Kimball-Cooke Insurance of Athol marks 90 years in business

ATHOL – Kimball-Cooke Insurance, which began in 1936, recently marked 90 years as a locally-owned and community-involved business.

In May of 1936, partners Parker Kimball and Charles Cooke Jr. began offering insurance to residents of Athol and North Quabbin.

“Parker had actually worked in an insurance agency from the late ‘20s to the early ‘30s,” said current company President Zachary Rand. “He then decided to go out on his own. He started Parker B. Kimball Insurance Agency, just a short distance from here on Main Street. Then along came Charles Cooke, who was his business partner. Parker had his own agency for about four years, and then he and Charles decided to open Kimball Cooke in 1936.”

Rand joined the agency in 2004, said he is a descendant of Kimball.

“After Parker,” he explained, “my great uncle, Curt Kimball, ran it for several years. He brought in Charles Winn, who worked with him for several years. (Winn) was the only one who was not part of the family to own and run the agency. My dad, Curtis, bought it from Charles, and then I bought my dad out in 2017.”

The portfolio of the types of insurance offered by Kimball-Cooke has greatly expanded since it first opened 90 years ago.

“When it got started, they specialized in fire insurance and then automobile….then it evolved from there,” he said.

In 2026, he said, the company offers a much wider range of insurances.

“We can do almost anything you want, except life insurance and health insurance,” Rand said. “We did do life insurance for a few years, but the company we were writing it with decided to discontinue the product. So, we offer home, automobile, all sorts of commercial insurance.”

The demographics of Kimball-Cooke’s customer base has changed a lot in recent years, said Rand.

“We used to be about a 50/50 split between personal and commercial insurance, and now we’re probably more like 70/30 (respectively),” he added. “I think that’s a product of the lack of bigger commercial businesses in this area. We can do some of that, but our main focus now is on the personal line side.”

Rand said the business serves between 3,500 and 4,000 customers, mostly in the North Quabbin region and as far out as Gardner and Greenfield.

Kimball-Cooke is woven into the North Quabbin community. Rand is a graduate of Mahar Regional High School and is head coach of the school’s JV basketball team and assistant for the varsity squad.

In addition, said Rand, “We help as many organizations and causes as we can. We have a banner at the YMCA gym and a sign at the Little League field. We support the Athol-Orange Santa Fund, and we also have 100% participation from our employees for the United Way; they all have a small amount from their check donated each week. We do get a lot of good feeling out of supporting this community.”

Customer service accounts for the longevity of the business, said Rand.

“People can go anywhere to buy their insurance. But if you answer the phone when they call, if you answer their questions, if you great them formally when they come through the door – that typically makes the difference,” he added.

Regarding his stewardship of the business Parker Kimball and Charles Cooke in 1936, Rand said, “I’m trying to live up to the standards that they created. They started with a customer service-driven business, and I think it’s my duty to try to uphold that standard. People keep coming back, so we must be doing something right.”