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Frank A. Douglass Agency

HOUGHTON – The Frank A. Douglass Agency in Houghton has served the Copper Country since 1858, when Frank’s father Edward Douglass started the agency, which was passed to him after his father passed away in 1873. The company stayed in the Douglass family until 1953 when it was purchased by the Borsum family. It is the oldest continuously active insurance agency in Michigan. Today, Michael Borsum is president of the agency, sharing ownership with his brother, William, Jeff Bugni and Andrew Lorenz.

The Frank A. Douglass Agency offers policies for companies and indivuals, including business insurance, life insurance, personal insurance, special programs and even health insurance.

“I don’t think a lot of people realize we offer healthcare insurance,” said Bugni. “They don’t know where to go for help with applying for a subsidy, how to enroll, what the coverage is. They just hear ‘the website’s not working.'”

Whether or not the website is working, the Frank A. Douglass Agency can help applicants through the process of applying for healthcare coverage.

“We’ve had a few successful enrollees. We have paper applications in the office so if people want to come down and fill those out instead of waiting for the website, they can,” Bugni said. “So there are other ways to go than just waiting for healthcare.gov to behave better. I think people are just hearing everything in the media about how high the premiums are – and they are if you don’t have help paying for them – but we can help people through that.”

People may need to act quickly to ensure that they will be covered on January 1st.

For businesses, the Frank A. Douglass Agency provides multiple insurance plans, including those for commercial property, general liability, professional liability, workers compensation, bonding and more. For individuals there are even more insurance opportunities including vehicles, disability, long term care and homeowners, in addition to many more. They also offer certain special programs, such as insurance for physician malpractice, contractors, restaurants, manufacturers, motel/hotel, senior citizens, alumni associations, professional groups and dentists.

The agency works with a number of different insurance providers. They are able to match each individual customer’s needs to the company with the best price and services for that person. They can, for example, compare services and prices of both Auto-Owners and Progressive Insurance to find the best coverage for the best rate. Other companies include Hastings Mutual, Nothern Mutual, Farmers and Merchants, the Hartford, Citizens, Allstate and Harleysville.

It is located at 324 Shelden Avenue in downtown Houghton. The building also houses three store fronts including ReMax Douglass Agency and World Foods at street level, Gitzen Company on the lower level. On the second and third floors there are several offices and office suites, three of which are currently available for rent – two suites and one office are available. Businesses currently occupying the suites include Silver Rae Studio, OMI Group, Keweenaw Technologies, Xmatic, Copper Country Counseling Services, Bradway Enterprises, Michelle Lambert LMSW, Mary Geda, The Element , and Karate Institute of America . Those interested in renting office space can contact the Frank A. Douglass Agency.

For more information, to ask questions or to get a quote, call the Frank A. Douglass Agency at (906) 482-2660, email info@douglassagency.com or visit the website at www.douglassagency.com. You can also visit them on Facebook.

Editor’s note: This feature is part of a paid advertising package purchased by the Frank A. Douglass Agency. Businesses interested in being featured on the Business page may call Yvonne Robillard at 483-2220.

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