Jim and Mary McClintock started their fledging insurance business with one file cabinet and worked out of their home.
Now, 41 years later, they have grown the business into a successful independent agency. The business now has offices in both Sioux City and Le Mars, Iowa, serving a large customer base in the region. Jim and Mary's three sons, Jeff, Bob and Tim, have joined their parents in the family business.
They had dreams when they started out, but to get into the insurance business, they had to put their own insurance on the line.
In 1962, Rosa Mae Plavlik offered the newly married McClintocks the chance to buy her Sioux City insurance agency.
"Rosa Mae kept saying, 'I want you and Jim to have my agency because I really want someone who will take good care of my people and I know you and Jim will do it,' " Mary McClintock recalled.
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The couple initially couldn't find a bank willing to loan them the money for the purchase.
"Jim and I were married and we didn't have any assets," Mary McClintock recalled.
Eventually, a Marcus, Iowa, banker agreed to lend them the money after Jim and Mary pledged their own life insurance policies as collateral.
They started small, using that one file cabinet they inherited from Plavlik. It would be several years before they would get their first office desk, typewriter or adding machine. To make matters worse, their first day in business, their biggest client canceled its policies.
"I had tears in my eyes," Mary McClintock recalled. "I said, 'Jim, What are we going to do, the biggest account we had just canceled?' Jim said, 'We'll do all right.' "
The McClintocks began their careers with Jim working primarily in life and health insurance and Mary in property and casualty insurance. Mary eventually convinced her husband to concentrate on property and casualty as well. Today, the agency writes policies for 18 insurer companies, offering coverage for life, autos, homes, businesses, farms and crops.
In 1978, they built and moved into an office building in downtown Sioux City. In 1985, the couple bought John Harrington's insurance agency in Le Mars. Mary relocated to Le Mars to run the McClintock Insurance II Inc., at 29 Central Ave. S.W.
In 1992, the McClintocks purchased the Hatfield Agency in Sioux City. In need of more space following the acquisition, the McClintocks in November of that year moved their Sioux City office to their present location of 908 Pierce St. The agency continued to expand with the acquisition of three other local agencies in Sioux City.
Growing up, the McClintocks' sons showed little interest in joining their parents in the family business. Mary pointed out she and her husband did not pressure them to follow in their foot steps.
"I'd say, 'Just because I like the business and Dad likes the business, you don't have to come back in the business. Do what you want to do,' " she recalled.
But, one by one, after graduating from college and going out on their own to work for other employers, the McClintock boys returned home. In 1987, Jeff joined the agency in Sioux City. Bob went to work for the Le Mars agency in 1992. And, that same year, Jeff joined the Sioux City agency.
In addition to family members, McClintock Insurance has four employees in Sioux City and two in Le Mars. Tim McClintock serves as the agency manager.
Though nearing retirement, Mary said she and Jim continue to enjoy their work and have no immediate plans to step aside. The couple attribute the longevity and success of their family business to providing customers with quality service.
"We always insist on everyone treating customers as they would like to be treated themselves, and we strive to give customers the very best of service," Mary said.
