Gregory & Appel insurance: through four generations the firm has grown with the city of Indianapolis.

• Author: Beck, Bill
• Position: Centennial Business

Dan Appel, the fourth-generation member of his family associated with the Indianapolis insurance agency of Gregory & Appel, sums up the guiding philosophy of the 118-year-old firm with a simple thought: "We've gotten old by thinking young," he says.

Throughout its 118 years of operation, Gregory & Appel Insurance has dedicated itself to excellence. It's a tradition of quality that began in 1884 when Fred A. Gregory, an insurance representative, and John J. Appel, a real-estate agent and Dan Appel's great-grandfather, created an insurance partnership.

Gregory and Appel's first office was located in downtown Indianapolis at the corner of Market and Pennsylvania streets. The two partners conducted business at opposite ends of an old wooden table purchased for $7. Indianapolis was a much smaller city then, with most of its population and business concentrated in the central section known as the Mile Square. As Indianapolis grew throughout the 20th century, Gregory & Appel continued catering to the many insurance-related needs of the city.

In 1918, John Appel and his son, Fred, Dan Appel's grandfather, purchased Fred Gregory's interest in the growing company. The Appels decided to keep the name Gregory & Appel Inc. The business has stayed in the Appel family ever since.

Although the business has moved several times in the last 118 years, it has always remained in downtown Indianapolis, a reflection of the company's commitment to the community in which the business started. In 1996, Gregory & Appel moved to its present location at the corner of Indiana Avenue and West Street, in a particularly historic area of the city's downtown.

"When we committed to the project," Dan Appel says, "the fascia of the building was held up by a steel framework to preserve the original facade of the building. It was the home of George Stewart, one of the city's first African-American printers and the Indianapolis Recorder. It's obviously a very historic neighborhood."

'THE BEST DECISION I EVER MADE'

Dan Appel, president of the firm, had not originally planned to carry on the family tradition and become the fourth generation at Gregory & Appel. His choice to join the firm in 1978, however, "was clearly the best decision I ever made." Appel grew up in Indianapolis, graduated from Indiana University in 1977 and joined Gregory & Appel in January 1978. Appel's postgraduate plans had included getting an MBA at Northwestern University until his father, Alan Appel, sent him...