, we had to communicate and provide the service just like we would want, if someone were working with us or our parents on these types of topics.
Excited and terrified at the same time, we did what we knew how to do and we started to grow an agency. We had visions of a larger firm with teams of agents, and we began to began to expand a bit, but we quickly realized that what was happening was not our vision and our goal was not being achieved. So we sat back, took a look at things, and readjusted. We got back to what we knew best which was working directly with our clients and providing that type of service experience that people wanted and that worked.
It's hard to believe this many years have gone by, and it's more apparent now than ever, that this business, is still a people business. Technology has certainly improved areas of our industry by leaps and bounds, but at some point in time, you want to just talk to someone, and when you do, you hope you enjoy talking to the person on the other end of the line. Luckily, for us, our customers must enjoy talking to us and appreciate the service and advice we provide, because typically, when we start to work with someone, they stay with us. Our customers know we work for them, they know we're independent like they are and they can rely on us.
Today, we have four members of our group. David Gibson, Jimmy Wright, Tripp Jones, and Pam Wright.
David, Co-Founder, and Individual Coverage specialist, David lives in Charlotte, and heads up our office in that area. Focusing primarily in the Medicare Supplement, Medicare Part D, Long Term Care, Individual Health, Disability Income, and Personal Home and Auto. David is married, and has two wonderful little girls, along with a very pampered dog, Maggie. When David is not working he enjoys the Panther games, running, fishing and most of all his family. He claims to have a better made from scratch spaghetti sauce than me, but that's yet to be determined.
Tripp, joined our team in 2014, after many years of service with a local independent agency. When they were purchased by a large bank, he made the change, and we're glad he did. Tripp is our business lines guy, specializing in Work Comp, General Liability, and Commercial Auto to name a few, if you have a need for business coverage, Tripp will help. Outside of being a focused business lines coverage advisor, Tripp is a father of 4! Yes 4 children, two boys and two girls, huge baseball supporter, coach, and foody. Tripp also owns a local Port City Java location here in Wilmington.
Pam, plays a huge role with our team, organizing renewal data from groups, reviewing audit procedures, claims processing, and much more, she helps us all to keep running smoothly. Pam has been in the Group Health Benefits, and Individual Health Insurance space for almost 15 years, she has had great accomplishments with BCBSNC and she knows the business. Most importantly, she knows how to treat people. Outside of the insurance business, Pam is a hard working Mom that makes memories happen! Theme park fanatic, and furniture painting ninja, she can name every ride at Six Flags, Disney, and Busch Gardens.
Ah, and me, Jimmy, yes that's my real name, all my friends from more Northern territories always get a kick out of that! A Co-Founder, along with David, I have primarily been in the Group Benefits world from the beginning. I'm here to help you, your business, and your employees. I have to make life easier for you, if I'm not, I'm doing something wrong. I may not tell you what you want to hear all the time, but I'm going to tell you what you have to know and I'm going to give you advice from the heart. I enjoy being a part of a process where I see a difference that I make, however, I know that insurance is painful to businesses and individuals, if we can help with that by being a true partner, then we're on the right track. Well if you didn't figure it out, Pam is my wife, thank goodness! We have two great boys, and a hound dog named Cole. Between the four of them, they have truly made me realize what life is all about.
When you work with us, you'll know we're sincere, and our focus is you, the customer. We provide our customers with the guidance they need to make informed decisions that support their goals as they pertain to their business or personal insurance needs. Providing exceptional service is the foundation of our business. Please call us directly anytime at our Charlotte or Wilmington offices.
Thank you and I hope to speak with you sometime soon!
Jimmy W. Wright, JR.
Both David and I were in the insurance business at the time, working directly for a carrier, or what's called a "captive" agent, meaning you could only provide clients with that company's products. Yes, we were certainly, and simply, Insurance Agents, frantically setting appointments, seeing prospects and hoping to write some business! During this time we were primarily in the Long Term Care, Medicare and Life Insurance space. Well it didn't take long, approximately two years, before we started thinking about alternatives. We enjoyed the people we met with in the business, but we knew there may be better options for them with other carriers. We considered going to work for a local independent agency, but instead we took the leap, and we started our own. Pinnacle Benefits Group of NC, Inc. was founded in 2002, here in Wilmington, NC.
We were young guys, just out of college and ready to make a change, a difference in the insurance business world! It's generic, we know, but our goal and focus was SERVICE. Service didn't just mean answering the phone and returning calls, our goal was to provide an exceptional experience, through true non bias review of insurance carriers to our clients. Understanding that these topics in which we worked were touchy subjects, we had to communicate and provide the service just like we would want, if someone were working with us or our parents on these types of topics.
Excited and terrified at the same time, we did what we knew how to do and we started to grow an agency. We had visions of a larger firm with teams of agents, and we began to began to expand a bit, but we quickly realized that what was happening was not our vision and our goal was not being achieved. So we sat back, took a look at things, and readjusted. We got back to what we knew best which was working directly with our clients and providing that type of service experience that people wanted and that worked.
It's hard to believe this many years have gone by, and it's more apparent now than ever, that this business, is still a people business. Technology has certainly improved areas of our industry by leaps and bounds, but at some point in time, you want to just talk to someone, and when you do, you hope you enjoy talking to the person on the other end of the line. Luckily, for us, our customers must enjoy talking to us and appreciate the service and advice we provide, because typically, when we start to work with someone, they stay with us. Our customers know we work for them, they know we're independent like they are and they can rely on us.
Today, we have four members of our group. David Gibson, Jimmy Wright, Tripp Jones, and Pam Wright.
David, Co-Founder, and Individual Coverage specialist, David lives in Charlotte, and heads up our office in that area. Focusing primarily in the Medicare Supplement, Medicare Part D, Long Term Care, Individual Health, Disability Income, and Personal Home and Auto. David is married, and has two wonderful little girls, along with a very pampered dog, Maggie. When David is not working he enjoys the Panther games, running, fishing and most of all his family. He claims to have a better made from scratch spaghetti sauce than me, but that's yet to be determined.
Tripp, joined our team in 2014, after many years of service with a local independent agency. When they were purchased by a large bank, he made the change, and we're glad he did. Tripp is our business lines guy, specializing in Work Comp, General Liability, and Commercial Auto to name a few, if you have a need for business coverage, Tripp will help. Outside of being a focused business lines coverage advisor, Tripp is a father of 4! Yes 4 children, two boys and two girls, huge baseball supporter, coach, and foody. Tripp also owns a local Port City Java location here in Wilmington.
Pam, plays a huge role with our team, organizing renewal data from groups, reviewing audit procedures, claims processing, and much more, she helps us all to keep running smoothly. Pam has been in the Group Health Benefits, and Individual Health Insurance space for almost 15 years, she has had great accomplishments with BCBSNC and she knows the business. Most importantly, she knows how to treat people. Outside of the insurance business, Pam is a hard working Mom that makes memories happen! Theme park fanatic, and furniture painting ninja, she can name every ride at Six Flags, Disney, and Busch Gardens.
Ah, and me, Jimmy, yes that's my real name, all my friends from more Northern territories always get a kick out of that! A Co-Founder, along with David, I have primarily been in the Group Benefits world from the beginning. I'm here to help you, your business, and your employees. I have to make life easier for you, if I'm not, I'm doing something wrong. I may not tell you what you want to hear all the time, but I'm going to tell you what you have to know and I'm going to give you advice from the heart. I enjoy being a part of a process where I see a difference that I make, however, I know that insurance is painful to businesses and individuals, if we can help with that by being a true partner, then we're on the right track. Well if you didn't figure it out, Pam is my wife, thank goodness! We have two great boys, and a hound dog named Cole. Between the four of them, they have truly made me realize what life is all about.
When you work with us, you'll know we're sincere, and our focus is you, the customer. We provide our customers with the guidance they need to make informed decisions that support their goals as they pertain to their business or personal insurance needs. Providing exceptional service is the foundation of our business. Please call us directly anytime at our Charlotte or Wilmington offices.
Thank you and I hope to speak with you sometime soon!
Jimmy W. Wright, JR.