Western States Insurance, a Missoula, Mont.-based insurance brokerage with an office in Spokane, has acquired Harris-Dean Insurance, of Coeur d'Alene.

Western States' Spokane manager Dan Antonetti is overseeing the Coeur d'Alene operation, which is located at 610 W. Hubbard and now is called Harris-Dean Western States Insurance. That office currently has 16 employees, Antonetti says. Three employees will transfer there from the Spokane office, and two more people will be hired, he says.

The acquisition is the fourth in the Inland Northwest by Western States in the past four years. The company acquired Jones & Mitchell Inc. and May-Davis Inc., two longtime Spokane insurance brokerages, in 2007 and 2008, respectively. It also acquired Rockwood Insurance, of Coeur d'Alene, in August 2010.

In 2008, the Spokane office of Western States consolidated two locations, on Second Avenue downtown and on Trent Avenue just east of Spokane Valley. The Spokane agency now has 24 employees occupying an 8,500-square-foot office space in the University District, at 501 N. Riverpoint Blvd.

Harris-Dean Insurance's former owners are Fred Harris, Ken Koep, and Tom Siebert. Harris-Dean Insurance operated in Idaho for 30 years. It also had branches in Sandpoint and Boise that had been sold prior to the Western States acquisition. Also, a Spokane Harris-Dean branch was sold to Wheat & Associates in 1999. Harris, who Antonetti said was the spokesman for the ownership group, couldn't be reached for comment.

Antonetti says Western States hasn't laid off any employees or closed any branches through the recession. Altogether, it employs 400 people in about 30 locations in Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Oregon, he says. Antonetti says the brokerage's 2010 revenues are expected to be $50 million, but final numbers aren't yet available. The brokerage's annual revenues were reported by the Journal at $50 million in 2007 and about $55 million in 2008.

Western States sells commercial insurance, personal-insurance policies, employee-benefit packages, and bonding for contractors, Antonetti says.