New State Farm office opens on city’s south end

by Judy Stringer

Longtime Hinckley resident Raymond “Ray” Felton has found a comfortable business home in Hudson.

In September, Felton opened a State Farm agency in the office building on the northeast corner of Darrow and Terex roads.

“We’ve been here a couple of months and are just very excited about how we’ve been welcomed into the community,” he said.

The Hudson insurance office is Felton’s first foray into business ownership. A registered nurse, he worked at the Hospice of the Western Reserve before joining the Medina office of State Farm Agent Chris Winkelmann in February 2020.

“I had an opportunity to open my own agency pretty quickly after that, but then the pandemic hit. Everyone was locked down, so I concentrated on family and building my business there,” he said. “Fortunately, I was able to open up in Hudson at the end of last summer.”

Felton’s office provides a full range of State Farm insurance products, including auto, homeowners, renters’ and life insurance policies, as well as some ancillary products available through State Farm’s relationships with banks and investment firms.

Being a newer agency, Felton said the staff is currently focused on “making sure we get equal or better coverage for customers at a lower price,” but the end goal is building relationships.

“I don’t see myself as an insurance salesperson. I see myself as a risk advisor. And my job really is to sit with people, find out what their situation is, explain what their risks are, and explain how we can protect them,” he said.

Insurance needs, Felton explained, are as individual as the people the policies cover. A single renter, for example, has a different risk profile than a married couple with a home and teenage drivers. Insurance programs should reflect those risks, he said, and change as circumstances change.

Felton looks forward to increasing his office’s involvement in the community. It recently donated carbon dioxide monitors to the Hudson Fire Department and is open to similar opportunities to “give back,” he said.

“We’re not here to just build a business and take for ourselves,” Felton said. “We want to contribute to the community.” ∞