Burkhart-Presidio Insurance Agency is a long-time provider of both insurance needs and community support in Gladwin, dating back to 1891.
Its namesake, Burkhart-Presidio, originates from Orval Burkhart who purchased the business in 1953, and from Dirk Presidio, who joined Burkhart in 1987 and took over the business in 1995.
While Dirk continues to remain active in the business, he sold it to Joe Kreusch and Jeff Servinski in 2018, who are carrying forward the history, values, and traditions of the business while implementing the technologies needed for the future.
Since the beginning, Burkhart-Presidio has valued being an active and supportive member of the Gladwin community while support customers around the entire state of Michigan. Today, Burkhart-Presidio continues to offer support in groups such as the Kiwanis Club of Gladwin, Gladwin County Chamber of Commerce, Gladwin Rotary Club and the Gladwin Business & Professional Association (GBPA), of which Dirk Presidio is currently President.
The agency also has a tradition of sponsoring local little league baseball (Burkhart-Presidio Gladwin Little League) that dates back many decades.
Our History
Welcome! If you have any information about the early owners of our business, please contact us. We would love to hear your stories!
1891
Charles Lee began the business in 1891.
1906
Charle’s son, Gene Lee, takes over the business and runs it until 1947.
1947
Gene Lee sells the business to Henry Borders, who ran it for a short while until 1953.
1953
Henry Borders sold the business to Orval Burkhart in 1953.
According to a 2013 article from the Gladwin County Record, Orval Burkhart was operating a dime store in Gladwin when he had the opportunity to purchase the agency. He had no prior experience in insurance, however, he was able to turn the business into a pillar for Gladwin business and community that continues with its successes to this day.
1967
In 1967, Orval’s son, Bill joined the agency and later took ownership in 1986 after his dad retired. Dirk Presidio joined the agency the same year Bill took over the business.
1995
In 1995, the business was purchased by Dirk. Dirk owned and operated the business for 23 years and recalls some of the changes the agency had gone through over his years at the helm.
2018
On July 1, 2018, Dirk passed ownership to Joe Kreusch and Jeff Servinski. Joe and Jeff had each worked many years at an insurance agency in Midland. Joe is a native to Gladwin and has known Dirk for many years as a neighbor. Dirk approached his neighbor one day with an offer to pass business ownership to Joe. Both Joe and Jeff decided to take on the ownership as a team and left their practice in Midland for a new start in Gladwin.
The two both worked at Burkhart-Presidio for six months before the ownership changed. This gave Dirk time to teach and observe their work before passing the torch. “Part of the reason that I thought these guys were such a good fit was because their philosophy of taking care of the customer fits that of the Burkhart-Presidio philosophy,” Dirk said. “We were all on the same page from the beginning.”
This philosophy was passed on to Dirk from Bill and has been the way the agency has traditionally held it’s values. Dirk saw that Joe and Jeff share the same philosophy for the business and knew it was in good hands.
Joe and Jeff each have their own areas of focus within the agency according to Dirk. Joe has a large focus on group benefits, medicare and health benefits, and Jeff focuses more on commercial insurance. “A piece that is different in the agency of 2018 than that of 2017 is that there are more options for Joe and the health insurance he is able to offer,” Jeff said. “We’re much stronger now with health insurance than we were.”
