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About Us

Our Mission

At Fortress Insurance, our mission is to protect the people and things that are most important to you as you build your life and construct your dreams.

In order to fulfill our mission, we believe in doing things a little differently:

  1. We’ve hand-picked a select group of insurance companies that provide only the best coverage and claims service.
  2. You deserve to know what you’re getting – and why. We’re happy to go over your risk assessment and explain the coverage we’ve recommended.
  3. Your life is constantly changing – your insurance needs to change too. We strive to create personal relationships with our clients so we can adjust their protection plan as needed.
  4. Finally, we promise to recommend an insurance plan equal to or better than one we’d recommend to our own family.

Get To Know Fortress



Our Team

Mark WestermanMark Westerman / Owner

Mark was born in Green Bay, WI, and relocated to St Paul to obtain his BA in Accounting at the University of St. Thomas. Mark and his wife, Carrie, have three children — Andrew, Alex and Kayla. As a family man, Mark understands the importance of protecting his assets, and is committed to helping others do so by providing comprehensive, customized insurance solutions for their home, auto and family. Mark also understands what it’s like to be on the other side of the insurance equation. Click here to listen to the story of the tornado.

Email: mark@buildmyfortress.com

Brady BanfieldBrady Banfield / Agent

Brady is a native Rochester resident. He obtained his bachelor’s in business management from the University of River Falls and entered the insurance business right out of college in 2017. He is passionate about personal lines coverages and enjoys the challenge of designing the right coverage for each person’s unique needs and finding the best pricing among the many different companies we work with. Outside of work, he can be found spending time with family, playing a round of golf, bowling, and doing projects around his house.

Email: brady@buildmyfortress.com

Kim BanfieldKim Banfield / Customer Care

Kim Banfield is a Rochester native. She earned her Associates Administrative Assistant Degree from Rochester Community and Technical College. Before joining her long time acquaintances Mark and Shawn at Fortress Insurance, she worked at Advanced Financial Consultants. Kim takes pride in her customer service role and enjoys interacting with our clients. Outside of work, her interests include exercising, spending time with her family and interior design.

Email: kim@buildmyfortress.com

Tabatha HollundTabatha Hollund / CSR

Tabatha grew up in Rochester, however lived in a handful of towns in southern Minnesota before making her way back. Prior to joining Fortress, she spent 15 years in the insurance field working with commercial clients in an insurance company setting as well as the agency setting. When she’s not in the office serving clients, she spends much of her time with her daughter, Peyton. Their favorite thing to do is get out and enjoy a good concert. She is also very close with her family, spending a lot of time with her nieces and nephew.

Email: tabatha@buildmyfortress.com

Carrie WestermanCarrie Westerman / Accounts

Carrie was raised in St. Paul, Minnesota. After receiving a bachelor’s degree from Bethel College in psychology, Carrie worked at Wells Fargo as a credit manager. Married to business founder Mark Westerman, Carrie and Mark have three children. In addition to full time duties as a mom, Carrie also works at Fortress, handling the books. The job at Fortress interested her, Carrie says, because it’s an opportunity to work closely with Mark, and it plays to her strengths in handling detail-oriented tasks. Movies and family time (including the occasional family Dance-a-thon) are some of Carrie’s favorite ways to spend her hours away from the office.

Email: carrie@buildmyfortress.com

An Insurance Plan Designed Around You

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