LEWISTON – You could say the Hartford Insurance Agency puts a premium on customer service.

That’s the main reason the 30-year-old local, family-run company decided to put $1.8 million into its new location at 10 Falcon Road. The 21,000-square-foot building is part of the Fairgrounds Business Park, only a half-mile from the agency’s former location on Main Street.

“Lewiston is where our clients are, and service is what we do,” said Lucas Hartford, vice president of finance. “If an insurance company moves out (of its service area), it becomes a phone service. We like to see the people we serve.”

The agency had outgrown its location on Main Street, despite expanding it twice since building it in 1973. Hartford said employees shared office space, and it was a challenge to find suitable space for private meetings whenever a client came into the office.

That’s not a problem any longer. The new building once housed the former ICT call center, which had a vast, open floor plan. Hartford and his brother, Justin – who is vice president of marketing – worked with a local contractor to divide the interior into functional office space.

Clusters of staff work stations are surrounded by eight separate conference rooms for client meetings. There’re also a reception area, library, spacious cafeteria for its 38 employees and executive offices. Maine-made products were used as much as possible, said Lucas Hartford as he pointed to fabric on workstation panels that were made in Gilford and to chairs manufactured in Lisbon at Bradco.

The renovation took six months to complete, but Hartford said it was well worth the time and expense. The company is now poised to grow comfortably; he envisions “slow and steady” growth of 10 to 15 percent per year. The company is also considering expanding into the Norway area, where it has a growing cluster of clients.

Hartford said the company has earned a reputation for its customer service, as well as for being a provider of insurance for small and medium-sized businesses. It has a client base of about 8,000, including many of Maine’s snowmobile clubs and campgrounds.

Hartford said his father, Richard, reinforced the concept of customer service throughout his career. It was never enough to offer a client a standard policy, but to meet with the person, listen to what he or she was saying, and tailor a policy to their needs. Richard learned the business from his father, Oscar, who worked at the Cobb-Winslow Agency, which had an office near the canal at the foot of Longley Bridge.

“My father always said it was his job to sell insurance, shovel the snow and shoot the rats in the basement,” said a smiling Lucas Hartford of his father’s early years. In 1973 Oscar and Richard bought the business and built the office at 655 Main St.

Hartford said his father turned over the helm to his sons five years ago, although he still comes into the office each month. Ironically, if the decision to move had been considered five years ago, Lucas isn’t sure the business would have kept its Lewiston location.

“But today, my brother and I see great changes happening in this community,” said Lucas, ticking off the gateway projects, library renovations and new heart institute. “In the last year or two, we’ve really become excited.”

The move is a reaffirmation of the company’s commitment to the area, as well as the next generation of Hartfords. Lucas said he gets a couple of calls a year from banks interested in buying the agency.

“We tell them we’re not interested,” he said. “We’re happy doing what we’re doing and remaining family-owned.”

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