By Sue Moore
Dan Gregart was looking for a building in Schoolcraft for his insurance business last spring. He had purchased a portion of an insurance business headquartered in Three Rivers which served south Kalamazoo county, necessitating a location in Schoolcraft. So, he thought if he prayed hard enough, something would surely turn up.
On a visit to Schoolcraft to look for a building, he parked his car, took a short walk downtown and called Bill Koopsen in the Pizza Hut office building, thinking it looked like an agreeable spot.
It wasn’t for rent, but Koopsen did have another building on Grand Street he was remodeling, a building that in the past had been an antiques shop, church meeting venue, and even a newspaper office.
“I hadn’t even started praying yet,” says Gregart, recalling the moment he was ushered into the building at 113 N. Grand. But he knew immediately it would be perfect. It was wide open and Koopsen was good with his promise to build it out to suit Gregart’s needs.
Gregart and his office manager, Monica Dixon, moved into the restored office building on June 1, 2013.
Insurance isn’t where Gregart started his career, but it’s one that he loves and suits his lifestyle needs. He started his career as an assistant golf pro in Gig Harbor, Washington, a job that required 70 hour work weeks, which he and his wife Brandy knew would be hard on the family they anticipated having.
So, they returned to this area since he had graduated from Portage Central High School and then Ferris State University. The Gregarts purchased a home on YZ Avenue in Vicksburg and he started in the insurance business, believing this would be the lifestyle he was looking for.
To build his business, he went door to door in the Tobey School area and then all over the county, meeting face to face with families, actually putting just as many hours in with the shoe leather as he had with the spikes on the golf course. He passed his 1,000th night out doing house calls, and gradually built his own credentials from 2006 to the present.
“My true passion is life insurance,” Gregart says. “I want to see each family protected properly. I see myself as becoming a family advisor, with home, auto, farm and business insurance as well.
“Meeting with potential clients in their homes, is the best part of the insurance business, getting to know the people and caring for them, is what drives me each day.”