Planes, Trains & Heroes: A Story of Warner Robins and the Robins Region

school here, married his high school sweet
heart and, although he continued his education
at Georgia Southwestern and the University of
Georgia, he never ventured far from home.
Spinks credits his college roommates who were
all going to school for careers in insurance for
igniting his own interest in the field, though he
didn’t make an official move until 1973.
“For my first 17 years out of college, I
worked in and managed a retail clothing business,
but when the opportunity to become a
State Farm agent came about in September
1973, I was ready,” Spinks said, crediting his
brother-in-law and friend for making the State
Farm introduction. “I located my office on what
was then known as Watson Road, now Russell
Parkway and have remained within a few
blocks of my original location since.”
One of the very first businesses to locate on
Russell, Spinks says he often got asked why he
was setting up on an old county road. What
they didn’t know, he said, was that he had sat in
on a briefing prepared by UGA for the chamber
and city that suggested the city build up a
direct connector from the interstate to the base.
Russell Parkway was that connection and
Spinks was happy to become one of the first
businesses to endorse it as such.
His first office was a rented space about the
size of his personal office in his current State
Farm building. He bought an old military-style
metal desk and a filing cabinet from a traveling
used furniture salesman and set up shop and
watched as, within five years, other businesses
and offices began to spring up on the new baseinterstate
connector.
His own business growing, Spinks soon began
looking for his own property and he found it in a
former nursery, also on Russell. He worked out of
a temporary mobile home office located on the
property for a couple of years before teaming up
with a local pharmacist to build his first office
complex. Business still booming, he continued to
add on and eventually purchased a former doctor’s
office that he redesigned himself and has
remained his office since.
Today, Spinks has six others working alongside
him, five other agents as well and a receptionist
who is also working on her license.
Together, they represent State Farm and the
many clients they serve well.
For more, call the office at 478-923-5579 or
visit online at www.jimmyspinks.com.
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