Hamden Small Business Spotlight: Cofrancesco Agency, LLC

Business: Cofrancesco Agency, LLC

Owners: Jennifer Cofrancesco, Agency Principal

Website: https://www.farmersagent.com/jcofrancesco

Address: 2662 Whitney Avenue, Hamden CT 06518

How did you come up with the name? Cofrancesco Agency LLC is a proud partner with Farmers Insurance – a California based insurance company that has started its eastern expansion and just ventured into Connecticut in 2015. All Farmers Insurance Agencies are named after the Agency Principal. Cofrancesco is my married name, although my maiden name “Zammataro” would’ve been just as difficult to pronounce!

Why start a business in this town? My family has been in business in Hamden for 32 years operating CreditGuard Corporation, but has never fully taken advantage of our building’s prime location on Whitney Avenue in the Mt. Carmel section of Hamden. CreditGuard Corporation provides finance and insurance products to special markets, not the everyday consumer. By opening Cofrancesco Agency, we can finally take advantage of the location as our potential customer base has been expanded to all Connecticut residents and businesses. We welcome any and all walk-ins!

What business are you in? Cofrancesco Agency provides insurance products to households and businesses, including but not limited to auto, home, umbrella, specialty products (motorcycle, marine…etc.), business and life insurance. We have a diverse staff offering 20 years of experience on the personal lines side and over 30 years experience on the life side. Because Farmers is new to Connecticut they are offering extremely competitive rates and programs. Furthermore, the Cofrancesco Agency is determined to not only offer our customers great rates on insurance products, but we also want to focus on ensuring our customers have the right coverage and most importantly, enough coverage. When you see a Farmers Insurance commercial, you notice a common theme in their messaging “It’s easy to buy insurance and forget about it. But the more you learn about your insurance, the more gaps you will find…You might be surprised to what’s hiding in your coverage.” This is what we’re all about – as families and businesses grow, so do their assets and we want to ensure that people are protected.

What’s the most difficult challenge you’ve faced as a business owner? Our most difficult challenge as a new business owner is trying to get our messaging heard and establish a voice in a crowded marketplace. In a world where we are constantly surrounded by media – on our cellphones, computers and televisions, not to mention the relentless parade of print advertisements that we’re exposed to, it is increasingly difficult for small business to compete. We’ve turned to uniqueness as our answer – amidst the very professional insurance ads, we’ve turned to our family golden retriever, Luke, to be the face of the Cofrancesco Agency.

What’s been your proudest achievement since opening? We attended the official Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at the Farmers Connecticut Territory Office and Cofrancesco Agency was asked to join in the ceremony. It was an exciting moment because it symbolized how as an independent business we are also part of a larger organization and are backed by our Farmers family. We have been working tirelessly with Farmers Insurance to get our business started over the last several months and cutting that ribbon

How does your business give back to the community? Farmers offers special discounts to those that help serve our community – teachers and professors, firefighters and police officers, dentists and medical professionals and more. We are proud to offer these discounts to those that help strengthen and protect our community. As a new business, we are excited to partner with other members of the community and support their causes. Our family dog, Luke, is the face of Cofrancesco Agency and frequents our offices on a daily basis – we recently purchased pet insurance for him through the Cofrancesco Agency. Luke and the Cofrancesco Agency will partner with area animal shelters and organizations to offer support as our first community service project.

Would you like to see your small business showcased in this series? Email wendy.mitchell@patch.com.