Editorial Staff

Ely Kaplansky Goes from Immigrant to Inc. 5000 Insurance Entrepreneur

/in , , , , , , /by Editorial Staff
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on
LinkedIn
+

This week on JobMakers, host Denzil Mohammed talks with Ely Kaplansky, President & CEO of Kaplansky Insurance. Ely’s unconventional path to entrepreneurship included dropping out of high school and essentially taking the place of the insurance business where he got his start, when it was found that they were committing unethical practices. And since 1974, Ely has created hundreds of jobs in Massachusetts and beyond, with 85 employees in 15 offices across the state today. He has grown his business during the pandemic, with 37 acquisitions to date, such that Kaplansky Insurance was named to Inc. magazine’s “5000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies in America” list. Ely’s success is more than just the pride of having made it. His success fulfilled the dreams of his parents when they moved from Israel to America in 1955, with just the clothes on their backs and an aunt to take them in. Their journey began in the concentration camps of Germany, and Ely’s story is all about the opportunity and freedom America offers, as you’ll discover in this week’s JobMakers.

Guest:

Ely Kaplansky, CIC, CPIA, LIA, is President & CEO of Kaplansky Insurance, a leading independent insurance brokerage that he founded in 1974, which now serves more than 35,000 clients across eastern and central Massachusetts following nearly 40 agency acquisitions over the years. The company serves individuals, families and businesses for all lines of insurance, and has received multiple Five Star and Best Practices awards. Mr. Kaplansky has served as Chair of the Massachusetts Association of Insurance Agents. A high school dropout, he is now a Certified Insurance Councilor (CIC), Certified Professional Insurance Agent (CPIA), and Licensed Insurance Advisor (LIA). The son of Holocaust survivors, Kaplansky moved from Israel to Massachusetts with his family when he was a child and has made greater Boston his home.

Get new episodes of JobMakers in your inbox!

Related Posts

Study: Tax Up For A Vote In November Would Ensnare Over Three Times More Taxpayers Than Previously Estimated

Analyses from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue (MADOR, 2016) and Tufts University’s Center for State Policy Analysis (2022) dramatically underestimated the number of households and businesses impacted by the constitutionally-imposed tax hike that the legislature is putting before voters in November 2022, according to a new study from Pioneer Institute.

David Keane On How Taking Risks On Immigrants Pays Off

This week on JobMakers, host Denzil Mohammed talks with David Keane, immigrant from Australia and founder of Bigtincan, an artificial-intelligence-powered sales enablement platform for leading companies worldwide. David believes that what makes the U.S. special is its culture both of welcoming immigrants and being willing to try new things, to take risks.

Johan Norberg on How Diversity Drives Progress

This week on JobMakers, host Denzil Mohammed talks with Johan Norberg, senior fellow at the Cato Institute and author of Open: The Story of Human Progress. They discuss the many ways in which America is better off because it has been open to the exchange of ideas and skills that created cures, machinery, and technology.

Jeff Farrah on Why We Need a Start-Up Visa

This week on JobMakers, host Denzil Mohammed talks with Jeff Farrah, General Counsel at the National Venture Capital Association, a D.C.-based group that advocates for public policy supportive of American entrepreneurship.

Carlos Castro: From Crossing the Border to Owning a Business

This week on JobMakers, host Denzil Mohammed talks with Carlos Castro, president and CEO of Todos Supermarket in Woodbridge, Virginia, a successful business employing more than 200 people. He describes the perilous conditions in his native El Salvador, why he crossed the border to America, and why immigrant business owners tend to hire people like them, in this week’s JobMakers.

Alex Nowrasteh on How Immigration Is a Boon to the U.S.

This week on JobMakers, host Denzil Mohammed talks with Alex Nowrasteh, the Cato Institute’s director of immigration studies and author of “The Most Common Arguments Against Immigration and Why They’re Wrong.” This week, Alex hones in on a fact that research has consistently found: that immigrants benefit Americans. And, based on his many years of speaking on this topic to anti-immigrant audiences, he provides insight on where anti-immigrant arguments really come from, as you’ll find out in this week’s JobMakers.

Public Statement on Massachusetts High Technology Council’s Challenge to the Graduated Income Tax Ballot Language

The Massachusetts High Technology Council is right to insist on transparency in the language of a tax hike amendment scheduled to appear on the Massachusetts state ballot next year.

Alex Nowrasteh on What We Get Wrong About Immigrants

This week on JobMakers, host Denzil Mohammed talks with Alex Nowrasteh, the Cato Institute’s director of immigration studies and author of “The Most Common Arguments Against Immigration and Why They’re Wrong.” This is the first of a two-part conversation, and some of what you’re about to hear might surprise you. Alex knows that. But getting truth and facts out there is paramount in advancing sensible policies that benefit all Americans, new or old, as you’ll discover in this week's JobMakers.

Study: “Millionaire’s Tax” Would Have Far-Reaching Effects on “Pass-Through” Businesses

A proposed graduated income tax that will appear on the statewide ballot in November 2022 will have much more far-reaching implications than most people realize because the surtax also extends to “pass-through” income from entities such as S and limited liability corporations, partnerships, and sole proprietorships that are taxed on individual tax returns, according to a new study published by Pioneer Institute.

Larry Kim’s One-Way Ticket to the American Dream

This week on JobMakers, host Denzil Mohammed talks with Larry Kim, founder of WordStream in Boston, which was acquired for $150 million, and MobileMonkey, a chatbot marketing platform for marketing and customer support on Facebook Messenger, web chat and SMS.