My Former Professional Insurance Career

About Rob Gion, Jr. CIC,CRM and the Gion Insurance Group

Over thirty years ago, I began a professional career as an insurance agent/broker. God truly blessed me over that time allowing me to build a successful insurance business, become an insurance and risk management professional, help hundreds of businesses and churches, and ultimately pass along the Gion Insurance Group to my son, Aaron.

The Gion Insurance Group is comprised of a team of professionals who strive to provide truly excellent services for our clients. The Gion Insurance Group is proud to be made up of independent agents working with the Crane Agency in Chesterfield, Missouri. Crane is one of the 50 largest privately owned independent insurance agencies in the country; doing business in all 50 states and globally. For more information about the Gion Insurance Group in addition to what’s on this page, please click here to go to the Gion Insurance Group website. However, you’ll find a lot of good information right here.

What type of insurance?

One thing I have loved about working at Crane is our size. From an insurance perspective, there is basically nothing we can’t do. The Gion Insurance Group specializes in three different areas of insurance. First, we insure people and the things that people need. So, whether it’s auto insurance, home insurance, boat insurance, motorcycle insurance, or life insurance, we have a team that works to provide the needed coverage.

Second, we do a lot of commercial insurance business. With our professional insurance certifications and industry experience, most of our business clients see us as a member of their internal business team. We help businesses evaluate and deal with risk. Obviously, a part of that is the needed insurance, whether property insurance, general liability, commercial auto liability, or workers’ compensation, just to name a few products.

Finally, most of the businesses we work with want us to manage everything they need from an insurance perspective – whether personal or business. They like having one point person they trust to turn to. So, besides the commercial property and casualty needs just mentioned, we often manage group health, life insurance, and other related benefits coverages for many of the businesses we work with.

What’s a CIC or CRM?

Because I wanted to provide the most help possible for the customers I served, I pursued higher training to become both a Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) and a Certified Risk Manager (CRM.) Only 2 percent of the insurance agents in America are CICs, and very few hold the CRM. Ultimately, a lot of the work I did required teaching, counseling, and advising. These certifications, and the education and experience behind them, simply enabled me to do my job to the very best of my ability. Many of the businesses I worked with are not large enough to employ full-time risk managers, so I would come alongside the executive team to help. I’m proud to be able to say that my son, Aaron, followed in my footsteps and is also a Certified Insurance Counselor.

Areas of Specialization

The Gion Insurance Group is what most in the insurance industry call a “generalists.” This basically means we insure just about every type of business. Whether it’s a manufacturer, school, contractor, or distributor, we insure that type of client. Doing so has enabled us to learn new things every year and has made my career very enjoyable. I love learning, and it’s a real treat for me to have been able to work with a new type of client that I had never worked with before.

While that is true, my overall career experience and the experience of my team have led to three primary commercial niches in which we are regularly referred by our truly wonderful clients. These are:

1. Churches, Schools, Ministries, and Other Nonprofit Organizations (including for-profit organizations that directly support these entities). Did you know the Gion Insurance Group insures more than 130 related nonprofits in the greater St. Louis area alone?
2. Contractors and Similar Businesses that need regular help to manage complex contracts they enter during the regular course of business
3. Property Owners