Valley Insurance Service, located in Sweetwater, Tennessee, was born out of a desire to better serve the residents of Sweetwater by two of their own. Louise Barnes started her career as an office manager and commercial insurance agent for the Heuer Agency. Barnes had begun their insurance careers with the same insurance agency, their dream of agency ownership became a reality of April 1, 1984, whe
n Valley Insurance was formed. The partner’s primary focus in the early years was home, auto, and life insurance, but provided all lines of insurance coverage for the citizens of Sweetwater, Monroe County, and East Tennessee. By the end of 1985, Valley Insurance had gotten off to an incredible start. What was started as a scratch agency had grown to slightly under 250,000 in direct written premium. Because of the faith and trust that the citizens of Sweetwater and surrounding areas had placed in Linda and Louise, they were able to hire two customer service representatives to assist with the daily service requests of their clients. After 10 years of growth through the support of the Sweetwater community and people across southeast Tennessee, Valley Insurance had grown to become the premier insurance provider in Monroe County. It was also on May 1, 1994, that Valley Insurance was awarded a contract to represent an award-winning insurance company from Pennsylvania called The Erie Insurance Group. It was through this contract that Linda, Louise and the entire team at Valley Insurance were not only able to continue to offer the outstanding service their clients were accustom to, but also new superior products such as home, auto, business and life insurance. In 2012, Louise Barnes and Linda Thearp decided that after 30 years in the insurance industry it was time for a change. As the insurance industry continued to evolve, the ladies knew to remain as the premier agency in Monroe County, they would need to sustain their future growth. Because of this, Valley Insurance joined the Omega One Insurance Group, a locally owned insurance group from McMinn County, Tennessee, in January of 2012. As part of this new partnership, Louise and Linda would remain a vital part of Valley Insurance where they continue to serve their clients. Today Valley Insurance continues to grow through the leadership and mentoring of Mrs. Thearp, Terri Riddle, Sammy Phelps, and Danielle Wilkins.
