Utah agency becomes risk architect for its clients’ risk management programs “We knew we were doing the right thing for our clients, but we hadn’t put a name to our difference,” says Donnette Mayer, CRA, president and chief operating officer of Universal Business Insurance(UBI), Sandy, Utah. “Our focus has always been on risk management and improving the risk profile of our commercial clients, but we didn’t always have the tools
Agency of the Month
AGENCY OF THE MONTH Florida agency becomes national powerhouse If you build it, they will come,” apparently does not just apply to baseball. In 1988, Valli and John Ritenour started Insurance Office of America (IOA), Longwood, Florida, and built it as a place that would attract clients and employees, including top-performing agents—a place that they would never want to leave because it provided some of the best producer contracts in
A student of the industry brings other students into his agency From day one at the agency, I have been a student of the insurance business,” says Ben Patterson, CIC, CRM, who joined Patterson & Associates Insurance Agency, Inc., Richardson, Texas, as its fifth employee in 1996. “I joined the agency straight out of college. It was started in 1983 by my father, Ron, and was still a relatively small
Third generation learns by doing as principal “retires” after six months The Wilkinson Insurance Agency in White House, Tennessee, was founded 60 years ago by J.M. Wilkinson as a sideline, to supplement his banking salary. Manley, as he was called, was manager of Farmers Bank and had studied banking. But he saw that having the ability to offer insurance to his banking customers was a win-win that provided clients with
Carolinas agency continually finds new ways to deliver value to clients In the late 1980s three friendly competitors—Arnold Edwards, Bart Church, and Jim Muse—started meeting in the shade of an oak tree to share ideas about how to be successful in the agency business. Each of the three had an extensive background in sales, finance, and underwriting, and it wasn’t long before these casual get-togethers started to take on the
