Ownership torch is passed at Nixon Agency

It's wasn't the best of ways to get introduced to Cheney, but Doug Nixon got through it, found prosperity and a place to call home.

He arrived Jan. 4, 1999, and took up temporary residence at the Willow Springs Motel. Nixon's welcome came in the form of being locked out of his Firebird while it warmed up. Nixon was heading to his original office at 211 First St.

"I had to get the Cheney Police to come and open it up," he said. Nixon was told that the CPD did not do lockouts, but they did it for him anyway.

The now 70-year-old native of Richmond Beach, Wash. near Edmonds, is unlikely to be leaving, despite the fact that his Farmers Insurance business has changed hands, now operated by daughter Sarah Nixon. Doug Nixon still handles commercial accounts.

He's been in the new quarters - that bright red brick building at 513 First St. - for about seven years, but Nixon's been in the insurance business nearly a half century. And doing business in Cheney has been a big part of it.

"Seventeen years ago I said to them (Farmers), 'If you have something in Timbuktu I'd take it," Doug Nixon said.

A week later a company official told Nixon they had what he was looking for, but could not tell him where because they did not want to let the word out that changes were being made in Cheney.

In the early days, Nixon was often on the job from 6 a.m. - 10 p.m., but that was fear he might lose the business for under-performing. But he need not worry.

"It took me nine months to do what they wanted to have done in 12," Doug Nixon said. In the early days "Everybody wanted to know, who the heck you were," Sarah Nixon added.

Many residents have since found out who Doug Nixon is.

He has embraced Cheney and the town has done the same to him. Nine years ago he was asked to run for Cheney City Council. He cleared it with his family. "I love this town," he said, and he proves it, serving on both the council and as president of the Cheney Merchants Association.

The future of the business the Pacific Lutheran University grad started on that cold winter is now in the hands of his daughter, a University of Washington grad with a degree in business - and a career dedicated to sales.

" I love sales, I've been in it since I was about 18 years-old," Sarah Nixon said.

Unsure that she wanted to follow in her dad's business, Sarah Nixon was convinced to give it a try. She began by commuting to Cheney from the Puget Sound area, working through the week and being back home on weekends.

The first time she visited was not unlike when her dad landed in Cheney. It was in the dead of winter and everything was covered in snow and ice.

"Seattle doesn't get any snow, I didn't drive the first couple of winters," Sarah Nixon said.

She settled in fine and joins brother Michael in the business where her keys to success begin with starting a conversation.

Sarah Nixon got going locally by setting up an office in Medical Lake. She recalled how she and an employee would walk the streets handing out business cards. "I'm sure we bothered people but after the third or fourth time stopping by you may start to get to know people," she said.

Sarah Nixon is now observing her 13th anniversary with the company. Part of the longevity are the relationships that have been formed.

"I insured people 18–20 years old and I've got to see them raise families and kids," Sarah Nixon said. "They change, we change, it's a really cool thing."

To show the power of the personal relationship that exists in the insurance business, when Doug Nixon sold his company on the Westside, he had about 100 people follow him to Cheney.

That special relationship between clients and agents was also illustrated by Sarah Nixon who told the story of her first summer in Cheney.

"We didn't have central air (conditioning) in the office and the first year it was like 100-degrees," she said. Some new clients saw her suffer and had a solution. "They literally brought their air conditioner over and put it in my window." Nixon recently reminded them she had the unit, and 11 years later it still worked.

Maybe it was a metaphor for the effort the company has put forth in return for its customers?

Cheney Farmers Insurance is located at 513 First St. Business hours are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.To contact Cheney Farmers Insurance call (509) 235-6165, or visit https://www.farmersagent.com/snixon.

Paul Delaney can be reached at [email protected].