Deanne Towle Joins Northwest Corner’s State Farm Team
By Colleen Gundlach

There are many different ways to help people.  For 17 years, Norfolk’s Deanne Towle cared for the town’s youngest residents while owning and operating the Norfolk Child Care Center. Today, she is caring for the children in a different way, by helping their families plan for the future.
In January, Towle began training with State Farm Insurance, which is best known for its insurance products.  She met State Farm agent Roland L. Boutin, Jr., and as a team they, along with Deborah Cyr, opened a new office in the Village Marketplace in Goshen on May 1.
“It’s not about insurance, it’s about planning,” says Towle.  The Goshen office will serve the northwest corner of Connecticut, including Norfolk, with a complete range of State Farm products, from basic auto, homeowner and life insurance to mutual funds and banking services.  “State Farm’s mission is to help people manage the risks of everyday life, recover from the unexpected and realize their dreams,” she says.
Opening the Goshen office is a second career for Boutin, who recently retired as a nurse after serving at St. Mary’s Hospital in Waterbury and UConn Health Center in the Emergency Department and later at Correctional Managed Health Care.  For him, as for Towle, this project is about continuing to help people.
State Farm’s mantra of “like a good neighbor” is not just a slogan, according to Boutin. The company offers grants to support the communities they serve.  In Goshen, Boutin’s office has already assisted the Town of Goshen with applications for grants for the Recreation Department (for a renovation of the Arts and Crafts Building at Camp Cochipianee) and to the Friends of Goshen Library for a language translation program.
Current grant opportunities include The Good Neighbor Student Achievement Grant, to be used to increase student engagement and motivation in the classroom, and the Youth in the Driver Seat grant, for developing safe driver training programs for teenagers. These grants are funded by State Farm, which is an 80-year-old company with $70 billion in assets.
In addition to insurance, mutual funds and bank products, a big part of the Goshen office will be home to budgeting and financial seminars.  “We will review a client’s insurance coverage, investments and retirement plans and offer them an insurance and financial review,” says Boutin.  “We can also write a mortgage or auto, boat and recreation vehicle financing, and even open a certificate of deposit (CD), money markets and checking and savings through State Farm Bank.”
Towle, Cyr and Boutin are looking forward to working with their Norfolk neighbors, and are planning an open house at the Goshen office in the coming weeks.  For more information on any of the services they offer, contact Dee Towle at deanne.towle.t4nv@statefarm.com or call 860-491-9202 anytime. They answer their telephone 24-hours a day.