HomeInsuranceGoings on with Grant: Swoope Insurance acquired by regional Oakbridge agency

Goings on with Grant: Swoope Insurance acquired by regional Oakbridge agency


A longtime family owned local insurance agency has been acquired and will operate under a new name.

Swoope Insurance Agency, at 3501 Bluecutt Road in Columbus, has been acquired by a regional company, Oakbridge Insurance Agency.

Swoope owner Mark Hardy said the two companies combined in late January to assist the local business in expanding some of its services and boost recruitment. The combined company will have access to more insurance carriers, allowing it to offer more insurance policies.

“Oakbridge is a regional agency and gives us access to a lot of resources that we just did not have access to in the past,” Hardy said. “It also helps with the standpoint of employees. I think every small business out there has had problems finding and recruiting employees, and Oakbridge has a much larger footprint, so they’re able to attract new people. And that’s something that certainly is a big benefit to us.”

Hardy also noted that the two companies will complement each other quite well.

“They were looking to get into the market in Mississippi,” he said. “It was a good fit for us. They want to get in this market and we were able to come to terms and are very happy with the way it worked out.”

Swoope Insurance Agency was founded in Columbus in 1926.

Elsewhere in The Friendly City, The Essle Center for Perceptual Development, an applied behavioral analysis therapy business servicing children with autism, is holding its grand opening on Feb. 17 at 2102 Fifth St. N., office manager Kat Grady said.

Grady said the center is the first of its kind in Columbus and that owner Andrea Morris, a pediatrician with Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle, wanted there to be a place for children with autism or other mental handicaps to go to improve their behavioral skills.

“Autism is near and dear to her heart,” Grady said. “She wanted to open up a center because she saw that Columbus needed it.”

The business will work on individualized treatments for children with autism and other mental disabilities. The therapy focuses on improving behavioral skills, while discouraging harmful behaviors in those children, Grady said.

Grady said the center held a soft opening in November and has been working on getting everything ready for the full opening later this month.

After those two updates, you might be left a little hungry. Well fear not, The Jalisco Mexican Grill, located at 1921 Hwy. 45 N., is currently remodeling to become the Guadalajara Cantina and Grill, company secretary Andrea Prang said.

Prang said the restaurant closed in late January after the new owner, Juan Carlos Murillo, acquired the business and hopes to reopen by Friday.

“We’re working on getting our permits for food but hopefully we will open by the end of this week,” Prang said.

Prang also said the new restaurant will feature a variety of dishes, including classic Mexican cuisine and most of the previous restaurant’s menu.

Moving south, Marvis and Marica Owens have opened a medical marijuana trucking and shipping business in Columbus.

The company received its transportation entity license from the Mississippi Department of Health on Jan. 20. The couple has launched a website for customers such as dispensaries and testing labs to ship products across the state.

I reached out to Owens but have yet to hear back from them about the new venture. Here is hoping for all the success a column writer can offer.

Finally, there’s nothing quite like growing up and moving out of your first home to find something bigger and more accommodating to your needs.

I’m happy to report that Foxhole Games and Comics has taken the idea to heart and moved from its original location at 109 Fifth St. S. to a brand new space at 411 Main St., right next to the Varsity building, owner Daniel Criddle said.

Criddle told me the store closed in the last days of January and reopened Feb. 2 in the new location. He said he needed the new space to better accommodate more board game competitions and have more room in general to help grow the business.

“We went from about roughly around 900 square feet to 2,000,” Criddle said. “We needed the space for the gaming scene in Columbus that has grown exponentially to a point where we need to go ahead and try to capitalize on it. When they come into a shop, they shouldn’t be crowded and cramped up trying to figure out how to play.”

In addition to the extra square footage, the new venue comes with seven separate rooms for customers to play a variety of games such as Dungeons and Dragons, Magic The Gathering and even Pokemon card games. Criddle is also adding a console gaming room that people can rent per hour to play video games in the store.

“We’ve created a lot more available game time,” Criddle said. “We have D&D now three nights a week in the store. So even if the groups get too big, we can break them up into other groups and put them in separate rooms.”

Well, folks, that’s all for now. Make sure to check back in next week for more goings on in business.

Dispatch reporter Grant McLaughlin writes about business openings and closings, as well as other unique business news. Send business tips to biz@cdispatch.com.

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