Eastern Iowa insurance agencies to merge

Two Eastern Iowa insurance agencies will combine next year to form a company with more than 70 employees.

Millhiser Smith Agency of Cedar Rapids and the Accel Group, with offices in Waverly and Cedar Falls, will merge Jan. 1, the companies announced this week. The new company will operate under the name of the Accel Group once the merger is complete.

Lynne DeVore, chief operating officer for Millhiser, described the deal as a 'merger of equals.”

'Each location has equal ownership in the combined company,” she said.

Tim Gassmann, the current president of Millhiser, will serve as the new company's CEO. Mike Byl, the president of the Accel Group, will serve in his same role.

'Just as we take a proactive approach when it comes to securing our customers' future, we're taking a proactive approach to secure the future of our business and our employees,” Gassmann said in a news release.

Millhiser currently employs 39 people while the Accel Group has 37, DeVore said. All those employees will stay on with the combined company, she said.

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