Central adds to business

Central Bancorp Inc. is buying the Colorado Springs office of Van Gilder Insurance Corp. as part of its plan to become a full-service financial services firm.

Central already owns mortgage, title insurance, wealth management and trust operations and has a small insurance unit that will merge with Van Gilder's office when the acquisition is completed, said Steve Schneider, who runs Central's insurance subsidiary.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, and the transaction is scheduled for completion by July 1. The office will remain at 24 S. Weber St., until it can join Central's other operations next month when renovations are completed on Bancorp Plaza, 1 S. Nevada Ave.

"We started a small insurance operation in fall and decided to be opportunistic when the right deal came along. This is the right deal," Schneider said. "They have great people, who are respected, successful and very talented. It jump-starts our efforts to expand."

Van Gilder offered the office to Central about two months ago as part of a strategy shift from a regional broad-based business insurance brokerage to a company that instead specializes in 18 to 20 industry niches nationwide, said Van Gilder President John Casper.

"It gives Central a terrific platform in Colorado Springs and gives us capital to invest in serving new industry groups," Casper said. "Steve and I had worked with each other in previous jobs, so there was a level of trust and the deal came together quickly."

Van Gilder's Colorado Springs office employs 23 and last year generated $3 million in commissions on premiums totaling about $35 million, Casper said. Denver-based Van Gilder bought CBS Insurance nearly 10 years ago and made CBS its Colorado Springs office.

The Colorado Springs operation was founded as Bennett-Shellenberger Co. in 1890, acquired by Norm Coleman in 1959 and grew to become one of the city's top business insurance agencies.

Employees of the office will stay in the same jobs after the sale, Schneider said.

Van Gilder started shifting its strategy in 2006, when it sold offices in Phoenix and Salt Lake City and accelerated last year with sale of its Kansas City, Mo., office. The company will remain in Denver and keep aviation insurance offices in Genesee and Dallas.

Van Gilder employs 285 nationwide and generated $50 million in commissions last year on premium revenue totaling $600 million, Casper said.

Central plans to open a bank, called Central Bank, next month in Bancorp Plaza once renovations to the building are completed, Schneider said. A partnership headed by Central President Ron Johnson is renovating and expanding the 52,000-square-foot building.

Central is owned by Johnson, Schneider and four executives from Classic Cos., a major El Paso County homebuilder and developer.

Central was formed in 2006 by merging investment management and trust operations owned by The Corundum Group with Classic's mortgage and title insurance units.

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