About Capitol Benefits
20+ years of putting people before policies.
We're an independently owned insurance advisory based in Gaithersburg, Maryland - serving over 5,600 clients across 16 states. The work is the same as it's been since 2007: be the kind of advisor we'd want for our own families, and refuse to be anything less.
20+
Years independent
5,600+
Clients served
200+
Businesses served
16
States covered
5.0★
610+ reviews
As featured in
How it started
A bet on something most agencies didn't believe in.
In 2007, Josh Lavine started Capitol Benefits with a working theory most independent agencies dismissed: that the quality of an insurance relationship matters as much as the price of the policy. That if you build an advisory practice around long-term trust instead of transactional renewals, the clients you'd most want to serve will find you - and they'll stay.
20+ years later, the theory has held up. Some of our personal lines clients have been with the same advisor for 20+ years. Twelve of our agents are mentioned by first name in client reviews. We've grown across employee benefits, commercial, and personal lines without losing the texture of how we work, because the texture was always the point.
What changed, slowly, is the industry around us. Almost every mid-size broker in the DC metro got acquired by private equity. Account teams started rotating. The personnel got squeezed out. By the time we noticed, independently owned stopped being a description and became a position, one we're committed to keeping.
20+ years, four moments that mattered.
2007
Founded by Josh Lavine.
A single office in Gaithersburg, MD with a small client list and a bet on the long game.
2014
Best Places to Work - first award.
External recognition that the culture we were building internally was the real product.
2019
Culture Tours, SHRM-accredited.
We started teaching other companies how to build the workplace we'd built ourselves.
2023
Gallagher partnership.
Enterprise infrastructure for our growing benefits clients, without sacrificing the boutique relationship.
Your host
The company is shaped by the person who built it.
Josh Lavine has spent the last two decades doing two things at once: running Capitol Benefits, and figuring out - publicly, in conferences and podcasts and articles, what makes an insurance agency worth working for and worth hiring. The two questions turn out to be the same one.
He's been featured in Inc. Magazine, the Washington Business Journal, Investopedia, and PropertyCasualty360 on the subjects of independent ownership, workplace culture, and what insurance advisory looks like when it's done right. He still leads Culture Tours personally. He still picks up the phone when a long-time client calls.
Founder, CEO
Capitol Benefits, since 2007
Keynote Speaker
Workplace culture, agency growth
SHRM-Certified
Continuing education provider
What we do
Three divisions. One agency. Every stage covered.
The work fits under one roof on purpose: a CEO's personal coverage, the company's commercial policy, and their team's employee benefits live under a single advisory relationship. You stop retelling your story.
01. Employee Benefits
Your benefits should make people want to stay. We design programs that do.
For companies with 25+ employees who see benefits as a strategic investment, not a line item to minimize.
02. Commercial Insurance
Your business is growing. Your coverage should keep up.
For growing businesses that need a commercial advisor who stays ahead of their risk, not behind their renewal.
03. Personal Insurance
The right coverage matters. The right advisor matters more.
For individuals and families who want protection built by someone who knows their full picture, not just their policy number.
Recognition
The awards aren't the point.They're the proof.
2026
Washington Business Journal
2026
Inc. Magazine
2026
Inc. 5000 List
The people behind it
Our people stay. Our clients notice.
Meet the team that answers the phone, remembers your kid's name, and fights your claim like it's their own.
Joshua Lavine
Founder & CEO
Building this since 2007.
Wanda Jackson-Ferrell
Personal Insurance Advisor
Past President, American Legion Auxiliary.
Bruce Ulizio
Benefits Advisor
National multi-location specialist.
Jacqueline Jenkins
Chief Operating Officer
The one who gets things done.
Accredited by
SHRM · CE Credits
When the culture is real, you can walk people through it.
The Culture Tours started as a half-joke and became a SHRM-accredited program. HR leaders kept asking how we built what we built; eventually, it was easier to schedule a morning, walk them through it, and let them earn continuing education credits while they took notes. It's now the most distinctive thing we offer that has nothing to do with insurance, which is, in a way, the entire point.
Giving back - The Capitol Benefits Foundation
A culture worth having is a culture that gives back.
The foundation runs six programs across the community, focused on the specific things our team has chosen to invest in over the years, not the easy stuff, not the corporate-PR stuff, the things that actually move the needle for families in our area.
Every employee gets paid time to participate. Every program runs year-round.
Swim Scholarships
Lessons and pool access for kids in our community who wouldn't otherwise have it.
Care Closets
Stocked supplies of food, hygiene products, and essentials for local schools.
Backpack Program
Full back-to-school backpacks for hundreds of students each fall.
Thanksgiving Meals
Full holiday meals delivered to families across Montgomery County.
Holiday Toy Collection
Our team adopts families for the holidays to ensure every child can share in the joy of the holiday season.
From a long-time client
"
It is like having gold sitting with you.
Capitol Benefits Client
From a Google Review
Get in touch
Let's be the most trusted relationship you have.
A real conversation. No deck. We answer questions, you decide what to do next.