In April 1969 Normand Dion, a veteran producer for the Richard Flynn Insurance Agency in Lynn, bought the agency from Mr. Flynn and renamed it Columbia Insurance. The agency under one name or the other has been a fixture in downtown Lynn for over 60 years serving the home, auto and business insurance needs of its customers.
In April of 1995 John Olson, who at different times served as both an underwriting and claims manager at Plymouth Rock Assurance Corp, left Plymouth Rock to start a brand new agency in Salem, MA. He named the agency Corporate Group Insurance (CGI). CGI specialized in providing group auto and home insurance programs to the employees of the high-tech and bio-tech companies that are abundant in Greater Boston. One of CGI’s unique features was the free on-site and Registry service it provided it’s clients.
In August 2001 John purchased Columbia from Norm and merged the two agencies together under the Columbia name. Columbia is still located in downtown Lynn and is still providing the free on-site service that CGI offered.