Insurance agency co-founder ‘always saw good in people’

GREELEY – When Pamela Stokes was a girl, she would sometimes visit the offices of Flood & Peterson Insurance Inc. with her father, B.D. “Pete” Peterson.

“He always knew everybody who worked at the office,´ said Stokes, who now lives near Corpus Christi, Texas. “And not just by name. He always knew who they were and what was going on in their lives.”

Peterson, 90, co-founder of Flood & Peterson Insurance Inc., died on May 9 in Greeley. His ability to connect with employees was evident when long-time workers offered condolences to Stokes.

“I got cards from women who worked there 30-some years, or 20-some years,” Stokes said.

Peterson and partner J. Barney Flood started Flood & Peterson, now one of the state’s largest independent agencies, in 1939.

In an interview that Peterson recorded two years before his death, he explained that the two men were school chums and later worked together at Wallace Drug Co. in downtown Greeley. Flood went to work for an insurance company, then persuaded Peterson to go into business.

When Peterson expressed concern for his lack of experience, Flood replied, “You know the people and I have the knowledge.”

The duo started the business on $100 – Peterson loaned $50 to Flood.  The company’s first cash register was a cigar box, and Peterson said they borrowed a table and chairs from his parents.

The longevity of the company was threatened very early when both men took turns serving in World War II.

They returned and resumed a business that has since grown to include four offices and 118 employees. Flood & Peterson is the largest property and casualty agency in Northern Colorado.

One of the building blocks of the company’s success was Peterson’s knack for arranging surety bonds for construction contractors. He became so renowned in the surety business that the Colorado Contractors Association gave Peterson the Associate Service Award in 1994. He was also a founding member of the National Association of Surety Bond Producers.

“Pete would describe himself as the bond guy and Barney as the insurance guy,” recalled Rick Jenkins, an executive vice president of Flood & Peterson and one of seven partners in the agency.

Peterson’s also remembered for his sunny outlook on life.

“He was always looking for the positive solution,” Stokes said. “He always did see the good in people … I think that’s why he did so well in business.”

Jenkins called Peterson “one of the most level headed persons you’d ever want to meet.”

“He always came into the office with a smile on his face and he always had a positive comment,” Jenkins added. “Always words of encouragement. That was Pete.”

Peterson was also known for fun-loving ways.

“They tell me you only pass this way once, so you’ve gotta enjoy it,” he said in the recorded interview.

Flood & Peterson also played a role in the success of some of the Greeley area’s most prominent companies. Among the agency’s early clients included Hensel Phelps Construction Co., the Monfort Inc. meatpacking dynasty, Noffsinger Manufacturing Co. and developer John R.P. Wheeler.

Peterson and Flood phased out of the business in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Flood died in the early 1990s.

Still, the duo’s imprint on the business will be lasting.

“We are very proud of the Flood & Peterson name – that will never change,” Jenkins said. “We’ve committed to perpetuating our company internally. We’d like to think 50 years from now, it will still have that name. We think it’s a pretty good name.”

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