About Us

In 1969, Theodore C. Parker founded Erie Insurance Agency under the moniker Ted C. Parker Insurance. By the early nineties the company started to expand allowing Ted to acquire several small insurance firms, such as the Bill Peiffer, Mike Bluey, and Mary Grace Kreger Insurance agencies.

In 1992, Ted formed a partnership with the current principal agent Pete Zaphiris, and re-branded as Parker Insurance Management Partnership. Then in 1995, the partnership adopted a new fictitious name, Great Lakes Insurance Associates, to set the stage for the transition when Ted retired. Throughout the late nineties and into the new millennium, Great Lakes Insurance acquired numerous other insurance agencies to allow for unprecedented growth and expansion. The following agencies were purchased in this expansion: David E. Briggs, Peter A. George, David G. Schroeck, William B. Deuink, Kostrubanic, David R. Johnson, and The Gray Agency.

In 2000, Pete purchased Ted’s shares of the Great Lakes Insurance Associates, and then in 2010 became a Limited Liability Company with the new name of Great Lakes Insurance Services Group, LLC. At that time, all satellite offices started operating under their agency name as a Division of Great Lakes Insurance Services Group. After registering as an LLC, Great Lakes Insurance acquired several other small agencies, expanding to thirteen total offices located in both Pennsylvania and New York. The agencies that were acquired in the expansion were East Lake Insurance, Gary C. Brown, Nesmith, Linda Phillips, Burke & Byrne & Associates, Inc., The Fornes Agency, and the James Cornwell Agency Ltd.

In 2018, Great Lakes Insurance expanded into a new 7,500 square foot office building in West Seneca, NY, consolidating the west Seneca locations into the new facility at 3626 Seneca St, West Seneca, New York. The Warren office also received a complete makeover, of the interior and exterior of its premises, which ended up being a twelve month project.