Photo by: Mark Haskett

Providing insurance may be the Stanberry family’s specialty, but the company’s owners have yet other forté — serving their community.
“We want to make it a better place in our own little way,” said Scott Stanberry, who co-owns the business with his brother Kevin.
The Stanberrys have found multiple avenues to staying involved in Jackson County, from coaching Little League baseball to collecting cans for food drives to consistently being a lead donor in local walks to end cancer.
Kevin and Scott say they are just eager to give back to the community they’ve called home for decades.
“We’re from here so we definitely stay involved and try to help out,” said Kevin.
The Stanberrys’ commitment to the community is evident to anyone who drives past their Sylva office. Instead of using the marquis outside for promotional purposes, the company opts instead to display community-focused messages.
Recently, the marquis invited passersby to drop off teddy bears for children in need. This free advertising helped build up a pile of teddy bears in a big cardboard box inside the Sylva office.
Every year, Stanberry Insurance employees take part in a charitable Christmas project, with the latest one involving collecting food to give away in backpacks to hungry children.
Stanberry Insurance also regularly contributes to local nonprofits and sponsors local sports teams. Athletes in elementary school all the way to those at Western Carolina University receive financial support from the company.
Having a commitment to the community while simultaneously operating a successful business is a skill Kevin and Scott learned while growing up. Their father would wake up each day at 5 a.m. to get work done and still have time to coach Little League baseball and make it to Kevin and Scott’s baseball and basketball games.
Kevin and Scott have learned well from their parents, expanding the business to two new locations in Waynesville and Highlands since taking over. When their father and mother opened Stanberry Insurance in 1980, they only had one other employee. Now, the number of employees has swollen to 30.
Though everybody at work isn’t a Stanberry, a family atmosphere still persists at the office.
“We have people who worked for our parents that still work for us,” said Kevin.
But it’s not just the employees that want to stick around.
“This is home,” said Kevin. “I don’t think of ever living anywhere else.”

Published in Our Town 2010 • Vol. 5

Distributed by the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce