We are incredibly proud to announce that our great leader, Jim Reed, has received the Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company 2020 Legacy Award. We are blessed to work for Jim!
Read the below article detailing Jim's life leading to this moment.
2020 Legacy Award
Serving others with excellence and humility is a hallmark of Jim Reed's life.
If there were an arch spanning Jim Reed’s life, service would be the capstone. A desire to help others lies beneath most of his pursuits, from military aviation and ministry insurance to superior customer care and family time.
Jim’s passion for service is among the reasons he was chosen to receive Brotherhood Mutual’s 2020 Legacy Award.
This award is presented to someone who has made a unique contribution to Brotherhood Mutual throughout his or her career.
Jim is the founder and principal of James Reed & Associates Insurance, Inc., in Salem, Oregon. His agency has been recognized more than a dozen times by Brotherhood Mutual for being among the nation’s top performers.
“Jim has built a model agency by being a model person,” said Dan Book, vice president of sales. “His passion for the Church and for developing leaders made this an easy choice. For years, Jim has modeled professionalism and passion. We’d all be wise to learn from such a great man.”
As Jim finished high school, concerns about Vietnam tempered the optimism of young graduates. With his grandfather sitting on the draft board, Jim’s path was all but assured.
Within three weeks of becoming eligible for the draft, Jim got the word: He was going to war.
Jim’s grandfather, a Lutheran pastor and college professor, always felt strongly that it was his duty to do the right thing. And so he made sure his grandson was included in the draft lottery.
A neighbor told Jim about a program that would let him to go into helicopter training instead of the infantry. That decision led to the U.S. Army National Guard, where Jim would spend the next 29 years.
“It was a great experience,” Jim recalls. “It was a big chunk of what my life was.”
Army National Guard
Jim Reed, left, while serving as a flight crew member for a military intelligence batallion of the Army National Guard.
As the Vietnam War wound down, Jim became a flight crew member for a military intelligence battalion. He crewed an OV-1 Mohawk, a twin turboprop designed for battlefield surveillance. With the two-seater’s infrared radar, he could map terrain, providing a film image within minutes of scanning the earth below.
After completing active service, Jim began reporting for Reserve duty one weekend a month with the Oregon Army National Guard. Mapping forest fires overnight in the Pacific Northwest was a big part of his job. This allowed firefighters to target hot spots in the morning.
His team also monitored Mount St. Helens in the active months leading to the volcano’s eruption. Photos taken before dawn and after dusk each day allowed geologists to track critical changes before the volcano exploded on May 18, 1980, triggering a massive landslide and sending ashes 12 miles high.
It was exciting and challenging work, particularly for someone who had left active duty, gotten married, begun a family, and started a business.
“We would end up flying a fire at 2 a.m., then be getting up and going to work,” Jim said. “If I wasn’t working, I was flying someplace.”
Jim discovered his passion for customer service after entering the civilian workforce full time. He found his niche during the eight years he worked for a large insurance agency in Salem, Oregon.
“The service aspect of it struck me,” Jim said. “I was most comfortable when I was helping other people.”
Jim decided that he wanted to run his own agency, so he founded James Reed & Associates Insurance in 1981. The agency affiliated with Brotherhood Mutual in 1999 and has grown into one of the largest ministry-based agencies in the Pacific Northwest. Today, it serves nearly 1,200 ministries in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho.
Some of the clients Jim serves from a white, ranch-style house in Salem have been with the agency for more than 30 years. His agency is known for its personal service, where staff answer the telephone by the second ring.
“Our customer base appreciates the fact that we answer the phone, and we call them back the same day,” Jim said. “They tell us that all the time.”
Jim turns 77 this year, but the word ‘retirement’ hasn’t entered his vocabulary. He’s still in the agency every day, serving his clients and staff. “I feel like I’m so blessed to be able to do what I do,” Jim says.
“I have always told my kids: ‘Figure out what you love to do, and then learn how to live on the money you make from it.’”
An experience Jim had as a youth inspires him to treat all clients well, regardless of their wealth.
“If it’s a $15,000 account or a $1,500 account, it doesn’t matter,” he said. “Often, it’s the little storefront ministry that needs the most help. Their pastor has more than enough to do. When we can take care of some of that risk management stuff, it takes a lot of weight off their shoulders.”
Jim has never forgotten the time when someone served him exceptionally well. He was 17 years old, and he needed a suit for high school graduation. “I had no concept of getting a suit,” Jim said. He walked into a men’s clothing store and asked to try one on. The salesperson treated Jim as though he were the most important person in the world.
“The guy was so nice, and he helped me to get it all pulled together,” Jim said. “It stuck with me. He was willing to take the time to help this 17-year-old get a suit. That was so cool.”
Family Traditions
Every weekend, Jim and his wife Sandee host dinner for their extended family. Here, a mix of children and grandchildren prepare to hunt for Easter eggs earlier this year.
If there were an arch spanning Jim Reed’s life, service would be the capstone. A desire to help others lies beneath most of his pursuits, from military aviation and ministry insurance to superior customer care and family time.
Jim’s passion for service is among the reasons he was chosen to receive Brotherhood Mutual’s 2020 Legacy Award.
This award is presented to someone who has made a unique contribution to Brotherhood Mutual throughout his or her career.
Jim is the founder and principal of James Reed & Associates Insurance, Inc., in Salem, Oregon. His agency has been recognized more than a dozen times by Brotherhood Mutual for being among the nation’s top performers.
“Jim has built a model agency by being a model person,” said Dan Book, vice president of sales. “His passion for the Church and for developing leaders made this an easy choice. For years, Jim has modeled professionalism and passion. We’d all be wise to learn from such a great man.”
From time to time, Jim or Sandee will hear a grandchild sneaking into their house to steal cookies. “She’ll hear the sliding door open; the pantry door open. And then both close,” Jim said, laughing. “We have to make sure that we keep a good cookie supply.”
They live on a farm about 15 minutes outside of Salem. Jim and his children still tend about four acres of U-cut Christmas trees—a tradition his father-in-law started more than 25 years ago. They never have to advertise. People come to the tree farm every December to buy a tree from the same place their parents and grandparents did.
They plant about 300 trees a year, trimming and shaping them all summer, so that a new crop is ready by Thanksgiving.
“It’s a lot of work, but it’s a lot of fun,” Jim said.
Family traditions mean a lot to Jim, including Sunday dinner. Growing up, Jim ate dinner at his grandparents’ house every Sunday after church. Today, you’ll find Jim and Sandee grilling out every Sunday for 18 to 20 people.
Most of the guests are family, but sometimes they’re longtime friends – often the kids who grew up with Jim’s kids. And they’ll bring their kids over for supper.
“It’s amazing to my wife and I that our kids are that consistent with coming back to the house. And they’re friends. And they do stuff together. And the grandkids do stuff together.”
Dan Book admires Jim’s commitment to his family, as well as to ministry and work.
“Jim has proven that the best way to manage an agency is with integrity and passion for the ministries they serve. I appreciate Jim for his humility, love for God and his family, and for growing an award-winning agency that serves as a beacon for others to follow.”
Enjoying close relationships with three generations of his family is a dream come true for Jim.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Jim said.