Jennifer Clark of H.W. Gorst honored for service to young
members of the California Insurance Wholesalers Association
By Brett Hanavan
Larry G. France, editorial director of the Rough Notes Company's The Insurance Marketplace, presents the new "Young Wholesaler of the Year Award" to Jennifer Clark during the California Insurance Wholesalers Association' s recent Wholesaler Industry Day.
It is an honor to be honored. Awards or honors are few and far between for most of us. Just ask Jennifer Clark of the H.W. Gorst Company in Glendale, California, a suburb just over the hill from Los Angeles in the San Gabriel Valley. Clark received a newly designed honor, the "Young Wholesaler of the Year Award," from the Young Wholesaler Committee of the California Insurance Wholesaler Association (CIWA). For Clark it all came together this year as she was honored for her work with the Young Wholesaler Committee during CIWA's 7th annual Wholesaler Industry Day, January 10-12, at the Sheraton Grande Torrey Pines in San Diego.
During a formal banquet associated with CIWA's event, Larry G. France, editorial director of Rough Notes' The Insurance Marketplace, presented Clark with the award. "The room was filled with CIWA members, some competitors, vendors we do business with, and companies we represent," says Clark. The Insurance Marketplace presented her with two plaques. One she gets to keep; the other she will pass on next year to a new winner.
Clark received the new Young CIWA award for her involvement in developing and promoting the Young Wholesalers Committee and planning its events. She oversaw the planning of Casino night at Torrey Pines and also helped assemble and implement a panel discussion on "The Hard Market" at the Young CIWA meeting in Burbank in 2001. This was the first time a panel discussion had been held in conjunction with an event.
According to Clark: "There was more participation. That is one area that CIWA would like for Young CIWA to concentrate on. That and increasing the membership."
Helping Jennifer Clark celebrate her award are (left) her father, CIWA Director Mike Heagerty, and (right) Manfred Mundelius, president of CIWA.
The idea for a Young CIWA committee was born in June 2000. Clark's father, Mike Heagerty, was nominated to be the liaison between the new organization and the California Insurance Wholesaler Association. Young CIWA officers were nominated immediately and Clark took the reins as secretary while husband Bryan Clark (also from the Gorst Company) became chairman. Mark Maucere, executive vice president of San Diego-based London American General Agency, became co-chairman. The Young Wholesaler Committee was officially introduced last year.
Clark emphasizes that the goals of Young CIWA recognize the need to get more young people involved in all aspects of being surplus brokers. Its members place a priority on political lobbying efforts at the grass roots level within the state. Young CIWA plans to become involved in this year's California insurance commissioner campaign. The committee also discussed matching ZIP codes for all of its members with their political districts so that it can target communication efforts with California's members of Congress.
Young CIWA has put its members into various CIWA committees so that they can learn more about areas such as benefits, legislation, and membership. Vivian Furlong of CIWA emphasizes that the bottom line is to generate energy in order to perpetuate the wholesaler industry by giving the organization a farm team of young professionals to recruit from for future participation on its board of directors.
Clark says, "With California being such a large state geographically, with a large, varying insurance market, it has been hard getting everyone together and organized. So, we're learning as we go. Our annual meetings in San Diego (La Jolla) have been a huge success. They have unified younger and older members."
In addition to her work with the Young CIWA Committee, Clark has actively lobbied her young friends to enter the insurance industry. "I think insurance has had a bad reputation, but it is changing," she says. "To most people from the outside, it does not appear to be a desirable profession. I went back to homecoming and told my old friends I work in insurance. Many said to me, 'Are you crazy?'"
Clark told her friends that there are many different aspects of insurance that a person can get involved in. When opportunities arise, she steers young professionals thinking of an insurance career to available internships. Clark herself embarked on her post-college career by moving to the Valley of the Sun and completing an internship at Scottsdale Insurance in Scottsdale, Arizona, in July 1998. The internship included hands-on focus in three different departments within the company.
"The internship was really Insurance 101," Clark says. "I was involved in forms, transportation, property and casualty. It set the table for my career. The diversity of it is what was great. There are so many neat people to meet in this industry and I really have met a lot of great people who have helped me achieve my goals. I wasn't sure if insurance was the path I wanted to follow. The internship brought it into focus."
After looking back at her accomplishments, Clark and her father instituted an intern program at the H.W. Gorst Company in 2000, modeled after Scottsdale's. "Our first candidate has completed our program and it was successful," says Clark. "From it came new business ideas, advice, and some changes to our processes. It worked out well."
Gorst is a family affair. Clark's father is the president and CEO, and her mother, Jane, is the CFO. Clark's parents also own the Compass Insurance Group of Agencies.
A graduate of San Diego State with a bachelor's degree in speech communication/public relations in 1997, Clark says it was natural to be steered into insurance because of her family company. After she returned to Southern California following her year with Scottsdale, she began training as a commercial underwriter. In addition, she went back to school and obtained her master's degree in organizational management from the University of Phoenix.
"My mentors are the commercial underwriters and my co-workers at Gorst. I learn something new everyday," Clark says. "I realize there is plenty of stuff I don't know. They are very helpful to work with. I also have to say thank you to the underwriters I worked with at Scottsdale during the internship as well."
Clark recently was presented with another life challenge when she gave birth to a son, Jake, (Bryan and Jennifer's first child) on October 28, 2001. During her pregnancy she carried a full workload, right up to delivery time. Balancing career and motherhood for Clark doesn't appear to be outwardly difficult. "I come into the company on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but otherwise work from my home office. I do love working, being involved, meeting people, but I love working from home and being a mom too."
Clark already has high hopes for young Jake. "From a family perspective, hopefully he'll take it over someday," Clark says. "We'll start putting those CPCU books in his crib with him."
Clark is optimistic about the future of the insurance industry and CIWA's involvement in lobbying efforts in relation to surplus lines commercial business.
As for further insight into the current state of the post 9-11 market, Clark says that the commercial market is in a state of constant change. "Premium rates are increasing and as usual it is a challenge for us in the excess and surplus market because we have to turn around and sell it to the retail agent. I feel like we're busier than ever. Business owners are definitely rate shopping.
"The Young CIWA award was an honor to receive," says Clark. "It is exciting to be a part of the start of this great committee I also hope that the committee and the award motivate others to get involved. There is power in numbers."
CIWA is a California-based insurance trade association dedicated to its California wholesaler members, the insurance companies they do business with, and vendors that serve them. It is dedicated to representing the interests of California's insurance wholesalers. *