119th Annual Convention report
IIABSC 2018 Board of Directors were installed at the 119th Annual Convention held Oct. 15–17 at The Marriott Resort & Spa at Grande Dunes in Myrtle Beach, SC.
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Tom M. Bates Jr. of Herlong Bates Burnett in Greenville was elected Chairman of the Board by the general membership during the annual meeting, and James G. Taylor, Jr., CIC of Kinghorn Insurance Agency of Beaufort was elected Chairman-Elect and Treasurer. Both are one-year terms. Tonya S. Thomason, CIC of David A Crotts & Associates in Greenwood was elected Secretary of the Board of Directors, a two-year term. Ashley Brady, CIC, of FIrst Charter Company in Marion was elected National Director, a three-year term.
Ken Finch, CPCU, CIC, CRM, AAI of Adams Eaddy & Associates in Columbia moved to the position of Immediate Past Chairman.
Three new directors were elected to three-year terms on the Board of Directors beginning Jan. 1, 2018: Derrik Chandler of Chandler Insurance in Greenville, SC; Andrew Muller, CIC, AAI, CWCC, PRIS of Mappus Insurance Agency in Charleston; and Renado Robinson of Crosswinds Insurance Agency in Fort Mill, SC.
Retiring directors Andrew Muller, CIC, AAI, CWCC, PRIS of Mappus Insurance Agency in Charleston; Tonya S. Thomason, CIC of David A Crotts & Associates in Greenwood and Teresa C. Yount, CPCU, CIC, CRM, AINS, CPIW of Correll Insurance Group in Spartanburg were recognized for their service and dedication to the association.
IIABA Chairman of the Board Vaughn Graham, CPCU, AFSB, CIC, delivered the oath of office.
Agent of the Year
Ken Finch, CPCU, CIC, CRM, AAI of Adams, Eaddy & Associates in Columbia has been named the 2017 Hayne P. Glover, Jr. Agent of the Year in recognition for outstanding community service and contributing to the betterment of the insurance industry.
Ken is our Immediate Past Chairman of the state association board, and has been passionate about his service throughout his years of leadership – but his early engagement in InsurPac has helped South Carolina win an Eagle award for twelve consecutive years. Only a small group of states are recognized with InsurPac Eagle awards, and in 2017 with Ken as the state chair South Carolina will get number 13. In 2012, we recognized Ken with the AAMGA Achievement award for his leadership on InsurPac and promoting its value among his peers.
Ken also values professional development and training – and he has the designations to prove it.
The Agent of the Year is named for Hayne P. Glover, Jr. to honor his many years of dedicated service to the Big "I" state and national associations. Glover was from Greenville and is the only South Carolinian so far to serve as the national association president. Glover was an outstanding example of service to his community as well as the industry, which are the criteria used to evaluate nominees for this award. The award is sponsored by AFCO/ Prime Rate Premium Finance in Florence.
Young Agent of the Year
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Horry-Georgetown insurance executive Matthew B. Wiseman, CIC, CISR, of Peoples Underwriters in Myrtle Beach has been named the 2017 Young Agent of the Year.
Matt is a Coastal Carolina University graduate and started his insurance career in 1998 at Peoples Underwriters. He has held various positions in the agency throughout his career, starting as a Commercial Lines CSR (where he was our 2007 SC Outstanding CSR of the Year), then moving into Commercial Marketing; Commercial Lines Producer and is currently the Vice-President of Commercial Lines.
He has served on the IIAB of Horry and Georgetown Counties Board of Directors and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the state association. He has also served on various Industry Committees throughout his Career such as Accident Funds Agent Council; IVANS Advisory Council; Selective Insurance President’s Club; IIABSC Annual Convention Committee.
Matt is a Charter Member of Christ United Methodist Church and remains active by serving as Chairman of the Administrative Council and former Chairman the Building Committee. He is also former Lay Director of Coastal Carolina Chrysalis and a member of Chicora Rotary.
The Young Agent of the Year award is given to an independent insurance agent age 40 or younger for outstanding service to his or her community outside the field of insurance and has contributed to the betterment of the industry. It is sponsored by AFCO/ Prime Rate Premium Finance in Florence.
Industry Person of the Year
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Wayne L. Sumner of Jackson Sumner & Associates in Boone, NC, was named the 2017 IIABSC Industry Person of the Year. The award recognizes industry representatives other than independent insurance agents who have contributed greatly to the insurance industry in South Carolina.
Wayne entered the insurance industry in 1975 after graduating from Appalachian State University with a BSBA degree. While not as much a direct influence to the South Carolina market, he has been of utmost service to the NC Surplus Lines Association, and served on the committee for rewriting the North Carolina surplus lines license test.
His biggest influence on the South Carolina insurance industry is his support and investment in our talent pool. In 2012, Wayne was awarded the Outstanding Service Award from Appalachian State University for his service and support of App State, including serving as Chairman of the Brantley Risk & Insurance Center advisory board. Many of their RMI graduates end up working in all sides of the South Carolina independent insurance agency system.
Wayne also makes significant contributions to the continuing education and professional development of South Carolina independent agents through the operations of JSA Studios, a top-notch three-camera webcast streaming production studio. It is through his generous contribution of equipment and personnel that many of the Agents & Brokers Education Network webcasts from South Carolinaand neighboring states are produced and available for IIABSC agents to view from the convenience of their home or offices. That also goes for the IIABSC annual convention general sessions, which Jackson Sumner Studios attends and broadcasts live to an online audience.
From the very beginning of his career, Wayne Sumner has supported independent insurance agents by being a great business partner and a generous contributor.
Outstanding CSR of the Year
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Amanda C. Guenther, CISR, AIAM, CIIP of C.T. Lowndes & Company in Mount Pleasant, SC was recognized as the SC Outstanding CSR of the Year. The award recognizes those who demonstrate exceptional customer service on a daily basis.
Nominations are submitted early in the year, and nominees are asked to submit materials to show their commitment to the industry through education, involvement and peer recommendations in addition to writing an essay in response to a relevant issue for our industry.
A supervisor said this about Amanda: “Amanda is detailed and dedicated to her clients, insuring quality and professional service. She has been known to go to bat and fight the fight in a heathy and professional way with carriers when needed. During times of stressful situations Amanda has asked for guidance, which allows her to be most valuable to her clients and allowing me the trust that I know is needed on the floor in a very busy and fast-paced environment. Amanda oversees a large book of business with many clients that look to her for support.”
A colleague also said the following: “I have the opportunity to observe Amanda’s professionalism and interpersonal style daily. She is consistently pleasant, encouraging and eager to share her knowledge with her teammates. She amazes everyone with her willingness to volunteer and take on tough projects. She works hard and is always seen motivating people to work hard and better. She is an outstanding representative that has the talent and dedication in providing the highest level of service.”
This is exactly what customer service, and being a good independent agent, is all about.
Additional Recognitions
Chairman's Citations
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Ashley Brady, CIC, Beth Chastie, Ken Finch, Megan Huebner and Anita Trevino were recognized for their service to IIABSC with Chairman’s Citations from Scott Moseley.
InsurPAC/ National Golf fundraisers
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As always, there was an InsurPAC fundraiser going on at convention. Those who made contributions leading up to the conference or onsite were entered in a drawing to win a 20-gauge Benelli semi-automatic shotgun, one chance for every $100 contributed. There was also a drawing for an oil-less turkey fryer.
Overall, InsurPac raised more than $30,500 leading up to and during annual convention, which is more than double in previous years!
The winner of the shotgun was Bob Moseley of Irmo Insurance Agency in Irmo. Winner of the turkey fryer was Gary Cornell of AFCO/Prime Rate Premium Finance in Florence.
There was also a fundraiser for the 2018 Big "I" National Championship to be held in Charleston, SC. Keynote speaker Sam Glenn created two paintings in his session that were auctioned off at the awards banquet. His Eagle painting was sold for $1,100 and his tree painting was sold for $1,000.
Exhibitor awards
Allstar Financial Group won "Elly Packy Derm" the Golden Elephant, awarded to our exhibitor named "Best Booth" overall by a panel of judges during our trade show.