Brothers brought insurance business to South Dakota
February brought to a close the tenure of long-time Sioux Falls insurer McKinney & Allen. Though the business was most recently known as McKinneyOlson Insurance, the Secretary of State has listed it as McKinney & Allen for as long as it has kept records.
Charles Edward McKinney came to Sioux Falls in November 1880 to help establish banks in the area. That same year, he organized the banking firm of Easton, McKinney & Scougal with partners C.F. Easton and George Scougal. Easton sold his portion of the business to his partners a year later. In 1882, the bank was absorbed by Sioux Falls National Bank with McKinney as president.
While McKinney was organizing banks, he was also organizing loans for pioneers just arriving in the area as well as established farmers looking to expand their farming operations. Money for these loans was sourced through the Scottish-American Mortgage Company of Edinburgh, Scotland.
In 1885, McKinney’s half brother, James Judson Allen, came to Sioux Falls, and the two teamed up to provide insurance to the growing city.
Up to this time, traveling agents would happen through town periodically. Allen would be the exception; a recognizable and friendly face to buy insurance from and file claims through. At the start, Allen did it all. He wrote and delivered policies, filed claims and performed all the bookkeeping and collection duties. The only kind of insurance available at the time was fire insurance, but this would soon change as the needs of the area became more clear, and insurance carriers saw the value of this part of the country.
When it was completed in 1886, McKinney and the Sioux Falls National Bank moved into the Van Van Eps Block at the southwest corner of 8th Street and Phillips Avenue.
By 1910, the expanding operation had run out of room and made a move to 117 W. 10th, in the Masonic Temple building at the southwest corner of 10th and Phillips. In 1914, J.J. Allen’s son Jay B. Allen joined the firm. In 1918, McKinney & Allen Inc. moved to the second floor of the new Sioux Falls National
Bank building at the northeast corner of 9th Street and Phillips, currently the Hotel on Phillips.
Charles McKinney retired from day-to-day operations in 1919, but kept on as president. The company celebrated its 50th anniversary in January 1930 with full-page ads. While the company continued its association with the Scottish American Mortgage Co., it also handled investments in an effort to help finance the loans locally. The way the state was growing, it seemed a safe risk. Insurance had expanded by this time as well. Fire insurance was still sold, but by 1930, casualty, surety, marine, life, and accident insurance had been added to the roster. McKinney & Allen had a large claim division, and was the largest insurance business in South Dakota.
Charles E. McKinney died in 1933, leaving a long legacy of respectable business dealings in his wake. J.J. Allen died in 1950, but his son, Jay, carried on his legacy at McKinney & Allen.
In 1977, McKinney & Allen took on a partner, Gerald Ahern, who had run his own company since 1949. The business name then became McKinney Allen & Ahern. Gerald later sold his portion of the business to the company and retired, and by 1983, the company had rebranded as McKinney Allen & Associates.
At the end of 2008, McKinney Allen and Associates merged with Brandon Valley Insurance and the Olson Group to become McKinneyOlson Insurance, though the company name was still registered with the state as McKinney & Allen. In 2019, McKinneyOlson acquired The Insurance Connection, another company that had been serving the area for decades.
In February 2024, McKinneyOlson Insurance became part of North Risk Partners, a Minnesotabased company that has grown considerably since its creation. NRP, established in 2013, was assembled from the merger of C. O. Brown Agency, founded in 1917, Apollo Insurance Agency, established 1969, and Johnson McCann, founded in 1984.
While more than a decade old, North Risk Parters is assembled from the DNA of companies with generations of experience. Although the company is still fairly young, the organization is sure to benefit from the lessons its predecessors learned over more than a century of doing business. It is a history that should be celebrated.