LYNN ― A well-known businesswoman and active member of the community, Maura Lynch, decided to choose her father’s and brother’s legacy over retirement and to continue with the real estate business that A. James Lynch started downtown almost 70 years ago.
“I always admired them; They both had excellent work ethics,” said Lynch. “Honesty and integrity are something that my father taught us. As Michael Dell would say, ‘Play nice but win’.”
A. James Lynch started his business in 1952. The first office was in downtown Lynn at 46 Central Sq.
Lynch was a sophomore at Boston University when Sam Goldman, “an old real estate guy”, convinced him to drop out of college and sell real estate.
“He worked tirelessly,” Maura Lynch said.
Her father was able to put his siblings through college and buy a new house for his mother in Ward 1.
In 1973, the business moved to Wyoma Square. That’s when Maura’s brother Tom got involved in the family business.
“The whole family worked in the business at one time or another,” said Lynch.
The business thrived through several mergers, partnerships, sales, and buy-backs, as well as a big fire in 2002 which destroyed their office building. A. James Lynch businesses were back to working out of two trailers about 24 hours later, said Maura.
“As a kid I always came into the office. I would clean or do the desks,” said Lynch.
She went to Merrimack College and graduated with a degree in psychology.
“I use it every day,” said Lynch, who ended up in the insurance business after college.
“I just happen to love it,” she said.
Lynch joined the insurance side of the family business in 1989, after working for five years at Aetna Life and Casualty in Tampa, Florida.
“Would you come home and run the insurance?” her father once asked.
“I said I will give it six months. I came back in January (of that year), and made it through the winter months. And the rest is history,” said Lynch.
When Lynch took over the insurance business it had one employee and one computer. She grew it to five employees and from $100,000 in net income to over $1,000,000.
She also served as a director of Equitable Cooperative Bank for 17 years and was the president of the Lynn Chamber of Commerce from 2000-2004.
Lynch’s brother Tom, who ran the family’s real estate business, passed away suddenly from a heart attack in December 2020.
“I knew there were a lot of acquisitions being done and I felt like this was the time to get it done, if I am gonna do it,” said Lynch who is almost 65 years old and was thinking of retirement.
In August 2021, Salem Five Insurance, a subsidiary of Salem Five Bank, acquired A. James Lynch Insurance Agency Inc.
“I really thought about retiring,” Lynch laughed. “And then I thought “You know what, I can’t sit still. We’re going to revive the real estate.”
Lynch said that it’s been really busy since her brother passed away.
“The market has been really hot,” said Lynch, sitting in her brother’s black leather chair. “The phone keeps ringing (and) we are going to keep answering.”
The company’s office is located in the same building at 297 Broadway. Lynch is now overseeing the business with both her spouse and her younger sister Karen. The company focuses on facilitating buying and selling residential and commercial real estate.
Two licensed real estate brokers currently work for the business and four more agents are reportedly interested in joining the company. Lynch’s uncle Ed, who is also a broker, is also going to be involved in the business.
Lynch also wants to get involved in more community service again. The company sponsors landscaping of street islands on Lynnfield Street, Anchor Road and at Flax Pond. Lynch also likes to volunteer at community events like the Flax Pond cleanup. She said she would like to be on the board of the Greater Lynn Chamber of Commerce once again.
Lynch is hoping that if she works hard for the next few years she will be able to leave the company to her two nephews.
“I want to let people know that we are still here, that the Lynch legacy lives on,” she said. “We are going to try and serve the community like we always have.”
Alena Kuzub can be reached at [email protected].