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Strong Commitment From the Earliest Days
Harden & Associates was founded in Jacksonville, Florida in 1953
as Harden Insurance Services. The firm, now Northeast Florida's
largest comprehensive insurance, risk management and employee benefits
firm, was originally founded as a personal insurance provider.
Founder
M.C. Harden, Jr. built the firm on two key principles that still
guide the firm today: focus on client objectives and community stewardship.
His dedication to client needs propelled the firm forward throughout
the 1950's and 1960's. His equally ambitious desire to impact the
growth and well-being of the community meant that he and his associates
balanced their careers with civic involvement and non-profit leadership
for a variety of causes.
Transitioning
& Expanding to Meet Growing Client Needs
In
the mid-1970's, M.C. (Ceree) Harden, III joined the firm to engineer
the company's next important stage of development. He established
Harden & Associates' commercial insurance services, further broadening
the company's scope of offerings and client base. After his father's
passing in 1980, Harden continued to build a team of high-level
insurance professionals and expanded the firm's scope by helping
establish Harden as one of the leading employee benefits providers
in Jacksonville.
The
firm flourished in the 1980's as a fully diversified insurance and
employee benefits company. The personal insurance group, originally
the cornerstone of the firm was now complemented by thriving commercial
insurance, employee benefits and financial services divisions.
Refining
& Perfecting A Nationally Acclaimed Delivery Model
With key business units in place, Harden & Associates was poised
to make the 1990's a decade of unprecedented growth and development.
The period was defined by careful attention to process and the development
of a new strategic client service model. Client Support Teams were
formed in all divisions, giving each client a multi-disciplinary
Harden team that matched each of their internal risk management
or benefits staff by function. The success of this client service
model was augmented by the continual addition of associates with
national credentials and certifications. The strategic process and
performance-orientation they applied to all client relationships
was soon formalized as QSS, or Quality Service
Standards, now a hallmark of the firm and a nationally recognized
delivery model.
Northeast
Florida's Leader Embraces Its Roots, But Looks to The Future
As Harden & Associates nears fifty years of service, its associates
number more than 85. With more than $250 million in premiums placed,
the company is now a major regional service provider and is accredited
by the leading industry organizations. Most notably, the firm received
industry rating service Reagan & Associates' #1 ranking in its 1999
Best Practices Study. It is a Charter Member of the Council of Insurance
Agents & Brokers' (CIAB) Quality Insurance Congress.
Throughout
its five decades, the firm's commitment to community and civic duty
has gone unchanged. Executives and associates of the firm serve
on boards and as volunteers. Harden & Associates has remained independent
and Jacksonville-based, believing that clients value local access
and a concentrated depth of "headquarters" resources delivered by
the most talented and well-trained professionals in the region.
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