IIAA Presents Richard Davis Woodworth

October 31, 2001

Richard W. Davis, was presented the Independent Insurance Agents of America’s (IIAA) highest individual honor — the Woodworth Memorial Award — during the opening session of the Association’s Hawaii InfoXchange.

The Woodworth Memorial Award is conferred by IIAA upon an individual who has performed special, meritorious and outstanding service on behalf of the independent agency system and IIAA members everywhere.

“This year’s honoree has been a dedicated and positive force for more than 20 years within our Association. Recently, he helped the IIAA break new ground into the financial services arena and we are banking on him to continue with his potent style of guidance,” said IIAA President William F. Hofmann III during the surprise presentation.

Davis led IIAA’s entry into the integrated financial services marketplace. He orchestrated a two-year effort to develop a bank from the ground up, which specifically serves the needs of independent insurance agents and their clients. This spring InsurBanc, a Farmington, Conn.-based thrift bank co-developed by IIAA and W. R. Berkley Corporation and its subsidiaries, opened.

“InsurBanc will be Rick’s legacy, and rightly so. Every now and then, the right person ends up in the right place at the right time. Rick Davis can be credited as one of the main reasons InsurBanc is in existence today. His steadfast determination and desire kept the project on the right track.

“The countless hours he spent meeting with regulators, consultants and leadership candidates only touch the surface of his commitment. He oversaw the charter application process and since InsurBanc’s opening has tirelessly provided valuable counsel,” Hofmann said.

Through the years Davis has also provided substantial volunteer leadership to the Massachusetts Association of Insurance Agents; he is a past president and state national director. Nationally, Davis has served as the chairman of IIAA’s Membership Services and E&O Committees.

“Rick is not one to back away from difficult issues or to shrink into the background when the going gets tough. He is one of those rare people with the ability to discuss hard issues with authority and aggressiveness but at the same time show mutual respect and courtesy,” Hofmann added.

Davis is president and chairman of Provider Insurance Group Inc., an independent insurance agency with offices in Belmont, Brookline, Needham, Mass. and Woonsocket, R.I. He has been an independent agent for more than 35 years.

He also is chairman of the Board of Directors for Peyton Street Financial Services Corp. (InsurBanc’s holding company) and a member of the Needham Community Council’s Board.

“He is incredibly smart, very fair-minded, persuasive, generous of himself, focused on achieving established goals, and one of the easiest people to work with that I can imagine, a testament on such a challenging project as starting a bank,” said Hofmann while addressing the 1,500 convention attendees.

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