Third generation joins Citizens State Agency team
Three generations of the Burks family are (from left) Max "Butch", Jacob and Josh. Max is the retired former owner of the Citizens State Agency. Josh is the current owner and Jacob is the third generation to be involved with the business. Jacob began his association with the business after graduating from Cloud County Community College this spring with an associate's degree in business.
Jacob Burks has joined his father, Josh Burks, at the Citizens State Agency of Jewell. A third-generation employee, Jacob is a recent graduate of Cloud County Community College with an associate's degree in business. He commented, "I wanted to move back to my hometown and give back to the community."
One strand of the agency's story began in 1981, more than 40 years ago, as the Burks Agency in the back room of the Burks Grocery in Randall. Both the grocery store and insurance business were owned by Max and Annette Baxa Burks. Max and Annette are the grandparents of Jacob Burks.
In 1982, Burks Agency partnered with Citizens State Agency which was located at the Citizens State Bank in Jewell. The Citizens State Agency's history, a second strand in the history of the business, goes back 80 years to the 1940s. The partnered businesses maintained their office in the Citizens State Bank.
The two agencies totally merged in 1988. It was at that time Max Burks purchased all the bank's shares of the business. The business still remained in its location in the Citizens State Bank and retained the name, Citizens State Agency.
Change continued in 1989 when Max purchased another Jewell insurance agency, Seamans Insurance Agency. Seamans Insurance was the third strand of history to merge into the Citizens State Agency. Jack Seamans had owned the Jewell business for some years. With the merger, the Citizens State Agency relocated to the little rock building at 115 North Columbus where the Seamans Insurance Agency had been located.
Much stayed the same until 2005 when Josh Burks joined his father, Max, in the business. Josh and his wife Erin, lived in Manhattan and were the parents of two sons. Josh, already in the insurance business, saw Citizens State Agency as both a business opportunity and the chance to rear his sons in a small community.
The business moved into a new building, at 109 North Columbus, in 2007. The agency is still located at that address.
2013 brought another change, the retirement of Max Burks. It was then that Josh purchased the business from his father. Now in 2022, the third generation, Jacob Burks, joins the business.
The two, father and son, plan to maintain and grow the multifaceted insurance business started so many years ago. Both appreciate their "dedicated customers" and look forward to serving "people not policies."
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