Larry Smith

Larry Smith, co-founder of the Nation Safe Drivers Group in Boca Raton, Florida, began his business career even before he graduated from college, and he has spent more than 50 years in the auto club and insurance industry. Smith and his brother Michael started the Brookfield Insurance Agency in 1962. It grew from a Brockton storefront to seven offices in Massachusetts before they sold it 18 years later. The Smiths then moved to Florida, where they cofounded the Nation Safe Drivers Group in Boca Raton, offering auto insurance, roadside assistance and group insurance to members of major companies such as BJ’s Wholesale Club. The company was sold to its employees in 2014 through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan, a trust that makes employees the beneficiaries. Smith attributes his professional accomplishments to his preparation at Suffolk University, where he earned a bachelor of science in business administration degree in 1965. He has said that his family taught him the importance of successful people sharing their success with others, and he has done that with his employees and in the Suffolk community. Together with his brother, Smith has engaged in philanthropy that has had a significant impact on the University, providing for the creation of an executive case discussion room in the Business School and establishing an endowed scholarship in memory of their friend, Pvt. Sheldon R. Cohen, who served in Vietnam. Smith and his brother also pledged support for the 20 Somerset academic building that opened in 2015, a fitness center that opened in 2016, and for athletics programs.