Harry E Reed Insurance Maine Facebook

MILLINOCKET, Maine (WABI) - A family insurance agency in Millinocket is coming forward saying they’re being mixed up with another agency in town that’s currently facing outrage for a sign displayed in their window over the weekend.

The owners of Millinocket Insurance Agency called TV5 Wednesday morning saying they’re receiving hateful phone calls from people all over the U.S. mixing them up with the Reed Agency.

The two businesses are located near each other on Penobscot Avenue in Millinocket.

The amount of calls they’re receiving is making it hard for them to do their job and service their customers.

People on social media have shared pictures of the sign that was posted on the door of the Reed Agency on Penobscot Avenue stating:“Juneteenth it’s whatever... We’re closed. Enjoy your fried chicken & collard greens.”

The town manager tells TV5 that sign has since been removed.

Another business in Damariscotta called Reed Family Insurance Advisors has dealt with people thinking they are the business in question.

They posted the following statement on their website:

“The Reed Family Insurance Advisors of Damariscotta is not affiliated in any way with the Harry E Reed Insurance Agency in Millinocket. Like many, we became aware of several news stories published over the past 24 hours reporting on an offensive sign posted on the front door of this other agency containing racist stereotypes. It is important for our clients and our community to know that we here at Reed Family Insurance Advisors have no association with this agency and condemn the racist content presented in their sign.

We at Reed Family Insurance Advisors are an agency that has a heart to serve. We focus our energy and attention on helping others, not breaking them down. We stand by and believe that all people are created equal in the image of God with significance and dignity. We strive to serve everyone according to that truth, there is no room for racism. Racism is the antithesis of that, and we unequivocally condemn it in all its forms.”

Millinocket Insurance Agency - an insurance agency that has been in business for over 100 years is coming forward, too.

We spoke with Lori Speed of the agency Wednesday morning.

She says because their phone number is almost identical to Reed Agency - they’re being harassed with phone calls from all over the U.S. for a sign they did not post.

Unlike the insurance agency in Damariscotta - Speed says they cannot leave an automated voice message.

That’s why they’re asking folks to stop calling their agency regarding this incident.

“If we had an automated message, somebody could say please cover my home, boat, this or that and legally we are bound to cover that, even though we have taken no payment. If someone had a loss then we would be personally sued, so we cannot leave an automated message, unfortunately,” Speed said.

This was the sign Millinocket Insurance Agency posted on their door for the Juneteenth holiday.

The Speeds’ say they appreciate what Juneteenth stands for and do not condone what happened.

The Town of Millinocket released a statement to TV5 in response.

“It is deeply saddening, disgraceful and unacceptable for any person, business, or organization to attempt to make light of Juneteenth and what it represents for millions of slaves and their living ancestors. There is no place in the Town of Millinocket for such a blatant disregard of human decency. The Town of Millinocket is a beautiful place to live - filled with welcoming, kind, and hardworking people. As such, the Town does not accept or endorse anything short of inclusivity, and we invite any all to come discover the wonderful things that our community offers,” stated Town Manager Peter Jamieson and Town Council Chair Steve Golieb.

An employee of the Harry E Reed insurance agency released a statement on Facebook Wednesday apologizing for “any misunderstanding and hurt that has arisen out of my usual snarky office closure signs and content.”

Their full statement can be found here.

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Google Earth view of Reed Agency in Millinocket, Maine.

Google Earth

An insurance agency in Millinocket, Maine, is facing online backlash after a photo circulated on Facebook of a sign taped to the business's door on Monday saying, "Juneteenth ~it's whatever... We're closed. Enjoy your fried chicken & collard greens."

The image of the sign at the Harry E. Reed Insurance Agency, an affiliate of national insurer Progressive, was originally shared by a Facebook user named Alura Stillwagon, with the caption, "The racism in Millinocket is real." The original post has been shared more than 200 times, though a similar post by a different user has been shared more than 10,000 times.

"I'm not angry. Anger gets you nowhere. I'm just deeply, deeply disappointed," another Facebook user, Ken Anderson, commented on the post. "In this business, in the companies that let this business broker their products, and in the town of Millinocket, in the state of Maine, and the whole damn country. Deeply disappointed. Why? Because I know we can do better. But we're not trying. And that's the part that cuts deepest."

For many businesses, Monday marked the observance of Juneteenth, a federal holiday that commemorates June 19, 1865, when Union Army soldiers arrived in Texas and announced the end of slavery to more than 250,000 Black people who remained enslaved even after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, according to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

The insurance agency did not respond to CNBC's requests for comment, but Melanie Higgins told News Center Maine she was the employee who posted the sign and apologized.

"I would never purposely set out to hurt anyone and I would never purposely set out to hurt my mom's business at all. She had nothing to do with this," Higgins said. "I truly apologize."

Since the image of the sign began circulating online, people have taken to online review site Yelp to condemn the insurance agency, prompting Yelp to disable users' ability to post on the company's page.

"This business recently received increased public attention resulting in an influx of people posting their views to this page, so we have temporarily disabled the ability to post here as we work to investigate the content," an alert on the Harry E. Reed Insurance Agency's Yelp page reads. "While racism has no place on Yelp and we unequivocally reject racism or discrimination in any form, all reviews on Yelp must reflect an actual first-hand consumer experience (even if that means disabling the ability for users to express points of view we might agree with)."

The agency received nearly 90 — largely one-star — Yelp reviews, with many posters condemning the insurance agency as "racist."

Jeff Sibel, a spokesperson for Progressive, said in a statement, "We're aware and appalled by the sign recently posted at the Harry E Reed Agency and are terminating our relationship with the agency."

"At Progressive, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) are fundamental to our Core Values. We're committed to creating an environment where our people feel welcomed, valued and respected and expect that anyone representing Progressive to take part in this commitment. The sign is in direct violation of that commitment and doesn't align with our company's Core Values and Code of Conduct," Sibel said in a statement.

The chair of the Millinocket Town Council, Steve Golieb, released a statement Tuesday denouncing the sign.

"It is deeply saddening, disgraceful and unacceptable for any person, business or organization to attempt to make light of Juneteenth and what it represents for millions of slaves and their living descendants," Golieb wrote. "There is no place in the Town of Millinocket for such a blatant disregard of human decency."

President Joe Biden and the state of Maine each signed bills into law in June 2021 recognizing Juneteenth as a federal and state holiday.