insurance saves a business

Insurance provides an employer with the operating capital needed to pay off his business's creditors, take on new projects, and revitalize the company.

Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Forest, Virginia is one of America's fastest growing communities, a region awash in woods and lakes including the famous Poplar Forest, site of Thomas Jefferson's summer home.

Just south of Poplar Forest is Coleman-Adams Construction Company, co-founded in 1971 by A.E. "Buzzy" Coleman, Jr. and Vince Adams. Since its inception, Coleman-Adams grew quickly into one of Virginia's premier builders. Buzzy always believed that purchasing life insurance was an important aspect of doing business.

In 1986, Mass Mutual agent Rick Scruggs, CLU, ChFC, helped Buzzy and his company arrange for a corporate life insurance policy designed to help protect the welfare of Coleman-Adams's employees and to maintain the value of his company's employee stock ownership plan.

In 1991, a major recession hit the construction industry and Buzzy was concerned about his employees and his business. "We had tapped our lines of credit. The banks wanted new signature guarantees. We hadn't been paid for a major project we just completed and our bonding company wanted us to pledge our personal assets before accepting any new work," explained Buzzy.

"For a builder things could not have been much worse," he said. At that point, looking for help, he contacted Rick Scruggs. Rick assured Buzzy that things would work out, and immediately applied for a loan against the insurance policy. A check was express mailed to Coleman-Adams within 48 hours.

At a time when money was simply unavailable from any other source, the insurance policies provided the operating capital needed to pay off the company's creditors, satisfy the bonding company, take on new projects, and revitalize the company.

Today, business is booming and Buzzy's belief in life insurance is as strong as ever. "Because of Rick's advice, I had that life insurance," Buzzy said, "and I still have my company. And we're still growing. That's my idea of a pretty good investment!"