Jesse L. Riley & Son Insurance is headquartered in a new office for the first time since the middle of the 20^th century. The new home for one of Russellville’s oldest firms is in a space which housed two other mainstays of the city’s business district for decades.

Riley Insurance has moved to the north wing of what was the main office of First Southern National Bank (formerly Citizens National Bank). Long before this 3,200 square-foot space was obtained by FSNB, it was the home of Leedom’s clothing store. The bank kept the Leedom’s name on the upper section of the store front, and the insurance company plans to do the same to help preserve community history.

More changes are coming. Although the Jesse L. Riley & Son Insurance name will still be easily seen on the awning of the new office, so will two other names. One of those is The Insurance Place. That company, which was owned and managed by Larry Powell, merged with Riley Insurance on Jan. 1 of this year. The Insurance Place had been in business since the turn of the century.

In between those two existing names will be the company’s new name, SouthPoint Risk Advisors.

SouthPoint is managed by Von Corder, who has been in the insurance business for 28 years, 24 of them in Russellville. After graduating from Middle Tennessee State University with a business major, he had been with an insurance company in Shelbyville, Tenn. for four years before accepting an offer to join Jesse L. Riley & Son Insurance in 1991.

While Jim Riley and Charlie Ray spent most of their time with the Jesse L. Riley & Son Real Estate and Auction wing of the business, Corder became the insurance specialist. In 2005 he became manager of the insurance agency and now is the manager of the merged SouthPoint Risk Advisors.

All three locations for these insurance agencies are and have been on Russellville’s Main Street. The long-time home for Riley Insurance has been 270 South Main Street adjacent to Pennyrile Rural Electric Cooperative. The Insurance Place has been located on North Main across from the Carpenter Center.

SouthPoint Risk Advisors is on the square, just across Main Street from Riley-White Drugs & Healthcare. A new entrance has been constructed just down from the entrance to FSNB’s ATM.

Corder points to the over two centuries’ of combined insurance experience among those agents whom customers will find at the SouthPoint office. The two women who specialize in commercial accounts, Carol Gaddie and Donna Ezell, have been involved in the insurance business for 44 and 43 years, respectively. Powell has worked in insurance for 42 years and Corder 28. Personal lines specialists Lisa Edge, Jennifer Slaughter and Cheryl Farmer have been working in insurance for 21, 20 and 18 years, respectively.

All seven of them are licensed insurance agents, as is the newest agent, Logan County native and Russellville High School graduate Katelyn Scales.

SouthPoint Risk Advisors is an independent agency, which means it is not affiliated with any one insurance provider. “We  search among over 25 commercial companies for the policy that will best meet the needs of our customers,” Corder explains. “We look for the best price and coverage for our customers.”

SouthPoint Risk Advisors is a full-service agency, handling auto, home, commercial, health, life and farm lines.

Von Corder and his wife Kim are the parents of Corey and Addie Corder. Corey is a graduate of Russellville High School and works in Johnson City, Tenn. Addie is a student at Adairville Elementary School.

Larry Powell is married to the former Jackie Downing, who is a retired teacher from Lewisburg School. They live just outside Russellville on the Bowling Green Road.