Erin LaPlante is opening a State Farm Office today – Monday, March 1 – at 210 North Broadway. Her office will occupy the location formerly belonging to the Courtney Pulkrabek State Farm Office.
LaPlante said opening her own office has been more than a year in the making. “I’ve been working on this since January 2020,” said LaPlante. “While it’s new news to everyone else, it has been a work in progress. I started with State Farm in my internship role in October. It’s been a 17-week training getting me up to speed on all of their products, policies, and different things State Farm has their agents work on.”
LaPlante started working at Dahlgrens 20 years ago and said the switch to insurance will be a change she’s looking forward to. “I started there at in 2000,” said LaPlante. “And when SunOpta bought them in 2010 I stayed on. I worked in a lot of different roles but all of them have really been focused on customer service and sales. So, definitely going to be a change from selling sunflower seeds and roasted snacks to selling insurance, but I’m looking forward to it.”
The office space has also gone under some renovations, although the office staff will be familiar faces. “Jeff Evers is the landlord at this building, and he’s completed the renovations,” said LaPlante. “So, old customers or new customers, pop on in and see the new space. We’ve got that completed and you’ll still see the familiar faces you saw before with Jennifer Larson and Sandy Perkins. They are both staying on with me as my team members, so some new and some familiarity.”
LaPlante has been involved in the past with the United Way, and is currently on the Blue Line Club Board, and started the Dream Boutique a couple of years ago, and hopes the new position allows for even more community involvement. “State Farm has been around for almost 100 years,” said LaPlante. “Their 100-year anniversary is coming up. They have a wide array of products and I’m looking forward to working with the community to get them the products that they need. As I said, it’s going to be a change from my old job, but I’ve always been involved in the community in other ways. So, I’m really looking forward to working with people within the community which is something I didn’t have an opportunity to do at SunOpta.”
LaPlante said the office will be staffed Monday through Friday. “I’m excited to get to know the existing customers that are there and anybody that is looking to get in touch with us, we will be at the office 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday,” said LaPlante. “Our phone number is staying the same and that is 281-2234.”
