Our Heritage

When Joseph S. Tairiol immigrated to America from Italy, he came equipped with a plan and the motivation to make it happen.

Seeing potential in the growing community of Weirton, West Virginia, he founded the J.S. Tairiol Co. on Dec. 26, 1920. He started out buying and selling real estate to businesses and individuals in the Ohio Valley who were fueling the steel boom. Later, as Weirton grew into a prosperous industrial center, Joe expanded his company by offering insurance and financial products to his real estate clients as an added service.

Joe soon became a crucial player in the development of Hancock County in the state’s northern panhandle—and his success is credited in part to his unique approach to business. He was adamant about educating his clients and protecting them from risk, providing the foundation for our mission today: to protect our clients from the financial consequences of an accidental loss. He treated his clients with respect and as friends, and his business philosophy was one built on honesty, competency and fairness. To this day, that is Assure America’s Code of Ethics.

By 1990, Joe had passed down his experience to a third generation. Under his grandson Matthew Magnone’s leadership, the company grew into a regional insurance agency serving clients in multiple states, and the J.S. Tairiol Co. was renamed Assure America Corp.  

While today’s society often operates in an impersonal, electronic environment, the face-to-face values that Joe laid as the cornerstone of the business in 1920 are still practiced by the third generation of family and employees at Assure America. Now with offices in four states, Joe’s vision – to be the premiere source for technical insurance knowledge and expertise – comes to fruition every single day.

Joe would have been proud of the growth and success of his company, but even more proud of the character and integrity that remain in place today.