Bollinger's History

Bollinger, Inc. was founded in Newark, NJ in 1933 by Charles W. Bollinger and operated as an all lines general insurance agency.  He was joined by his brother, James M. Bollinger in 1942, who assumed ownership of the firm upon his brother’s death in 1951.  In those days, Bollinger developed a reputation as a specialty insurance agency, with a focus on accident insurance for students and athletes.  The majority of schools in New Jersey participated in this insurance program, and still do to this day.

In 1963, Jim Bollinger’s son-in-law, John A. Windolf, joined the firm after 4 years of service in the U.S. Marine Corps.  At that time, the firm had 7 employees and generated total commission revenues of $200,000.  Due to Jim Bollinger’s poor health, Jack Windolf took over the day to day operations of the firm, and continues to serve as chairman and CEO of Bollinger.  He and his wife, Muriel Bollinger Windolf, purchased full ownership of Bollinger in 1969, and have widened the ownership over the years, to now include over 50 key employees and outside investors.

Bollinger has experienced dramatic growth since 1963, doubling its top line revenues every 5 years.  Today the firm generates more than $100 million in commission revenues from a variety of revenue sources and employs more than 400 people.  It is the nation's 1^7th largest brokerage firm.  Bollinger’s headquarters are located in Short Hills, NJ, with branch locations in New York City, Philadelphia, Greenwich, and additional New Jersey locations in Moorestown, Sparta, Vineland and Wall.

Most of Bollinger’s growth has resulted from internally generated new business sales, but a good part of the growth has come from 47 mergers and acquisitions of other insurance agencies.  These acquisitions have added new customers, specialty lines of insurance, additional resources and, most importantly, many capable and experienced employees.

Bollinger has always considered its employees to be its number one asset, and in this regard, Bollinger was named as one of the Best Places to Work in Insurance.  Other accolades include many consecutive years as a “Best Practices Agency”, a leader in agency automation, and one of the Top 10 most productive agencies in the country.   Bollinger intends to continue its improvement and its growth as it strives to become one of the largest and most diversified insurance agency and broker operations in the United States.