YMI Insurance president Jimi Honochick doubles Lehigh Valley client base with acquisitions

A Conversation With: Jimi Honochick, president at YMI Insurance 

LVB: First, tell me more about YMI Insurance?  

Honochick: It has a long history. YMI started in 1955 as the Yutz Merkle Agency in the Poconos and the Lehigh Agency in Bethlehem. My dad brought these two great agencies together in 2005 and 3 years ago, we rebranded them into YMI Insurance.  

I stepped into the role as president at the start of 2025 and oversaw our acquisition of the Robertson Insurance Group and Carl H. Myers Agency earlier this year.  

This acquisition doubles our size and quadruples our client base in the Lehigh Valley. 

LVB: You recently rejoined the family business. Tell me about that journey?  

Honochick: The journey started by trying to get as far away from the family business as possible! After I graduated from Villanova, I moved out to LA and pursued a career in television.  

I rose the ranks on Let’s Make a Deal and ultimately ran the judges department on America’s Got Talent. I then pursued my MBA at Columbia Business School where I fell in love with investing.  

I was ready to pursue a life in hedge funds when the CEO of M&T Bank came to campus and talked about the community bank model and how we only do as well as the people around us. That spoke to me, and I worked in their wealth division, Wilmington Trust, as an equity research analyst.  

It wasn’t until I was home for thanksgiving 5 years later and heard my uncles, grandfather, and dad (all insurance agents) talking about what they do for their communities, that it all clicked and I looked to get into the business. 

LVB: You’ve recently expanded by acquiring two other firms. How did that come about and why?  

Honochick: Cindy, Bill, and Jamie are the partners at those agencies and they have worked hard to build something truly special there. They’re ready to begin to reap the rewards of that hard work and begin to enjoy retirement. They could have easily sold to private equity, which is a growing trend for agencies here in the Lehigh Valley and nationally, but they believe in investing locally and that’s a core belief of ours too.  

I want to grow but only with the right partners and fortunately, that’s exactly what these agencies represent: the clients are taken care of, the staff is knowledgeable and fun to work with, and they invest in the community. It was a no-brainer. 

 LVB: What’s next for the agency?  

Honochick: We’ve really made a name for ourselves in the Lehigh Valley: the YMI Talking podcast has had some of the best leaders in the area on it, we have been the LVB Readers Rankings AND Morning Call Readers’ Choice Insurance Agency for the last few years, and what’s exciting is we’re just getting started.  

This acquisition allows to invest even more in the Lehigh Valley – get ready to see us at all of the events, on your socials, supporting local causes. My goal is to invest and support our communities on a larger scale than any other insurance company – so expect us to grow in size and to grow in support.