Our Mission
Marsh & McLennan Agency (MMA), formerly PayneWest Insurance, is the Northwest’s premier insurance agency. Operating since 1972, we provide business and personal insurance, employee benefits and surety throughout our local offices in Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington. We strive to be the employer of choice in our Northwest region, with more than 700 insurance professionals, including teams that specialize in highly-complex market niches such as healthcare, construction, transportation, education, agriculture, hospitality, public entities and banking. Our mission is to be a meaningful, contributing partner to the communities we serve.
MMA offers important, cost-saving services including risk mitigation and claim management. In 2021, MMA joined Marsh & McLennan Agency LLC to operate as MMA’s Northwest regional hub under the leadership of Sarah Walsh, CEO.
At Marsh & McLennan Agency we are:
- Fiercely Committed. Clients are our top priority.
- Specialized. Providing employee benefits, business and personal insurance, bonds and retirement funding. We also have claim advocates, risk control services and wellness management specialists.
- Value Driven. Our services are developed based on the needs of our clients.
- Business Focused. Specialized risk management tools and programs.
- Long-term Strategic Planners. Meeting the needs of clients today and well into the future.
- Financially Strong. Our financial strength provides a firm foundation for the long term.
- Powered by MMA. As a Marsh & McLennan Agency we provide our clients with best-in-class services that meet their growing needs.
Core Values
Our guiding values embody how we serve our clients, our fellow colleagues and the communities in which we live in and love.
Respect.We listen to and learn from each other. We support and celebrate differences. We encourage openness, honesty and give each other the benefit of the doubt. We respect our planet and strive to make environmentally conscious business decisions. We treat our clients, colleagues and communities with fairness, decency and good citizenship.
Accountability.We are accountable to every entity and individual that we interact with - including each other. We are all equally responsible for the organization’s successes and failures. We hold one another accountable for our behavior and measurable results.
Excellence.We constantly strive for continuous improvement and excellence within our industry and our communities. We invest in tools and resources that allow for continual development of our expertise and acumen. Every colleague takes responsibility to develop themselves as a professional. We stay at the forefront of our industry by encouraging collaboration and innovation. We never sacrifice value and quality.
Balance.When you get one of us, you get all of us. We are a team of colleagues who work together across all lines of business, geography and function. We encourage balance within all aspects of our organization. We respect quality of life and nurture a balanced professional and personal environment. We respect the individuality that exists within each of our offices while striving to maintain a consistent behavioral culture.
Integrity.We understand that trust is earned. We earn trust through professionalism, doing what is right and always being honest.
Humanity.We believe in the power of humanity; it is at the heart of who we are and all that we do. We are an ally who seeks to support and understand diversity by listening to and learning from the unique experiences of all our clients, colleagues, and communities. As an ally, we are unified in a shared responsibility to restore and elevate humanity by eliminating discrimination and bias in all its forms and by fostering a culture that values goodwill, compassion and belonging and where everyone feels empowered to be their full, authentic selves.
Our History
Marsh McLennan Agency, formerly Paynewest Insurance, is centered on what is best for its Clients, Colleagues and Communities, or “3Cs.”
That vision is a realization of PayneWest's original founder, Terry Payne. Terry entered the insurance industry in 1961 while attending college at the University of Montana. After a decade working for a local independent agency, Terry started Terry Payne & Co., Inc. on January 1, 1972 and still operates that company today. Throughout the 1990's, Terry separately purchased Hoiness LaBar Insurance and Montana International Insurance, forming Payne Financial Group, Inc. (PFG). In November of 2012, under Terry’s leadership, PFG acquired Western States Insurance, which at the time was the largest acquisition completed by a privately-owned independent agency. PFG was renamed MMA Insurance and has grown to over 700 colleagues, operating in Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington. In 2021, MMA joined Marsh & McLennan Agency LLC to operate as MMA’s Northwest regional hub.
Terry loves the business of business, as well as golf, spending time on Flathead Lake, and movies. Terry, and his wife Patt, have two sons, Tim and Steve.
