Reprinted from the August 2002 issue of Rough Notes,
America's oldest national insurance journal, published since 1878.

Sandra K. Lee is CEO and chair of Harold L. Lee & Sons, Inc., in New York's Chinatown. Stephen Boon, Jr., is the agency's president.

When she saw a huge orange mushroom-shaped cloud envelop the south World Trade Center tower last September 11, Sandra Lee's first thought was that the skyscraper had been struck by an atomic bomb. Lee, who was on her way to a meeting at an insurer's office nearby, witnessed the horrific scene first-hand and discovered from snatches of overheard conversations that it was not an accident.

Lee's business partner and cousin, Stephen Boon, Jr., was on Wall Street when the planes exploded into the Twin Towers. Rushing back to the agency's office in Chinatown, Boon passed the South Street Seaport, which gave him an unobstructed view of the unearthly scene. He describes the image that remains indelibly impressed on his memory: "To me, the towers looked like two candles in the sky," he says, "two long sticks with flames at the top."

When they arrived at their agency's office on Pell Street, less than a mile from the financial district, they found panic-stricken residents surging through the streets, thoroughfares being closed to traffic by the National Guard, telecommunications networks collapsing--and, overlying all, a sense of almost apocalyptic doom.

Today, 10 months after the terrorist attacks, Chinatown is still recovering from the impact of lost revenue, not to mention the deaths and injuries of relatives, friends, and neighbors who worked in or near the Twin Towers. Helping residents deal with the fallout has been a priority of Harold L. Lee & Sons, Inc., now in its fourth generation of family ownership under the leadership of Sandra K. Lee, chairman, and Stephen Boon, president.

Sandra Lee is the fourth generation of the Lee family to run the Lee Agency since the founding of its predecessor company in 1888. The agency has a long tradition of bridging the cultural and communication gap between Chinese-American businesses and insurance carriers.

"Insurance isn't required to run a business in China. So when a business owner comes to the United States, insurance is a new concept, especially in the area of liability."

-- Sandra Lee

Right after the attacks, Lee says, Chinatown offered a refuge of sorts from the devastation of Wall Street. "A lot of our underwriters came through our office to get water or make phone calls. Then we lost our phone service, and by 1:00 we realized we had to close down."

The agency's phone service was down for a month, and because of National Guard restrictions on truck traffic it couldn't move its server to another location. Although its office was temporarily out of operation, the agency continued to do business. "We got cell phones for our staff members and sent out letters with the cell numbers to our thousands of clients," Lee says, "and we called as many of our clients as possible to see if there was any way to help them. We let them know we were still working for them and that they could reach us if they needed to."

Fortunately, most of the Lee Agency's clients sustained no physical damage, but they did suffer economic damage as the result of business interruption. Because truck traffic was prohibited on a major artery, Canal Street, many Chinatown businesses were cut off from both their suppliers and their customers. "Noodle manufacturers couldn't get flour deliveries, and trucks couldn't come in to pick up the noodles once they were made," Lee explains. "The restaurants couldn't use their phones for reservations or credit card transactions. A lot of our clients' businesses were affected, and once we were up and running, we helped process a lot of business interruption claims."

The hardening market only exacerbated the pain. "It was tough to give clients the bad news that their rates would be increasing at the same time we were helping them file claims," Lee says. "It was a tough time for everybody, but we all got through it, and we're very thankful."

From China to Chinatown

That strong sense of community and commitment has characterized the Lee Agency since the founding of its predecessor company in 1888. That year, Lee Kee Lo (Sandra's great-grandfather) and his two brothers, young merchants from Kwangchow and Toishan provinces, settled in New York's Chinatown. Together they founded the Tai Lung (Great Prosperity) Company with offices at 31 Pell Street, the current location of the Lee Agency. In the early 1900s, the Lee family ran a number of businesses at the Pell Street location, including a grocery and curio shop.

Harold Lun Lee, the son of Lee Kee Lo, joined the family business as a young adult. He started the Chinese Film Exchange, one of the earliest distributors of motion pictures and operator of one of the area's first Chinese language movie theatres. He also ran a noodle company. Harold was one of the first Chinese ever to work in an American bank. Using the knowledge and experience he gained there, he established a foreign exchange service that allowed new immigrants to send money back to China and to exchange Chinese currency for American. Tai Lung became Chinatown's first American Express agent.

Harold L. Lee & Sons, Inc., staff members include (from left): Tim Jiang, account executive/licensed insurance broker; Debbie Man, broker/account representative; Jean Moy, accounting; Sherry Lin, customer service representative; Manny Chan, licensed insurance broker; Jean Gee-Seto, general manager; Arnold Kawano, managing director; Sandra Lee; and Stephen Boon.

Next to enter the family enterprise were Harold's sons, Andrew and Henry Lee. In the 1940s, they started businesses in insurance and travel--the first of their kind in Chinatown. Today a fourth generation of Lees, Andrew's daughter Sandra K. Lee and nephew Stephen Boon, Jr., are running the family businesses and establishing a new direction for the future.

Like many children of family-owned businesses, Sandra Lee didn't plan to work in the agency. She holds a degree in history and also earned an RN diploma in nursing. "Like all of us, I worked in the agency on weekends and during school vacations," she explains. "No matter what our career plans were, my father encouraged us to get our P-C licenses, so I did." After working as a nurse for a number of years, Lee joined the agency in 1981. She now holds a life and health license and is a Series 6 Registered Representative of NASD.

With property/casualty premium volume of some $8 million, a roster of A rated carriers, and a staff of 15, the Lee Agency is a respected institution in lower Manhattan's Chinatown. It's a bustling and colorful area of narrow, crowded streets, 19th century tenements, and tiny storefronts with windows displaying all manner of exotic-looking fish, fowl, and produce. Children dart through the streets, grandmothers chatter at them in any of half a dozen Chinese dialects, and old men hunch ponderously over the handlebars of delivery bikes. Many of these storefront businesses have been clients of the Lee Agency since it was established, and many of them have the agency to thank for introducing them to the realities of the American economy. "In my father's day, the agency was open seven days a week," Lee says. "It was hard to get him to stop working even for meals or holidays."

Bridging the culture gap

If you think it's hard to sell insurance in Main Street America, try selling it in a cultural enclave like Chinatown, which is not only home to fourth- or fifth-generation Chinese Americans but also is host to a steady stream of new immigrants from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the Chinese mainland. Established Chinatown business owners know they need insurance and understand the value of protection. In contrast, newly immigrated Chinese merchants may be totally unfamiliar with the concept of insurance and have no idea why they need it.

"Insurance isn't required to run a business in China," Lee explains. "So when a business owner comes to the United States, insurance is a new concept, especially in the area of liability. Often new immigrants ask, 'Why would anyone want to sue us?' The litigious nature of American society is completely alien to them. Before we talk about coverages, we explain why insurance is needed: to provide protection against lawsuits, to comply with state regulations, or to satisfy the terms of a lease for property or vehicles." The agency also helps clients understand and implement insurers' safety and loss control requirements.

If explaining insurance concepts to new Chinese immigrants is one side of a coin, the other is explaining Chinese-owned businesses to carriers that may never have set foot in Chinatown. "Again, our role is to be an educator," Lee says. "Because we've worked with our markets for many years, they're willing to listen when we present a risk they may not be familiar with. Once they understand how a particular business operates, they'll usually agree to provide coverage." Willingness, Lee comments, often turns into enthusiasm as insurers become acquainted with Chinatown's diversity of well-run, profitable businesses.

With its commitment to advocacy on behalf of both clients and carriers, the Lee Agency boasts some enviable statistics in terms of retention and loss ratios. "Our retention is about 95%, and our loss ratios are usually in the 30s," Lee says. "Even after 9/11 we got profit sharing checks from almost every carrier."

For American-born Chinese as well as new immigrants, traditional values like dignity, respect, and courtesy are an essential part of any business transaction. Every employee of the Lee Agency is a Chinese- American who was brought up with an understanding of these cultural norms. What's more, Lee says proudly, every employee reads Chinese or speaks at least one of several Chinese dialects: Cantonese, Mandarin, Toisanese, or Shanghainese. Brochures for prospective clients are available in three formats: Chinese, English, and Chinese/English. Unlikely as it may seem, Lee says, her background as a nurse is proving to be a valuable asset in addressing clients' concerns. "As a nurse, I learned to listen empathetically and to read body language," she explains. These skills, coupled with fluency in Chinese and an appreciation of cultural values, go a long way toward bridging the sometimes formidable gap between Chinese and American customs.

From noodles to new economy

Also a fourth generation Lee, Stephen Boon is Andrew Lee's (Sandra's father) nephew. He has been with the agency since 1978.

Initially the Lee Agency insured businesses typically found in Chinatown: family-owned groceries, restaurants, noodle factories, and hand laundries. The agency continues to insure these risks today, while at the same time expanding into new markets. "Our focus traditionally has been small businesses," Lee says. "Obviously these businesses have grown over the generations, and we now also handle a lot of middle market risks like importers and wholesalers, including some businesses that engage in inter-national trade. A big niche for us is financial institutions, because so many Asian banks are being established to serve the needs of the growing immigrant population. These range from small community banks to headquarters of large Chinese banks with 18 to 20 offices throughout the country."

The community banks, Lee explains, are usually started by either local Asian business people or entities from Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, or Singapore. "The major banks have language-sensitive branches in Chinatown that facilitate face-to-face interactions instead of just ATM transactions. There's a high level of customer service and relationship banking. We've been very successful in writing this business and bringing to the attention of our insurers that these are very profitable, desirable risks, because they play a vital role in building the Chinatown economy and the Asian economy all over the United States," Lee says. "We also arrange the bankers' bonds and professional liability coverages." In recent years, she says, "We've developed a reputation for expertise in writing financial institutions that traditionally have gone to the alphabet houses, except those brokerages aren't able to provide the kind of personalized service we offer." In addition to being a lucrative niche, Lee notes, financial institutions' clients also give the agency some valuable cross-selling opportunities. Through a partnership with ISU Insurance Services (Hing Agency) of California, the Lee Agency provides a full array of benefits and risk management programs.

In addition to writing small comercial risks and financial institutions, Lee says, the agency also serves the nonprofit sector, including charitable institutions, professional associations, health centers, museums and cultural institutes, day care and senior citizen facilities, Chinese language schools, and legal services groups. Lee serves on the boards of several such entities and acts as a resource to help them structure their insurance programs. The agency also provides coverage to a number of larger municipal risks, such as the City of New York and the New York Metropolitan Transit Authority, and assists them in loss control and risk management efforts.

Expanding horizons

With a fourth generation of the Lee family now at the helm, the Lee Agency is embarking on an ambitious expansion beyond the borders of Chinatown. The agency has established satellite offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco, both of which have sizable Asian populations, and also is licensed in Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. From its location close to New York's Silicon Alley, the agency has a growing clientele in the high-tech and e-commerce arenas. While it remains firmly committed to serving the Asian community, the agency now provides coverage to many mainstream clients outside the community.

In June of this year, the Lee Agency announced the formation of a joint venture with C&M First Services, a midtown Manhattan insurance brokerage that also serves the Asian community. Called Tri-Century Financial Services, Inc., the new alliance has combined premium volume of $16 million and is the first step toward a formal merger of the two agencies.

Equally important, the joint venture also is a key piece in the Lee Agency's perpetuation plan, says Stephen Boon, Jr., president. "We've been doing various programs with C&M First, and based on that experience we believe we're a very good match," he comments. "Even if the next generation of our family doesn't become involved in the agency, this alliance will ensure its perpetuation."

Boon, joined the agency in 1978 after 10 years in the retailing business. "I was looking for a career change, and my uncle (Sandy's father) was looking for a family member to perpetuate the agency," Boon explains. "Sandy came into the agency three years later, and we've been working as a team ever since."

Lee and Boon's grandfather, Harold Lee, taught them as youngsters to revere their Chinese heritage. "He also taught me how to use an abacus," Lee says. Today, these American-educated insurance professionals still hold in high esteem the lessons they learned from their forbears about loyalty, trust, and commitment. The abacus of yesterday is the sophisticated computer system of today ... but from the tiniest grocery to the largest financial institution, clients of the Lee Agency in 2002 receive the same competent, respectful service provided by great-grandfather Lee Kee Lo back in 1888.