DGK marking century of service

Many factors are responsible for the longevity of DGK Insurance and Financial Services, which will be celebrating 100 years of service on Saturday, Sept. 16.

An independent broker located in Factoryville, DGK provides insurance coverage and other services to individuals, businesses and other entities. Through numerous disasters and catastrophes, DGK has been a major player in providing relief to those struck by misfortune. The main reason DGK has lasted so long, according to president Kathleen Glattly, treasurer James Davis, and secretary Beth O’Malley, is because the company is now 100-percent employee-owned, via an Employee Stock Ownership Plan.

DGK has been an ESOP since 1998. Before that, the company was a family owned and operated business started by Thomas J. Jones. Jones moved to Factoryville in 1917 and started selling insurance from an office he opened at 99 College Ave. “He would travel to clients to pick up premiums and stay and help them make hay,” Glatty explained.

One of Jones’ clients was John Buranich Sr. Today, among DGK’s clients are John Buranich Jr. and his wife Joan Buranich, and their family business Buranich Enterprises from the Newton Ransom area of Clarks Summit. O’Malley explained that her family and the Buranichs have done business for the past four generations.

The business prospered and in 1930 Jones made his son-in-law, Willard Davis, a partner in what was then known as Jones Insurance. Jones eventually retired and under Davis’ stewardship, the company began offering property and auto insurance. Around the time Davis retired in the 1950s due to health reasons, the company started offering liability insurance.

Upon his retirement, Davis’ son, Tom Davis, took over the firm right out of college, having attended both Keystone College and the Wharton School of Economics at the University of Pennsylvania. In the mid-1960s, Tom Davis took on a partner named Harry Gregory, and in 1978 John Kyle came on board. Together the three men developed Davis, Gregory and Kyle Insurance, which is now DGK Insurance and Financial Services.

DGK moved to its present location at 233 DGK Lane in Factoryville in 1986. About that time, the company again expanded its services providing insurance policies to municipalities and fire departments. Today, among DGK’s clients are Triton Hose Company and Factoryville Borough. “We provide coverage to communities throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania, all the way to Williamsport,” James Davis explained.

Gregory and Kyle eventually retired from the business, as did the late Tom Davis in 1998. But before his retirement, Tom Davis made arrangements to convert DGK into an employee-owned operation via an ESOP plan. James Davis explained that his father wanted to make certain the company continued after his death, and decided the best thing to do was give its employees a stake in DGK.