What began as a celebration of the 40th anniversary in the insurance business for Chase Fulcher and his executive assistant, Robin Branson, turned into a surprise announcement of an award honoring his agency for its generosity.
Throughout a ceremony at the grounds of his Best Insured insurance agency, community leaders lauded Fulcher for his decades of support for Henderson causes as well as his individual encouragement to them.
“He’ll just call and say, you’re doing a really good job,” Missy Vanderpool, executive director of Henderson Economic Development, said, a sentiment echoed by speakers such as Henderson County Judge-Executive Brad Schneider and Abby Dixon, executive director of the Henderson Tourist Commission.
“Just know that he’s a good person and a good person to know, whether it’s a big-time game-changing project for our community or a behind-the-scenes project for which he writes a check,” Dixon said. “He’ll just call and say, ‘I want to do something good. Do you know an organization I can write a check to?’”
In that vein, Dave Bauer, vice president life sales for Erie Insurance Group, surprised Fulcher by announcing that Best Insured is Erie’s Giving Agency of the Year for Kentucky.
A longtime award-winning insurance agent, Fulcher founded Best Insured in 2019 as an independent insurance agency. In June 2021, he became affiliated with Erie Insurance.
“Chase has built one of the most successful (Erie) agencies in just four years,” making Best Insured “one of Erie’s most-respected, highest-ranking agencies in all of our 12 states,” Bauer said
Last March as part of Erie’s annual companywide food drive, Best Insured collected 4,724 pounds of peanut butter and jelly—the most of any Erie agency in Kentucky—that were donated to Henderson Christian Community Outreach.
To honor such generosity, the Erie Insurance Foundation offered to donate $5,000 to the nonprofit of Fulcher’s choosing. He selected Audubon Kids Zone, which mentors underprivileged youngsters in Henderson’s East End.
Various speakers noted Fulcher’s generosity to the community. As head of the Community Foundation of Henderson, he helped raise $2 million in endowments for nonprofit causes. He has served on numerous local boards. An elite bowhunter, he spearheaded construction of the Chase Fulcher Archery Center that is home to one of the most successful youth archery programs in the country, serving 800 students annually.
Fulcher was named the Henderson Chamber of Commerce’s Distinguished Citizen of the Year in 2014 and has been inducted into the Henderson County High School Hall of Fame.
Dozens of public officials, community leaders, friends and customers attended Thursday’s ceremony, which celebrated both Fulcher’s and Branson’s 40 years together in insurance as well as Erie’s 100th anniversary.
Fulcher credited Branson and his staff for Best Insured’s success. “You’re always behind the scenes,” he told Branson. “I give you 10 things to do and you get them done in an hour and ask, ‘What else?’ You stay late, you work through lunch most days. You’re honest and you care about people.’”
“I’m the peasant,” Fulcher said. “She’s the queen.”
