Every family business has a story. Ours begins with a truck driver from Brooklyn who refused to accept the limitations others tried to place on him.
Anthony Libardi, known to family, friends, clients, and colleagues simply as “Tony,” was the founder of Libardi Service Agency. The son of Italian immigrants who came to America seeking opportunity and a better life for their family, Tony was raised with the values of hard work, perseverance, and personal pride. From an early age, he learned that success was earned, not given. Like many children of immigrant families, he understood the importance of sacrifice and believed that through determination and effort, anything was possible.
Before entering the insurance business, Tony spent his days driving a sand and gravel truck through the streets of Brooklyn, New York. On one particular delivery to a construction site, he noticed a sharply dressed man standing nearby. Curious about a world very different from his own, Tony struck up a conversation and asked what he did for a living.
The man replied that he sold insurance. When Tony expressed an interest in the profession, the man brushed him off, explaining that insurance was not a business for “guys like him.”
For Tony, the son of Italian immigrants who had worked hard for everything they had, those words were unforgettable. Rather than discouraging him, they ignited a determination that would ultimately lead him to build an agency larger and more successful than the one owned by the man who had dismissed him.
Taking that challenge personally and refusing to let anyone define his future, Tony entered the insurance industry and founded Libardi Service Agency in Westbury, New York in 1963. The agency was formally incorporated in 1965.
What began as a small local insurance office quickly grew through determination, resilience, and an unwavering commitment to serving clients. Tony’s reputation spread throughout the community, particularly among Italian-American families and small business owners who valued honesty, hard work, and personal relationships. He believed that a handshake meant something, that trust had to be earned, and that clients deserved honesty above all else.
He was known as a hard-nosed businessman who never forgot where he came from. Clients knew they could count on him. Employees understood the standards he expected. Competitors learned that underestimating Tony Libardi was often a mistake.
Over time, the agency he built grew larger and more successful than that of the man who had once told him he didn’t belong in the business.
Despite his success, Tony remained proud of his roots. Raised in Brooklyn, he was a lifelong Brooklyn Dodgers fan and carried with him the grit, loyalty, and work ethic that defined both his family and his community. His story embodied the American Dream and served as an example of what can be accomplished through resilience, determination, and an unwillingness to accept defeat.
When Tony passed away in September 2014, he left behind far more than a successful insurance agency. He left behind a foundation of integrity, perseverance, and service that continues to guide the company today.
William Libardi, known to most simply as “Bill,” assumed leadership of the agency in 1993. While Tony built the foundation, Bill elevated the business to new heights.
Known throughout the insurance industry for his extraordinary knowledge and expertise, Bill earned and maintained the prestigious Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) designation for many years. Clients, coworkers, carrier representatives, and insurance professionals alike often described him as an encyclopedia of insurance knowledge. No matter how unusual the risk, how complex the coverage question, or how difficult the insurance problem, Bill seemed to have the answer.
Bill’s expertise became one of the agency’s greatest strengths.
Under Bill’s leadership, Libardi Service Agency experienced tremendous growth. He expanded operations, strengthened carrier relationships, and broadened the agency’s capabilities while remaining true to the values established by his father decades earlier.
One of the most significant milestones in the agency’s history occurred in 2008 when Bill purchased the agency’s standalone office building in Hicksville, New York. That building became more than just an office. It became a permanent home for the company and a symbol of how far the agency had come since its founding in Westbury more than forty years earlier.
More importantly, Bill cultivated a culture centered on professionalism, expertise, and client advocacy. He believed that insurance was not simply a product to be sold, but a promise to be kept. Clients deserved honest advice, thoughtful guidance, and an insurance professional who truly understood the complexities of protecting what mattered most.
In December 2023, after a courageous six-year battle with cancer, Bill passed away.
His loss was deeply felt by family, friends, clients, and the countless individuals whose lives he touched throughout his career. Yet his legacy continues to be seen every day in the agency he helped grow and in the countless lessons he shared with those around him. His commitment to knowledge, excellence, and service remains woven into the fabric of Libardi Service Agency.
Today, the third generation of the Libardi family proudly carries forward the vision first established by Tony in 1963 and expanded by Bill over three decades of leadership.
While the insurance industry has transformed dramatically over the years, the principles upon which Libardi Service Agency was built have remained unchanged: hard work, integrity, expertise, and an unwavering commitment to clients.
Tony Libardi proved that no one has the right to define another person’s potential.
Bill Libardi demonstrated the power of knowledge, leadership, and dedication to one’s craft.
Together, they built more than a business. They created a legacy.
A legacy rooted in family. A legacy forged through perseverance. A legacy carried forward through generations.
More than sixty years after its founding, Libardi Service Agency remains a reflection of the values Tony and Bill lived by every day: dedication to clients, commitment to community, and the belief that success is earned through hard work, integrity, and service to others.
Their story is our foundation.
Their values remain our guide.
Their legacy lives on in every client we serve, every relationship we build, and every generation that follows.