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Industry News

IIABA News

Big “I” Swears in New President, President-Elect

Alex Soto, CPCU, ARM, was inaugurated Saturday as the new Big “I” president. Robert E. Fulwider and C. Brett Nilsson, CIC, also assumed the offices of president-elect and vice president, respectively. The new officers were sworn in at the Big “I” Fall Leadership Conference in New Orleans.

Soto is president of Miami-Fla.-based InSource, Inc. He was elected to the Executive Committee in October 2001. He has been active in the Big “I” nationally and in the Florida Association of Independent Agents during his 34-year career as an independent insurance agent.
 
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 has been very active in the Big “I” at the national and state levels since starting his career as an independent agent in 1973.

Nilsson is senior vice president for The Buckner Company, in Salt Lake City. Prior to being elected to the Executive Committee in 2003, Nilsson served as president of the Independent Insurance Agents of Utah from 1992-93. He also served as a director on the Big “I” national board for nine years.

Agents Help to Rebuild New Orleans

More than 240 agents, company partners and other volunteers participated in the Big “I” Habitat for Humanity building project in New Orleans last week during the Big “I” Fall Leadership Conference. The volunteers worked on homes in Habitat’s Musician’s Village, a planned area of 75 new homes with a music education center in New Orleans’ 9th Ward. Volunteers assisted with roofing, siding, insulation and other tasks as part of Habitat’s mission: eradicating poverty housing worldwide. More than 3,000 volunteers have worked on the Musician’s Village homes since its inception, and the first three new homeowners will move in this month.

Special thanks to the following sponsors of the Big “I” Community Project:
Applied Systems
Encompass Insurance
Fidelity National Insurance Services
RLI
Safeco Insurance
Swiss Re
The Hartford
Travelers
Zurich   North America
Independent Insurance Agents of Louisiana
Independent Insurance Agents of North Carolina
Massachusetts Association of Insurance Agents

Look for more coverage of the Habitat for Humanity project in future issues of IN&V and in the November issue of Independent Agent.

Young Agents
North Carolina Wins Outstanding YAC Award

Last weekend, the Young Agents Committee presented its most prestigious annual award to the Young Agents Committee of the Independent Insurance Agents of North Carolina.

In recognition of its outstanding efforts on behalf of the independent agency system to cultivate and inspire the next generation of industry leaders, the North Carolina YAC was honored as the Outstanding Young Agents Committee of the Year. This award recognizes the outstanding efforts of North Carolina’s young agents in the areas of political involvement, membership development, communications, state committee project and young agents meeting as well as a committee’s promotion of the independent agency system.

The runner-up in the Outstanding Young Agents Committee Award category was The Young Brokers and Agents Committee of the Insurance Brokers & Agents of the West (California).

Also receiving recognition in five other categories:

• Outstanding Political Involvement Award–Kentucky Young Insurance Professionals of the Independent Insurance Agents of Kentucky, Inc., for outstanding achievement in promoting young agent participation in the legislative process
• Outstanding Young Agents Meeting Award–Young Agents Council of the Michigan Association of Insurance Agents for excellence in providing and promoting an annual Young Agents meeting
• Outstanding State Committee Project–Young Agents Committee of the Maine Insurance Agents Association for outstanding achievement in a state committee project that benefits the community, the insurance industry and/or the independent agency system
• Outstanding Membership Development Award–Young Agents Committee of the Professional Independent Insurance Agents of Illinois for excellent achievement in recruiting and maintaining Young Agents participation in association activities
• Outstanding Communications Award–Young Agents Committee of the Independent Insurance Agents of Georgia, Inc., for outstanding achievement in maintaining a communications campaign dedicated to young agents.

The YAC Awards were announced by then-Big “I” President Bill Stiglitz during the 2006 Young Agents Leadership Institute, held Sept. 8 through 10 in New Orleans. For more information, contact Katie Cosgrove at 800-221-7917; katie.cosgrove@iiaba.net.

IA Magazine
September Issue Features NYT Roundtable 

IA has its finger on the pulse of insurance industry trends. Look for “All the Insurance Trends (Fit to Print)” in the September issue, a wrap-up of an industry roundtable hosted jointly by the New York Times and the Big “I” this summer. In addition, check out the New York Times on Sept. 20 for a special section on insurance, which will also include highlights of the roundtable.

The roundtable featured carrier CEOs and agents talking about catastrophes, regulation, technology, market trends and more. The roundtable is part of an ongoing partnership between the Big “I” and the New York Times designed to help educate Times’ staff on insurance and the issues facing the industry.

  Big "I" MarketsSM
Get a Slice of Big “I” MarketsSM

 Big "I" Markets agent Melissa Ysais of Silva Insurance Services in Palmer, Alaska, recently bound a pizza parlor by accessing the commercial package program on Big “I” MarketsSM. What made the commercial package product so tasty? “The price was better and I got better coverage,” Ysais says. Specifically, she referenced the sewer back up and sign coverages as enhancements that swung the deal her way. How about the support from the underwriter? “I had a lot of questions and they were responsive and timely,” she says.

You can access a host of markets---from pizza shops to financial planning firms---through the new commercial package offered on Big "I" Markets. Simply visit www.bigimarkets.com to register and start quoting today.