Community Bank Affiliate,

Gordon B. Roberts Merge

ONEONTA – The Gordon B. Roberts Agency is merging into ONEGROUP NY Inc., an affiliate of Community Bank System, GBR President Vince Foti announced today.

GBR was founded in Oneonta in 1947 by the late Gordon “Gordie” Roberts and is well known locally for business and personal insurance. ONEGROUP is one of the largest and fastest-growing independent risk management, insurance, benefits and human resource consulting organizations in the Northeast.

The GBR partners made the move to offer their clients a greater range of services and expertise in areas of growing demand that include benefits, human resource consulting, and retirement plans, Foti said.

“Our becoming a part of the OneGroup team is good for our clients and good for our employees and certainly good for Oneonta and the surrounding communities,” he said. “The merger was designed so every person at our agency will keep their job: Same place, same people, only now we will have a lot more resources to take care of our clients.

“And, yes, Gordie’s philosophy of taking care of the clients’ needs first will remain intact,” said Foti.

As part of ONEGROUP, GBR will be part of a team of more than 200 insurance and risk management professionals who stay current with all laws, regulations, best practices and industry trends, and who possess deep experience in risk management strategies and solutions.

“We are very pleased to have GBR as a valued part of our team,” said Pierre Morrisseau, CEO of ONEGROUP. “We’re excited that they will now have the ability to tap into ONEGROUP’s resources and experience to help their clients. In this regard—helping our clients succeed—we share the same philosophy.”