The Peru Gazette

By John T. Ryan

It appears that the North Country business community has recognized that the Bear Swamp Road is a great place to do business. Livingood’s Restaurant is scheduled to open in a few days; Allen Turner’s four new apartments behind McDonald’s are being rapidly occupied and tonight the Zoning Board gave its approval to the CFA Insurance Agency’s application to expand its presence on the road. The insurance agency plans to relocate its business from 704 Bear Swamp Road to the former Beaumont Medical Building at 686 Bear Swamp Road and hopes to be operational at the new location sometime in January.

CFA’s current building

CFA Insurance Agency Owner Clark Forster said, “We’ve been located in Peru for twelve years. It’s a great place to do business. People are attracted to this community and our business is steadily growing. We need more space.”  CFA has six employees and plans to increase the number of employees as its business grows. It specializes in property and casualty insurance, employee benefits, retirement plans and estate planning including life and long-term care insurance.

At 4,800 square feet, the new building, which was constructed in 1974, is almost three times as large as CFA’s current location. Forster explained, “I hope to rent space to other business services and professional companies.”  The accounting firm, Chauvin Business Systems, rents offices at Forster’s current location and will be moving to the new building.

Town of Peru Zoning Attorney Thomas Murnane informed Forster that the Planning Board should conduct a Site Plan Review of his plans, but that should not hold up Forster’s purchase of the property.

CFA’s new building