Utah Business Magazine, July 25, 2006

The Buckner Company Announces Ogden Branch

Insurance broker The Buckner Company plans to re-establish a branch office in Ogden. The office will be located at 3434 Washington Blvd.

Terry Buckner, president and CEO of The Buckner Company, said that while the company’s decision to re-enter the Ogden market “re-kindles many pleasant memories of our company’s past, we’re coming back to Ogden because it’s smart business. Ogden is a great city to do business in and we’re glad to be a small part of Ogden’s renaissance. We have high expectations for the Ogden office and anticipate that it will play a key role in triggering the future growth and expansion of our company.”

The Buckner Company originated in Ogden in 1936 when Terry’s grandfather, E.R. Buckner, created the Buckner Insurance Counselors. The company, which changed its name to The Buckner Group, moved its headquarters to Salt Lake City in the mid-1990s and was renamed The Buckner Company in 2004. In 2005, the company was among the first to reside at the new Millrock Park complex near the mouth of Cottonwood Canyon.

Recently the company has experienced more than 800 percent growth due to several acquisitions and the hiring of a half-dozen seasoned insurance executives and their staffs.

In addition to expanding into Ogden, Buckner announced plans to establish a scholarship in the John B. Goddard School of Business and Economics at Weber State University in the name of his parents, E. Lamar and Melba H. Buckner.

The scholarship will be given annually to a deserving student at the Goddard School’s Department of Business Administration whose coursework is focused on finances, insurance and service to the community.

The announcements, made on the steps of the Municipal Building in Ogden, were timed to coincide with the company’s 70th anniversary. As part of the ceremonies, Weber County Commissioner Craig L. Dearden declared July 19 “E. Lamar Buckner Day.” Lamar Buckner, past president and CEO of The Buckner Company, served in the Utah Legislature for eight years. In the legislature, Lamar introduced the state’s first no-fault auto insurance bill.

Terry Buckner carried on the legacy by helping to pass a new statute of repose law, which reduced the liability period for construction companies. The company also took decisive action in the late 1990s to help Utah’s ailing homebuilding industry by identifying an out-of-state insurance company that would offer affordable premiums to builders, and helped infuse competition and choice into the insurance industry when the Utah Worker’s Compensation Fund became quasi-private.

Terry Buckner has served on advisory councils for Travelers Insurance Company, the Great American Insurance Company, the Ohio Casualty Insurance Company and many others.