The Independent Insurance Agents of America (IIAA) confirmed Thomas B. Ahart, as president; installed W. Cloyce Anders and Louise “Bebe” Canter to key executive leadership positions and added Alex Soto, ARM, CPCU to the association’s Executive Committee at the Hawaii InfoXchange in Honolulu.
Ahart, of Phillipsburg, N.J., becomes the association’s 97th president. Ahart, president of Ahart, Frinzi & Smith, was elected to the Executive Committee in September 1996. William F. Hofmann III, CPCU, CLU, AAI, CIC, LIA, the 2000-2001 IIAA president, remains on the Executive Committee as immediate past president.
Anders, president of VFIS of North Carolina in Raleigh; C.H. Stith Inc. in New Bern, N.C.; and Bayboro, N.C.-based Pamlico Insurance Services; and Canter, senior vice president of Patterson/Smith Associates, Falls Church, Va., were named president-elect and vice president, respectively.
Soto, of Miami, Fla.-based InSource Inc., previously was the Florida representative to IIAA’s Board of State National Directors and Chairman of the Association’s Communications Committee immediately prior to his election to the Executive Committee. A native of Havana, Cuba, Soto has been an independent insurance agent for over 20 years.
2001-2002 Independent Insurance Agents of America (IIAA) Executive Committee:
OFFICERS:
President – Thomas B. Ahart, CPCU, AAI, Phillipsburg, N.J. President-Elect – W. Cloyce Anders, Raleigh, N.C.
Vice President – Louise “Bebe” Canter, CPCU, ARM, Falls Church, Va.
AT-LARGE:
Thomas A. Grau, CPCU, Great Falls, Mont.
William G. Stiglitz III, Louisville, Ky.
Alex Soto, ARM, CPCU, Miami, Fla.
Immediate Past President – William F. Hofmann III, CPCU, CLU, AAI, CIC, LIA, Belmont, Mass
IIAA 2002 Executive Committee Member Profiles
President Thomas B. Ahart, CPCU, AAI: Ahart, president of Ahart, Frinzi & Smith, Phillipsburg, N.J., was elected to the Executive Committee in October 1996. Ahart has been involved with the Association on both the state and national levels, having served as president, chairman of the board and state national director for the New Jersey association. He also chaired the IIAA Education Committee at the national level for four years. Ahart has been honored with several state and local awards. They include the 1982 New Jersey Young Agent of the Year, the 1986 and 1987 IIA of New Jersey Executive Committee Chairman of the Year Award, the 1993 New Jersey Insurance Person of the Year Award, and the 1994 IIA of Hunterdon/Warren County Agent of the Year Award.
President-Elect W. Cloyce Anders: Anders, president of VFIS of North Carolina, Raleigh, N.C., and Pamlico Insurance Services Inc., Bayboro, N.C., was elected to the Executive Committee in September 1997. Anders also is a managing partner of Independent Agency Services, LLC, of Durham, N.C. He has been involved with IIAA on both the state and national levels. Anders was president of IIANC from 1989-90, and represented the North Carolina association on IIAA’s National Board of State Directors from 1992-1997. He has served on numerous committees at both the state and national levels. Anders also has been named Agent of the Year, Young Agent of the Year, Educator of the Year and Committee Chairman of the Year by his state association.
Vice President Louise ‘Bebe’ Canter, CPCU, ARM: Canter, of Patterson Smith & Associates in Falls Church, Va., has been active in the Metropolitan Washington Association of Independent Insurance Agents (MWAIIA) in many capacities, including president, state national director and young agent chairman. In 1991, she was chosen as the MWAIIA Agent of the Year. She also served as chairman of the Southern Agents Conference in 1994. On the national level, Canter was a member of the IIAA Large Agents Committee and served as MWAIIA’s representative to the IIAA National Board of State Directors for six years. In September 1998, Canter became the first woman in IIAA history elected to serve on the Executive Committee.
Executive Committee Member Thomas A. Grau, CPCU: Grau, of Montana International Inc., in Great Falls, Mont., served as chairman of the IIAA Finance Committee immediately prior to his election to the Executive Committee in September 1999. He also has served on the Audit, Direction, and Resources Committees. His considerable service on the local and state levels includes president and state national director of the Independent Insurance Agents of Montana, state association Technical Affairs Committee chairman, and three terms as local association president.
Executive Committee Member William G. Stiglitz, III: Stiglitz, of Louisville, Ky.-based Hyland, Block & Hyland Inc., served as the Kentucky representative to the IIAA Board of State National Directors immediately prior to his election to the Executive Committee. He is a past state president of the Independent Insurance Agents of Kentucky. He was a planning liaison to the national board and serves on Kentucky’s government affairs committee. Stiglitz has been an independent insurance agent for 30 years, joining his uncle’s insurance agency, Miller & Scholtz, in 1970, which merged with his current firm in 1992.
Executive Committee Member Alex Soto, ARM, CPCU: Soto, president of Miami, Fla.-based InSource Inc., was the Florida representative to IIAA’s Board of State National Directors and chairman of the Association’s Communications Committee immediately prior to his election to the Executive Committee in Hawaii. The grandson and great-grandson of two of Cuba’s presidents, Soto has been an independent insurance agent for over 20 years, serving as vice-chairman of the Florida Casualty Joint Underwriting Association. He was also a member of the Governor’s Commission on the Florida Insurance Crisis in 1993 and the Insurance Fraud Task Force in 1997.
Immediate Past President William F. Hofmann III, CPCU, CLU, AAI, CIC, LIA: Hofmann, partner in Provider Insurance Group Inc., with offices in Belmont, Brookline and Needham, Mass. and Woonsocket, R.I., was elected to the Executive Committee in September 1995. Prior to serving on the Executive Committee, Hofmann chaired IIAA’s Education Committee for four years, and in 1994 received a presidential citation for his work in this area. He also served on IIAA’s Dues Study Task Force. On the state level, Hofmann served as president and state national director for the Independent Insurance Agents of Massachusetts.
Topics Florida Agencies New Jersey North Carolina Kentucky Church
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