Minnesota Insurance Magazine, October 2010

One of Scott Smith's first acts in 1982 when he took over the operation that was to become S.H. Smith & Co., was to box up thousands of small personal lines policies worth about $400,000 in premium. He then called his competitors and inquired if they wanted to take over the policies. When asked how much he wanted, Smith responded that they were free.

"Of course, I gained an immediate reputation of being insane," he quipped. But instead, it might be more accurately said that Smith was crazy...like the proverbial fox. The reason: he has a clear vision of the type of wholesaler he wanted to become...and it did not involve handling $75 motorcycle policies and similar contracts that were in that box.

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