115th Annual Convention report
IIABSC 2014 Board of Directors were installed at the 115th Annual Convention held Oct. 13–15 at The Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC.
Ken Finch, CPCU, CIC, CRM, AAI of Countybanc Insurance in Greenwood was elected Chairman of the Board by the general membership during the annual meeting. Scott Moseley of Irmo Insurance in Irmo was elected Chairman-Elect and Treasurer of the Board of Directors, Tom M. Bates, Jr., of Herlong Bates Burnett in Greenville was elected Secretary of the Board of Directors, and Jon A. Jensen, AIP, AAI of Correll Insurance Group was re-elected to another three-year term as National Director.
Ashley Brady, CIC, of First Charter Insurance in Marion moved to the position of Immediate Past Chairman.
Three new directors were also elected to three-year terms on the Board of Directors beginning Jan. 1, 2014: Gus M. Brabham, IV, CIC, of Regions Insurance in Columbia, James B. Galloway of Peoples First Insurance in Rock Hill and James G. Taylor, Jr., CIC of Kinghorn Insurance Agency of Beaufort.
Immediate Past President Kathy D. McKay, CIC, CPIW, CRM, of McKay Insurance in Mt. Pleasant, Secretary Scott Moseley of Irmo Insurance and retiring directors Kim J. Gore, CIC, of HUB International Southeast in Myrtle Beach and Richard L. Walker, CIC, of Cormell Street & Patterson in Florence were recognized for their service and dedication to the association.
IIABSC National Director Jon A. Jensen, AIP, AAI, delivered the oath of office.
Agent of the Year
State Senator C. Ross Turner, III, CIC, of The Turner Agency in Greenville has been named the 2013 Hayne P. Glover, Jr. Agent of the Year in recognition for outstanding community service and contributing to the betterment of the insurance industry.
Ross has been active in the association for many years including serving on the Board of Directors and as Chairman of the Trusted Choice® Committee when we were first developing the brand. He and the rest of the agency, including his wife, Julie, were one of the first in the nation to truly "Live the Brand." He has also served on the Young Agents and membership committees. He carries the CIC designation and has served as an instructor for some of the continuing education classes offered by the SC Big "I."
Active in his community, Ross has been involved in the Greenville Rotary, Leadership Greenville alumni association and Buncombe St United Methodist Church. Anyone who knows him can also attest that he is a loyal and dedicated Clemson Tiger.
But of course one of Ross's biggest accomplishments was last year when he was elected to the SC Senate. It was a very crowded field with four challengers plus the incumbent, who had been high-ranking and long-serving.
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
Midlands insurance executive Angus M. "Gus" Brabham, IV, CIC, of Regions Insurance has been named the 2013 Young Agent of the Year.
Gus is a Wofford College graduate and has been a great leader among the young agents in our association, serving on our Board of Directors, Trusted Choice® branding committee and chairing the InsurPAC committee, to all which he has brought a unique quality and style.
In his community he is active with Trinity Episcopal Cathedral where he has been part of their Foundation and Dean's Search committees and a Sunday School teacher. He works with and supports the National Alliance on Mental Illness and also Make-A-Wish South Carolina in conjunction with our Trusted Choice® partnership. He has also coached basketball, soccer and sporting clays.
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
John C. "Jack" Horejsi of Lexington, SC, and The Main Street America Group. The award recognizes industry representatives other than independent insurance agents who have contributed greatly to the insurance industry in South Carolina.
Jack has been one of the most loyal company representatives of the past 20 years of the SC Big "I." After graduating college in Kansas, he served in the Marine Corps and started his insurance career with Federated Mutual Insurance Co. in the audit department. After five years, he came to South Carolina and worked for an independent agency in Spartanburg. He eventually moved back over the carrier side of things and made his way to Main Street America/ National Grange Mututal, where he's been for nearly 30 years, working tirelessly with SC agents.
Through trusted relationships he has provided agents with the service and support needed for them to achieve profitable growth with MSA. He was even inducted into the MSA Circle of Excellence, which required nomination by fellow employees and confirmation by senior management for his embodiment of their core values.
AAMGA Outstanding Committee Chairperson
For this first time there were two recipients of the AAMGA Outstanding Committee Chairperson award for their outstanding partnership of service to IIABSC: William J. Bowers, AIP, of Russell Massey and Co. in Columbia and James G. Taylor, Jr., CIC, of Kinghorn Insurance Agency of Beaufort.
Together they co-chaired the SC Young Agents committee and have big ideas and ambitions for its role in developing our future industry leadership.
The award is sponsored by the American Association of Managing General Agents, who regularly support the Big "I" and the independent agency system.
Additional Recognition
Chairman's Citations
Gary D. Cornell of AFCO/Prime Rate Premium Finance in Florence and Robert H. Sanders, Jr., CPCU, ASLI of Preferred Specialty in Columbia were recognized for their service to IIABSC with Chairman’s Citations from Ashley Brady, CIC.
InsurPAC fundraisers
There were two separate InsurPAC fundraisers going on at convention. The first of which was the Yeti Cooler donated by Bo & Bubba, two SC duck hunting enthusiasts who stopped by our banquet to thank us.
The other was our Dancing with the Stars spoof during the opening reception, where four agents "let their stars shine," showing us talent we never imagined they had, and attendees voted for the winners by making a contribution to InsurPAC. Participants included Jay Taylor, Jr., CIC, of Kinghorn Insurance Agency of Beaufort, Julie Turner of the The Turner Agency in Greenville, Brandy Baker of Countybanc Insurance in Greenwood and Jules Anderson, AAI, of Anderson Insurance Associates in Charleston. The votes were tallied, and Jules Anderson was named our reigning star.
Between the Yeti Cooler, which brought in $11,755, and our dance contest, which brought in $2,935, our 2013 annual convention attendees contributed $14,690 to InsurPAC.
Golf tournament
The Henry G. Turner Golf Tournament was held at the Grove Park Golf Club. Cash prizes and golf clubs were awarded to the winners, which are as follows:
Flight 1:
Winner/ First Place: Todd Hiott
Second Place: Evan Jeffords
Third Place: Ryan Eaddy
Flight 2:
Winner/ First Place: Chad Laughner
Second Place: Robbie Templeton
Third Place: Harrison Cline
Flight 3:
Winner/ First Place: Scott Creamer
Second Place: Bob Briante
Third Place: Cary Wilson
Long-drive winners:
Ryan Eaddy
Closest-to-the-pin:
Ashley Brady
Exhibitor awards
Grange Insurance won "Elly Packy Derm" the Golden Elephant, awarded to our exhibitor named "Best Booth" overall by a panel of judges during our trade show.
Best Booth: Grange Insurance
2nd place: J.M. Wilson
3rd place: Assure Alliance
Best Costume: Grange Insurance
2nd place: J.M. Wilson
3rd place: Lighthouse Property Ins. Corp.
Event Committee
Committe Chairman
Kathy D. McKay, CIC, CPIW, CRM,
McKay, Stelling & Associates
Faye Bradham, LUTCF
Bradham Insurance Agency
Cooper Carter, CIC
Pinckney-Carter Company
Phyllis Carpenter
Hull & Company, Inc.
John T. Cook, CIC
John T. Cook & Associates
Gale Golightly
Preferred Specialty LLC
Buck Inabinet, AAI
Taylor Agency
Grayson King
Johnson & Johnson
Debbie Martinez
J.M. Wilson
Paul W. Steadman, CIC
The Steadman Agency, Inc.
Lisa Vliet
The Hartford
Teresa C. Yount, CPCU, CIC, CRM, AINS, CPIW
Correll Ins Group