Krueger & James Insurance Company and Cowell Insurance Group have announced their merger. The merger was official on Jan. 1, and the merged firm will be called Cowell James Forge Insurance Group.

LaDeena James purchased Krueger & James Insurance Company in 2013 and served as its president. She will act as president and chief operating officer under the merged company. She named Jason Forge as a partner in 2016. As part of the merger, Forge will serve as executive vice president and chief sales officer.

Krueger & James was a Thinking Bigger Business Media 25 Under 25® award winner in 2014.

The agency was originally launched in 1938 as a resource to provide personal insurance and real estate brokerage. Family members purchased the agency in 1960 and renamed it Crain Agency. After Kirk Krueger purchased the company in 1987, it became Krueger & Crain. James also joined the organization that year. She became a principal in 1996, and the company began to focus on commercial lines.

Lanny Cowell was the founding president of Cowell Insurance Group in 1989 and served as its president for 27 years. What started as a single-agent operation became one of the largest independent insurance agencies in the Northland. Cowell will be CJF’s chief executive officer and chief financial officer.

CJF will offer home, auto, business and life insurance as well as health and employee benefits, risk management bonding and medical bill review.

“This merger between two similarly aligned and strongly defined agencies brings incredible growth opportunities to
the Cowell James Forge Insurance Group. Our respective and long-standing practice to ensure client considerations
come first in our business decisions remains the strong benchmark on which we will continue to build and
expand,” James said.

Cowell James Forge’s corporate headquarters will be at 10525 N. Ambassador Dr. in Kansas City, Mo.