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Cowles Co. sells Northwest Farmer-Stockman insurance firm

The Spokesman-Review Building is pictured here on Oct. 4, 2019. Cowles Co., which publishes The Spokesman-Review, has announced it has acquired Tri Comp Inc., which publishes the Tri-Cities Area Journal of Business and the Senior Times newspapers. (COLIN MULVANY/The Spokesman-Review)
By Thomas Clouse tomc@spokesman.com(509) 459-5495

Northwest Farmer-Stockman Inc., a Spokane company that started 106 years ago as a magazine for farmers and ranchers before transitioning in 1939 to selling insurance, has been sold to a Texas company as part of a private stock deal.

Cowles Co., the owner of Northwest Farmer-Stockman, on Monday announced the completed sale to Dallas-based Integrity, an independent distributor of life, health and wealth products nationwide.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Negotiations for the sale had been underway for months, said Steve Drassen, who is retiring as Northwest Farmer-Stockman general manager.

“Integrity is a major player in the insurance industry,” Drassen said. “Their due diligence is quite thorough.”

The sale ends a storied history of an insurance company that started out as a publication that wrote about farmers in the Inland Northwest.

“It started out as a magazine. Then they had the brilliant idea of offering accident insurance to the farmers and ranchers who were the subscribers,” Drassen said. “In 1939, they added accident insurance to the sales reps’ tool bag. That’s how we first started getting into life and health insurance.”

Over the past 82 years, the company eventually built its customer base to 18,000 clients, he said.

Cowles Co. chairman and CEO Betsy Cowles said in a news release that the companies’ shared values made Integrity the logical buyer.

“After generations of serving tens of thousands of farmers and ranchers, it was clear Integrity would take the company to the next level and ensure our customers are well served for decades to come,” Cowles said in the release.

The Northwest Farmer-Stockman sale coincides with Drassen’s departure, Cowles said.

“Steve’s leadership helped us find the right buyer and ensure a smooth transition,” she said. “We thank him for his vision and hard work while he was at the helm of the company.” Farmer-Stockman’s seven employees and insurance agents will continue working under Integrity’s ownership, Drassen said.

Integrity describes itself as a leading distributor of life and health insurance as well as a provider of innovative solutions for wealth management and retirement planning. It has about 5,500 employees who work with agents and advisers across the country.

Cowles Co. publishes The Spokesman-Review.

Bryan Adams, co-founder and CEO of Integrity, said Farmer-Stockman will become a division of Integrity partner American Independent Marketing, which provides health and life insurance products to the senior market.

“Farmer-Stockman combines an amazing legacy of service to the farming and ranching community in the Northwest and Midwestern part of the United States,” Adams said in a news release.