Company History

Humble Beginnings

40 years ago, Conn and Joyce Johnson began an independent insurance agency in a small town in West Virginia (Johnson Insurance Agency). Johnson Insurance has taken great pride in being a family-owned agency upholding the unique values and principles inherent to the independent agency system. In addition to the responsibilities of running an agency, Mr. Johnson ran a small farm mutual company for five years and earned the respect of many insurance professionals throughout the industry.

The knowledge, perspective and real-world experiences gained from the Johnson Insurance Agency, and the time spent running the farm mutual company, provided the inspiration for CMS Insurance Service Inc. Like many agency owners, Conn and Joyce dealt with issues and problems that all agencies have to deal with on a daily basis; unfortunately, they were not satisfied with the solutions available to the independent agent. Because of their knowledge and understanding, Conn and Joyce were able to create a system of doing business philosophically aligned with what agencies TRULY need and TRULY want (and in a manner that perpetuates, upholds and protects the independent agency channel). In short, we treat agencies the way we would want to be treated and we’ve been proudly doing business since 1983.

"You will not find better people to work with...CMS is very important to the overall success of our business."

~ Neel Smith - Smith Insurance & Investments, Lebanon, TN.