Staff

Meet the staff of the Gardner-Whitworth Insurance Group:


Doug Whitworth

Douglas N. "Doug" Whitworth, President of the Gardner-Whitworth Insurance Group, is the third generation to own the local independent agency following his grandparents, Kenneth and Ruth Gardner, who founded it in 1946, and his father, William O. "Bill" Whitworth, owner from 1982 to 2005.

Doug is a lifelong resident of Mattoon and a graduate of Lake Land College. He obtained his producer's license for all lines of insurance while a sophomore in college and began his full-time career with the agency upon graduation in 1985.

Doug has been a long-standing member of the Independent Insurance Agents of Illinois (IIA of Illinois), where he has served on the board of directors and chaired the Illinois Young Agents Committee, which won the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America (IIABA) National Young Agents Committee of the Year award for three consecutive years.

In addition, Doug received the prestigious Young Agent of the Year award from PIIAI in 2004. He served as the downstate Illinois representative to the Grange Insurance Companies Agents Advisory Board and is working toward attaining his Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) designation.

He serves as a board member of the Mattoon Youth Basketball League and the Mattoon Babe Ruth Baseball Association; local chairman of the Trusted Choice Big "I" Junior Golf Classic Qualifier; and member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles and First United Methodist Church. He has coached and supported various youth sports programs in Mattoon for many years. He has two children, Tyler and Colin.




Mike Bonic

Mike Bonic joined the sales staff at Gardner-Whitworth Insurance Group in 2015. A graduate of Mattoon High School, Mike attended Millikin University and worked at Mars Petcare for 29 years before retiring.

He has been involved in numerous youth sports in the community, including baseball, softball, and was the head coach and director of the Mattoon Youth Wrestling Club for over 25 years.

Mike is a licensed producer focusing on all lines of insurance including home, auto, business, farm, life and health insurance.




Tyler Whitworth

Tyler Whitworth began his career with Gardner-Whitworth Insurance Group in 2018. A 2011 graduate of Mattoon High School, Tyler attended Greenville University on a baseball scholarship and graduated in 2015 with a degree in business administration with a minor in marketing. While at Greenville, he was a four-year letterman on the Panther baseball team and co-captain his senior year, leading the Panthers to the NCAA post-season tournament for the first time in school history. In 2016 Tyler earned his MBA from Eastern Illinois University.

Tyler has been heavily involved with the Mattoon American Legion Post 88 baseball program as a coach for several years. Professionally, he is a member of the Independent Insurance Agents of Illinois and the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America. His focus is on offering customers various property and casualty products for personal, business, and farm lines of insurance.