Construction continues on State Farm Agency’s new Military Street location

Houlton Pioneer Times Photo/Joseph Cyr
GOING UP — The new home for State Farm Agency building, located on the corner of Military and Kendall streets went up quickly Oct. 21. The company plans to complete its relocation by Nov. 14.
By Gloria Austin
Staff Writer
    HOULTON — State Farm Agent Doug Guerrette is making a move to better serve present and potential customers.
    On. Oct. 21, a single-story modular office was set on 29 Military St., adjacent to Military Street Laundromat and straight across from the stop sign at the end of Kendall Street.
    “It looks big from the road,” said Guerrette. “Basically, the daylight basement view from Kendall Street makes it look larger than what it really is, but we currently don’t have any plans for the basement and will have five offices upstairs along with a reception area and kitchen.”
    The building is 1,800 square feet on the upper level.
    The current State Farm Agency office on the corner of Bangor and North streets has been a great locale over the years.
    “We are at a pretty busy intersection,” said Guerrette. “This has been a great corner for Mr. Dallas Henderson for many, many years. He built a great business. We hope to be able to continue that throughout the years.”
    The reason for the relocation of the State Farm Agency was three fold: First, more space was needed; secondly, more privacy for clients and lastly, location, location.
    “We only have two offices at our current location, so we needed more office space for each individual,” said Guerrette of relocating. “And, we also wanted to provide a place where more people can have private conversations with me or my employees. So, we can better serve them. Protecting people’s privacy is very important. We wanted to also try and stay close to the downtown area.”
    Guerrette started looking for office space about a year ago.
    “I wanted to build for the future,” he said. “We considered purchasing an existing property, but that didn’t work out for zoning purposes. We considered rental space, but there wasn’t a whole lot available for what we were looking for in an ideal office layout.”
    So, Guerrette went with Plan B.
    “I decided to build,” he said. “I wanted an opportunity to own my own building.”
    In July 2010, work began on acquiring the land and demolishing an existing home on the property.
    “The land was never listed,” he explained. “Sam Henderson with Northern Maine Realty helped put me in contact with the owners and we were able to come to an agreement. I really owe it to Sam for helping me find the property.  I knew there would be some challenges [with the property]. We had to tear the building down, blast some ledge, have a building design that would work with the slope and size of the lot, and then get the building plans approved for commercial purposes.” 
    Guerrette said, Matt Hogan has done a great job with the site work and foundation and Riverview Homes, Inc. (Kent Homes) out of Fort Kent has done a tremendous job with the office. Blaine Lincoln of Northern Refrigeration Inc. did a fantastic job with the air condition/heat pump setup as well. The staff at Machias Savings Bank have been great as well through the entire construction process.
    The new building will also allow for resale value if needed down the road.
    “We wanted to make it big and flexible enough to where if someone else purchased it, they can also have the right fit,” Guerrette said.  “If I am fortunate enough to be able to retire in 20 years, I’d like to think it could make a good future home for the next State Farm agent or another business owner.”
    The building will face west on Military Street with parking on the front side.  The driveway is designed to hug the road and slowly go up. There are 12 parking spaces, along with three as you drive in that more than likely will be employee parking since they aren’t positioned to accommodate customers.
    Guerrette joined State Farm in 2003 and worked in Caribou for three years. He also served as an Agency Field Consultant in the Bangor area. In January 2010, Guerrette became the new State Farm agent in Houlton. He is joined by Ruth Worthley, Sylvia Quint and Catherine Boone. Worthley has been with State Farm since 1984, Quint since 1991 and Boone joined our team a little over a year ago.
    “I am extremely blessed to have all three of them as part of my team,” said Guerrette. “I don’t know what I would do without them.”
    One place Guerrette would like to expand in the future is the financial services side of the agency.
    “I want to look to expand our reach on the life insurance side,” said Guerrette. “We have a very strong life insurance company.  Making sure families are protected from the unexpected things that can happen in life is very important.”
    State Farm’s mission statement is to help people manage the risks of everyday life, recover from the unexpected, and realize their dreams.
    The firm also handles mutual funds, retirement and banking.
    “We are looking to add someone with experience who can help us out,” added Guerrette.
    As other insurance companies make a bid for customers, Guerrette believes State Farm will hold its own.
    “The insurance industry is extremely competitive,” he said. “Just look at all the auto advertisement that is on television. A lot of companies are spending a ton of money on marketing to get your auto insurance dollars. You have to make sure the agency is on its toes.
    “We only represent one company, State Farm,” added Guerrette.
    “We are not an independent agency offering multiple carriers, but I believe we have the best insurance company out there. State Farm still insures more automobiles than Progressive or Geico combined nationwide. There are a lot of reasons why people choose to stay with us.”
    Guerrette is planning a ribbon-cutting ceremony for mid-November, with an open house later in the spring of 2012 when they are more settled and the weather is nicer.
    “I think it will be a good change for all of us,” Guerrette said. “I respect the Henderson family and what they did for a long time in the community. Dallas built this business from scratch and he did a fantastic job doing it.”
    The new location will be open on Monday, Nov. 14.
    “We’re excited,” added Guerrette. “I think it will make a nice place for us and hopefully, it will peak other people’s curiosity to come in and check us out.”