BELLE FOURCHE—American Family Insurance was officially welcomed to the community during a May 1 ribbon cutting ceremony hosted by the Chamber of Commerce. Owner Hunter Terhark cut the ribbon.
Terhark opened the insurance agency a year ago and has been busy building the business for this past year. After successfully reaching the one-year mark, he is ready to look toward the future. “God has blessed me, it’s been wonderful. I used to be like, okay, I’m working for this guy and I have this hourly wage, I get paid every two weeks, and now it’s like whatever I do—the harder I work, the better it is,” he explained.
Terhark moved to the area from Mankato, Minnesota. “I went to school at SDSU. Once I got to South Dakota, I couldn’t leave. I decided to stick around,” he said. “Actually, I had a buddy I went to college with who bought a house out here… it happened to just kind of work out where I had a job and a place to stay, and it just kind of grew from there—my love for the Black Hills.”
Starting out with a job at the police department, Terhark then worked for American Family Insurance for a couple of years in Spearfish. “Last year they offered me a spot to make my own, in the town that I live in, so I decided to take it and run with it,” he explained.
And he couldn’t be happier! “I absolutely love it! I mean, moving out here from cornfields as far as the eye can see, and now there’s scenery with some structure to it, but it still has that good small-town feel that I grew up with,” he said.
Last September, Terhark married his wife, Marissa, and they have a baby on the way. He now is looking for opportunities to set his roots and grow from here. “Well, I am thinking about buying the building eventually, hopefully to expand, to get it bigger, and then take that and use that to get more involved,” he explained. “We’re very involved with donations and fundraisers and I was just elected as treasurer for Purple Pride, so we’re doing that as well. I’ve been on that board for about a year now. I look forward to getting involved in the community and just trying to find new ways to help out.”
There is currently one other fully licensed insurance agent working with him, Codee Lyons. Terhark hopes to add more agents as time goes on. “I need more space to get more people so as we grow, I might have to either bust a wall out and go down more, or go up.”
For now, Terhark wants everyone to know how thankful he is for the support he has received so far. “I really appreciate you guys all coming out and for being a part of all this,” he said.
You can find the American Family Insurance agency at 418 Railroad Street in the downtown area of Belle Fourche.
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