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 Industry News

N L C & C
Congressman Jindal Speaks to Young Agents

Congressman Bobby Jindal (R-La.) spoke to young independent agents and brokers from nearly all 50 states, along with the state and national InsurPac leaders, at the Big "I" National Legislative Conference Wednesday. Jindal addressed the Young Agent-InsurPac Luncheon.

Congressman Jindal is the House freshman class president. His appointments to the House Committee on Homeland Security, the House Committee on Resources, and the House Committee on Education and the Workforce make him an influential young Congressman.

Before his election in 2004, Jindal was appointed Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services by President George W. Bush. Prior to that, Jindal was president of the University of Louisiana System and executive director of the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare.

Jindal spoke to the Young Agents about the importance of creating natural disaster legislation and supporting TRIA—emphasized in the aftermath of last year’s hurricane season.

"We have to do a better job of getting prepared for the next hurricane season—or the next 9/11," said Jindal.  "It’s not clear to me that we have learned those lessons. We have to be prepared.

"We need a reinsurance system that is affordable. Fifty percent of Americans live in coastal counties. No reinsurance would be a disaster for our country. If we don’t do something now, there will be uninsured families and businesses that won’t be able to expand or rebuild. We’ve seen what happens without reinsurance."

Congressman Jindal thanked all the agents for their dedication to the Gulf Coast community. "Thanks for your generosity to the Gulf Coast. Thanks to the thousands of agents across Louisiana and the country who put others in front of themselves."

"Congressman Jindal emphasized the importance of dedicated involvement in the political process," says Charles E. Symington Jr., Big "I" senior vice president of government affairs and federal relations. "The lessons he shared and his experiences as a young leader in the Gulf Coast post-Katrina are invaluable to our membership."

During the luncheon, several agent leaders received awards for 2005. Alan Webb and Adrienne Powell of Georgia shared the award for InsurPac Young Agent of the Year. Both Arkansas and South Carolina received the InsurPac Eagle Award. Tom Helbach of Wisconsin won the Barney Burns Award.

Wilson Receives Woodworth Memorial Award

David F. "Bud" Wilson received the Woodworth Memorial Award, the most distinguished honor the Big "I" bestows upon an individual today during the Big "I" NLC&C. Wilson is CEO of Wilson Insurance Agency in Chula Vista, Calif.

"Bud Wilson has performed outstanding service on behalf of the independent agency system," Big "I" President William Stiglitz said. "For decades, he has served his fellow agents and brokers, and he is the portrait of what a Big ‘I’ volunteer should be. We are very lucky to have such a leader as Bud Wilson in our midst."

Wilson has contributed to the independent agency system in a variety of ways, including serving as Big "I" president and chairman of its Government Affairs Committee. At the state level, he served the Independent Brokers and Agents of the West as its president and as its representative on the National Board of State Directors, as well as serving as president of the Independent Insurance Agents of San Diego.

The Woodworth Award was established in 1925 in memory of C.H. Woodworth of Buffalo, N.Y., the second president of the association. It is awarded annually to the Big "I" member who best demonstrates outstanding service benefiting independent insurance agents and the entire insurance industry.

Big "I" Bestows Honors

The Big "I" presented the Gerald Solomon-Legislator of the Year Award to U.S. Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) for his efforts in Congress on a number of important insurance issues. The awards were presented late Wednesday at the Big "I" NLC&C

The Big "I" honored Rep. Kingston for sponsoring a successful amendment that eliminated funding for the Premium Reduction Plan crop insurance program for one year. He also has been involved in many important issues for agents, including class action reform, terrorism risk insurance, and the proposed elimination of the estate tax, or "death tax."

The Solomon Award is bestowed annually by the Big "I" upon a member of Congress who has provided outstanding leadership on insurance issues.

The Big "I" also honored a leading a longtime agent leader and one of its state associations for their legislative accomplishments in 2005:

Hofmann earned the Sidney O. Smith Award honor for his tenure as chairman of the InsurPac Board of Trustees, and a past President of the Big "I," a national board member, and during his long service in many other capacities at both the state and national levels. Under his leadership, InsurPac reached the $1 million mark in an election cycle for the first time in its 30-year history. Hofmann has worked hard to educate independent insurance agents and brokers as to the importance of PACs in the political process.

PIIAWV received the Herndon Award for its role in electing a pro-business state Supreme Court justice, for spearheading the creation of a coalition of agent, insurer and business interests, and for constructing an aggressive insurance reform agenda in West Virginia. PIIAWV led an effective legislative campaign that produced the privatization of the state’s workers’ compensation program, the effective elimination of third-party bad-faith suits and the creation of file-and-use approval system for commercial-lines products, among others.

"Our West Virginia association has produced a legislative effort that other states should study and replicate," says Wesley Bissett, Big "I" senior vice president for government affairs and state relations. "Our agents in West Virginia led a sweeping reform effort of which we are all very proud. They have done a terrific job, and they deserve all of our accolades." In addition, the West Virginia Big "I" continues to attain its InsurPac goals, and is very active on federal insurance issues and grassroots activities.

The Smith Award is bestowed annually by the Big "I" and the Independent Insurance Agents of Georgia upon an individual agent or broker for outstanding service to his or her peers and the national association in the field of government affairs. It is named in honor of an IIABA past president and Georgia agent who was instrumental in focusing the Association and its members on legislative advocacy.

T R U S T E D   C H O I C E
Trusted Choice^® Month is Upon Us

Only five more days until Trusted Choice® Month! Monday is the first day of May and the kick off date for Trusted Choice® Month 2006, a month-long promotional campaign spotlighting the consumer brand for independent agents through:

These activities will create increased awareness of Trusted Choice®, its member agencies and it’s 33 company partners—while building consumer recognition of the brand. All the advertising will direct consumers to www.TrustedChoice.comto find their local Trusted Choice® agent who can offer them a broad selection of insurance policies, companies and financial services; customized coverages for individuals and businesses and advocacy support.

This is the perfect time to update your agency’s Trusted Choice® profile. The profile provides information about your agency to consumers who use the Trusted Choice® Agency Locator. If it’s not updated, you could be missing out on consumers looking for your agency. Click hereto create or update your agency profile.

Conduct local Trusted Choice® advertising campaigns during May to tie into the national ad campaign. This will help educate local consumers that Trusted Choice® agencies are the trusted advisors for their insurance needs. For more information, contact Jeff Myers at 800-221-7917; jeff.myers@iiaba.net.

I I A B A   N E W S
Big "I" Featured in New York Times Special Section

On Monday, April 24, the Big "I" was prominently featured in a New York Times special section titled "The Business of Insurance." Ed Higgins, owner of the Thousand Island Agency in Clayton, N.Y., discusses the value that independent insurance agents bring to their customers in the article "Your insurance agent knows what you need." In the article "Shelter from the (next) Storm," Charles Symington, Big "I" senior vice president of Government Affairs and Federal Relations, discusses the National Flood Insurance Program. Complete with a half page ad from Trusted Choice® and quotes from more independent agents, this New York Times special section positioned independent agents as the insurance industry authority.

Fulwider Nominated as Big "I" President-Elect; Nilsson Next Vice President

The Big "I" National Board has nominated Robert E. Fulwider as the association’s president-elect and has elected C. Brett Nilsson, CIC, as the association’s next vice president. Once confirmed by the association membership, Fulwider will assume his new office at the next board meeting in New Orleans in September. Nilsson will move up to the vice presidency at the same meeting. Fulwider and current Big "I" President-Elect Alex Soto, CPCU, ARM, will be sworn in as president-elect and president, respectively, during the board meeting.

Fulwider is principal and president of the Ray Wuestenberg Agency Inc. in West Liberty, Iowa, and of the Fulwider Agency Inc. in West Branch, Iowa. He also is president of Bob Fulwider and Associates, a life-health financial-planning agency in eastern Iowa. Fulwider also has been very active in the Big "I" at the national and state levels since starting his career as an independent agent in 1973. He is a past CEO of the Independent Insurance Agents of Iowa (IIAI) and currently sits on its Education Committee. He also is the only two-time Agent of the Year in IIAI history (1983, 1990) and was inducted into the Iowa Insurance Hall of Fame in 2003. Nationally, he is a past chairman of the Big "I" Government Affairs Committee and the association’s Crop Insurance Task Force, and he also has chaired several other Big "I" national committees, including Farm/Agribusiness, Personal Lines and Markets Development. He and Jan, his wife of 38 years, have one adult child and live in West Liberty.

Nilsson is vice president of operations for Acordia Mountain West in Ogden, Utah. Prior to being elected to the Executive Committee in 2003, Nilsson served as president of the Independent Insurance Agents of Utah from 1992 to 1993 and as the state national director from Utah for nine years. On the national level, Nilsson has served on the Big "I" Communications Committee and as chairman of Big "I" Finance Committee, which he chaired from 1999-2003. Nilsson has long been devoted to both his business and his community. He has served on several different insurance company agent advisory councils. He was a past vice president of the Ogden Jaycees, served on several chamber of commerce committees and is a past president of the Ogden Golf and Country Club. Nilsson is a past recipient of Utah’s Agent of the Year and Young Agent of the Year awards, and he received a Big "I" Presidential Citation in 2001. In 2003, Nilsson received his state association’s highest individual honor, the Burgener Award, a distinction that has only been awarded five other times in the history of the Utah association. He and his wife, Nancy, live in Layton, Utah. They have four children and four grandchildren.

I A    M A G A Z I N E
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