Dell, Andy & Michael Van Gilder: Van Gilder Insurance.

• Position: LEADERS: special advertising section

In 1905, Van Gilder Insurance was founded as a family-owned company. Today, as the company celebrates its 100-year anniversary, it is the largest privately held broker in the Rocky Mountain Region offering a unique breadth of services to a broad spectrum of clients.

"In this region we are able to 'out-national' the national broker and 'out-local' the local broker. We provide a lot of offerings and services to our clients. Our clients view us as more of a consultant, a part of the client's team of advisors," said Michael Van Gilder, Managing Director.

The Van Gilders attribute the company's success to sound fiscal management, excellent service and offers an environment that attracts and retains top quality employees.

"The most important thing is our ability to produce a profit that has been retained and used to grow the company and to buy out the departing shareholders," said Dell Van Gilder, CEO and Chairman.

Their ability to produce profits is tied to the company's treatment of its clients. "Our approach to any account is to build a relationship. We become friends and those are the clients that are with us for 20 or 30 years," said Dell Van Gilder.

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The excellent service the company provides attracts and retains high quality customers. "Our clients appreciate what we have done; they trust and continue to do business with us. That has allowed us to grow and attract additional customers," said Andy Van Gilder, Managing Director.

Van Gilder Insurance has a strong track record of retaining the industry's top talent. "Our ability to retain business and attract clientele is attributed to the employees that we have been able to assemble, retain and allow to have ownership," said Michael.

While the family owns approximately 65 percent of the company, it has spread the remaining ownership among its employees. "This gives people an entrepreneurial feeling along with a family feeling that is very different from an institutional type of environment," said Michael. It is an environment that...