ÈȵãºÚÁÏ

Instead of becoming a major league umpire, Ed Mackoul chose to help his father build an insurance empire.

Ed wasn’t sure how his life would turn out before joining Mackoul & Associates in 1995. College didn’t give him an answer. So, while he was working as a bartender, he had decided to travel south to Florida to become a professional baseball official.

Before Ed could be placed in the minor league umpire development program, though, his father, Robert, approached him with an offer. “Why don’t you just join the business with me, and we’ll build an empire?” Robert asked.

Ed said “yes,” and that independent insurance agency’s book of business has since grown to $125 million in premium across three locations. After holding the president title and serving as partner alongside his father, Ed became CEO and changed the name to Mackoul Risk Solutions in 2018.

Not everything has changed. Mackoul’s leader still believes in treating his employees right.

That philosophy has led the Long Beach, New York-based agency to secure the 2024 Gold Award for the East region as a result of ÈȵãºÚÁÏ Journal’s 2024 Best ÈȵãºÚÁÏ Agencies to Work For survey. In their anonymous responses to the survey, a selection of Mackoul’s 54 employees praised the agency for fostering a supportive work environment that emphasizes recognition and appreciation.

Many respondents said they feel valued and are given professional growth opportunities.

“This agency genuinely cares about the employees,” one wrote. “Ed once said, ‘The customer doesn’t come first to me, you all do.’ I will never forget that. Management really has our back.

Helping people and competing within the industry hooked Ed on insurance when he began working at the agency. The overwhelming majority of the agency’s book is focused on insuring co-ops and condos. Staff also works with clients to secure homeowner, auto and business insurance.

Ed credited Robert with instilling in him a drive to prioritize employee well-being. “Our culture came from my father,” Ed explained. “[He] really instituted a lot of the things we still do today, although some things have changed as we’ve added. He is the absolute reason why our employees come first.”

Mackoul Risk Associates operated on a hybrid work basis before COVID-19 surfaced in early 2020. Since then, the staff has had the option to work fully remote, with 10 workstations available in the main Long Island office should employees choose to return to the office for a day or more.Productivity is up, employees are happier and the agency’s hiring pool increased.

‘Management really has our back.’

“We never really saw a reason to come back,” Ed Mackoul said. He described his employees as “very loyal,” and he trusted them to work remotely.

In their survey responses, one employee said that “although we work remotely, Mackoul Risk Solutions still feels like a family.” Another said that the remote work “is incredible and only helps us all be happier in our roles and to permit us to have a fantastic work/life balance.” A third added that working remotely “has not impaired management’s ability to foster a family style work environment, which makes daily communication effortless and the workflow stronger.”

When he heard that his agency was nominated for this award, Ed Mackoul said he felt ecstatic. Mackoul Risk Solutions has won several awards over the years, including a Top 100 Independent Agencies nod from ÈȵãºÚÁÏ Journal in August. “This one means way more,” Mackoul said of the Best Agencies to Work For honor. “Because we are nominated by our staff, which means that they are happy. And in the long run, that makes me very, very happy.”