TORONTO - John Ratti said he's excited and delighted to be the new State Farm Insurance Co. representative for the city.

Ratti, who recently opened an office at 1373 Franklin St. in the Gem City Plaza, said Toronto is the perfect place for an aspiring insurance agent to be.

"I'm excited," said Ratti, adding he recently became a full-fledged agent for State Farm. "I ended up getting appointed in Toronto. The timing worked out perfectly. It's a wonderful opportunity to be in a great area such as this."

Ratti, who works in the office with William Castelamari, lead marketer; Bonnie Ratti, life and health insurance specialist and wife of John; and Regina Search, office manager, is a Tiltonsville native and resident along with his wife and daughter Aubrey.

"I went to Buckeye Local (High School)," Ratti said. "Then I went to Muskingum College in New Concord, Ohio."

Ratti played baseball while in college and graduated in 1999 with a major in business and a minor in history.

"Three weeks later I began working for State Farm in Newark, Ohio, as a claims adjuster," Ratti said. "I was then presented with an opportunity to be an agent. I could have gone to a city, but I wanted to be in a small town."

Ratti went to work for Erie Insurance Co. for five years dealing with everything from homeowners' claims to litigation issues.

"All this has given me a wonderful background in understanding claims and customer service," he said.

Ratti said he's also ready to be active in the Toronto community, and he's already joined the Toronto Lions Club and Toronto Kiwanis Club. He added the agency will deal with auto, life, homeowners' insurance; health insurance products; banking products; car loans; credit cards; and more.

"We're also going to get into mortgages in the future," he said, adding services also will include mutual funds, assisted retirement planning services, child savings plans and more.

"We also work with businesses regarding retirement plans for employees," said Ratti, adding other financial business concerns can be addressed by the agency.

The office is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays. For information, call (740) 537-9500 or go to www.johnratti.com.

(Miller can be contacted at mmiller@heraldstaronline.com.)