Columbia, SC –  Thomas M. Bates, Jr., of Herlong Bates Burnett in Greenville, SC, was elected Chairman of the Board by the general membership of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of SC (IIABSC) earlier this month during its annual convention in Myrtle Beach, SC.

Tom is Vice President/COO of Herlong Bates Burnett Insurance, a Greenville-area agency founded in 2002 that offers business insurance, home and auto, life insurance and health insurance. He has been in the insurance business for more than 40 years, starting out as an insurance adjuster in Georgia, but moving at Greenville in 1977. 

Tom was first elected to the association’s board in 2009 and is an exemplary independent agent when it comes to community service. He has chaired our Trusted Choice committee since 2010, working with the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life and SC Make-a-Wish. Most recently he and his family contributed and helped raise money to build the Cancer Survivors Park in downtown Greenville, where a portion of the boardwalk, an overlook named "The Leap of Faith," will be named after his dear daughter Lindsey Bates-Motley, who lost her courageous fight with colon cancer in 2016.

Also elected to the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors was James G. Taylor, Jr., of Kinghorn Insurance Agency of Beaufort to the position of Chairman-Elect and Tonya S. Thomason of David A Crotts & Associates in Greenwood to the position of Secretary. R. Scott Moseley of Irmo Insurance Agency in Irmo moves to the position of Immediate Past Chairman. All terms begin Jan. 1, 2018.

Three new directors were also elected to three-year terms beginning Jan. 1: 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.

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