ELGIN — Matthew Wilhelm’s New York Life office serving Eastern Oregon, Idaho and Washington has opened in Elgin’s Sommer Building, at 77 N. Eighth Avenue, Suite A.

The office was formerly occupied by Ronald Bud Scoubes Insurance and Retirement Planning.

“I officially moved into my new office on November 7, and we had an open house,” Wilhelm said.

Wilhelm was first introduced to New York Life 13 years ago when he purchased a policy for his newborn son. He had a good rapport with his New York Life agent, whom Wilhelm described as very sociable and personable. He was impressed by his agent and curious about his career.

“It’s been on my mind this whole time,” Wilhelm said. “He and I had multiple conversations over the years about going into this field, but with my having young kids and it being an entrepreneurship where I’d be working for myself, the timing never seemed right.”

About two years ago, during Wilhelm’s annual check-in with his agent, they spoke together about retirement planning options and the topic of working for New York Life came up again. A short time later, New York Life reached out to Wilhelm and asked if he would be interested in working as an agent. This time Wilhelm didn’t hesitate.

“The timing was right,” he said, “and I got on an interview list and went through the whole process of becoming an agent.”

Wilhelm had been working as a construction contractor when he made the transition to working full time as a New York Life agent in July 2023.

“It’s been a learning curve, but I very much liked it,” Wilhelm said.

He trained at the main office in the Tri-Cities. His initial class included 40 hours of education, and then he took his exam. After that, New York Life provided continued training for him.

Wilhelm deals with retirement planning and he gives free assessments on this to give people a guideline to policy options. He offers disability insurance, business solutions, whole life insurance, long-term care, annuities and other options — all based around life insurance solutions.

Wilhelm’s family has lived in Elgin for the past 13 years, and his parents followed him here 12 years ago. “We were transplants from the west side of Oregon, and I established Eagle Eye Construction and Maintenance in Elgin in 2018,” Wilhelm said.

With his career transition, he’s excited to move into his new office. Business hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and after hours by appointment.

“I’m here to help with any of your financial needs, from retirement planning to disability insurance, long-term care or life insurance and more,” Wilhelm said.

New York Life is one of the oldest life insurance companies in America, now with 179 years in business.

“There are a lot of competitors out there that don’t offer as good of a product as New York Life, and they come and go, but New York Life is here to stay,” Wilhelm said. “Please give me a call at 541-910-4686 or stop in any time.”