Startup Star: Former Marine Builds Integrity Agency on Principles

When Ron Plocinski was considering opening an independent insurance agency, he thought about the qualities that would make him stand out. Then, he put his principles right in the name, opening the Integrity Agency in 2019.

“We believed that business would naturally come from that,” Plocinski says.

Plocinski had been working in auto insurance since 2007 but was interested in making the transition to selling health insurance. In that arena, even more so than other types of business, he felt it was critical that clients could trust him, knowing that he was guiding them through their insurance options with integrity.

The business proposition worked, and the Dover-based insurance agency has grown steadily since its launch in 2019. Today, about half of Plocinski’s clients are under 65 and purchasing insurance on the Health Insurance Marketplace. The other half are over 65 and enrolling in Medicare, a process that can be entirely overwhelming.

“It is ruthlessly hard to navigate,” Plocinski says. “Everything’s an acronym.”

He explains to clients how Medicare differs from the health insurance that they’ve had in the past, including that the basic plan doesn’t cover prescription drugs. He points clients to add-ons, like Med-icare Part D, that provide more coverage, including for prescriptions and other medical needs that clients may have.

In addition to working with individuals, Plocinski writes policies for “mom and pop” businesses that have 50 employees or fewer.

No matter what type of policy he’s writing, Plocinski is driven by his values, he says, adding many of them he gained during his time serving in the Marine Corps after high school. “What I learned in the military in that leadership component was a great match for someone who later in life was going to become an entrepreneur,” he says. “The military work ethic I’ve brought to my agency has led to my growth.”

Now, Plocinski has his eye toward expansion. He’s already licensed in 16 states but is beginning to recruit other agents to build the agency. “That’s my end goal,” he says. “To have integrity and ensure growth.”