Hobbs celebrates Ornelas opening insurance agency
A couple dozen people welcomed the Armando Ornelas State Farm Agency to its new location in the Dal Paso Mall on Wednesday.
Located at 2827 N. Dal Paso St. Suite 115, the agency celebrated an open house and ribbon cutting ceremony in the company of representatives of the Hobbs Chamber of Commerce, the Hobbs Hispano Chamber of Commerce, the New Mexico Black Chamber of Commerce and the Hobbs Ambassadors.
Ornelas said he moved from San Antonio to Hobbs in 2000, originally going to work for Permian Ford as a salesman. While working there, he earned the licenses for providing insurance services.
“My wife is a State Farm agent to. She became a State Farm agent in Carlsbad,” Ornelas said. “I was commuting for four-and-a-half years.”
Asked whether that proved to be a long commute, he smiled, “Well, when you love your job and your wife …”
Available at the Armando Ornelas State Farm Agency will be a full range of insurance choices offered by the four employees.
“We’re going to do a lot. We offer a lot of different products,” Ornelas said. “My biggest thing is to become part of the chambers and get out there, reach out to the community and see what I can do.”
Preparations to offer those services takes a lot of effort.
“You have to have a license for life and health, and you have to have property and casualty, then you get bank certified as well as through State Farm,” Ornelas said. “There are a lot of different products. We do life and health, business insurance, commercial insurance and pretty much everything.”
His choice of State Farm was obvious. Not only is his wife a State Farm agent, but he said, “It’s the No. 1 in the industry for a reason.”
Shannon Bush, chairman of the board for the Hobbs Chamber of Commerce explained the purpose of the ribbon-cutting event.
“The point of a ribbon cutting is it’s a new member that has joined the chamber, the Hobbs Hispano Chamber or the New Mexico African American Chamber,” he said. “This is our way of publicizing their entrance into our community, welcoming them into our community and just publicly offering our support to their new business.”
In his introductory remarks to the assembled crowd, Bush specifically expressed his appreciation for the Hobbs Ambassadors, a group that represents all chambers in developing and welcoming new businesses to the community.
Curtis Wynne may be contacted at reporter3@hobbsnews.com.
