Smart Choice Agents Program
Smart Choice Agents Program, an agency network with over 8,700 independent agents and 100 carrier partners, reported that 631 agents were selected to join the partnership network during first half of 2021.
Smart Choice also added two key hires in leadership positions for sales and finance
Mike Golonka, the former national accounts sales director at MetLife Auto & Home (part of Farmers Insurance Group), has been named as vice president of Strategic Partners. In this role Golonka will work with Smart Choice on key company relationships and Smart Choice Partners on the integration of business into Smart Choice partner companies.
Thomas Andrews, formerly a senior auditor at Dixon Hughes Goodman, has been named vice president of Finance and will lead the finance team.
“We set very aggressive goals for expansion as part of our 5-year plan”, said Andrew Caldwell, President of Smart Choice Agents. “This unprecedented response from agents helps us maintain our growth trajectory and it also validates the unique business value that we offer independent agents.”
The Smart Choice Agents Program is a wholly owned program of Worldwide Insurance Network Inc. (WIN), headquartered in High Point, North Carolina. They currently serve 8,700 agency partners in 45 states.
United Valley Insurance Services Adds Two New Members
Sunset Business Insurance Solutions of Burbank, California, and The Coverage Pro LLC of Scottsdale, Arizona, have joined United Valley Insurance Services Inc.
Sunset Business Insurance Solutions was founded in 2016 and offers property and casualty insurance products to their clients with an expertise in workers’ compensation benefits. Founder and owner, Faith Branvold has over 35 years of experience in the insurance industry.
The Coverage Pro was founded in 2019 with a commercial lines focus on construction, property, and towing. They also operate a robust personal lines department. Agency Principal and owner, Jeff LaScala, has over 25 years of experience in the industry.
Founded in 1983, United Valley Insurance Services is an exclusive membership network of over 85 independently owned and operated insurance agencies with more than 100 locations in the Western U.S. United Valley Insurance Services and its member agencies sell and service $1 billion in total written premium and have direct access to more than 60 insurance company markets countrywide.
Missouri’s Top Team Insurance Joins Valley Insurance Agency Alliance
Top Team Insurance in Springfield, Missouri, joined Valley Insurance Agency Alliance (VIAA), a cohesive family of nearly 150 independent insurance agencies in Missouri and Illinois.
Top Team Insurance was founded in 2021 by David Johnson. The full-service agency specializes in personal and life insurance.
Johnson has 15 years of experience in the construction field and owns numerous companies including team real estate, team property management, and team construction. Johnson also founded Infinity Martial Arts, which has three martial arts gym locations, as well as Infinity Fight Promotions.
Founded in 2006, VIAA generates more than $350 million in written premium and is the regional founding member for the Strategic Insurance Agency Alliance (SIAA), a $10 billion national alliance.
Keystone Signs Iowa’s Shomo-Madsen Insurance
Keystone Insurers Group (Keystone) added a new agency, Shomo-Madsen Insurance in Marshalltown, Iowa.
Shomo-Madsen was formed in 2010 by Bobby Shomo and Steve Madsen. The firm is are one of six independent agencies in the Iowa and 254 nationally to be named a Best Practices Agency over the past five years including 2020.
The agency well-known for their work with the Iowa Big I, with Madsen serving as the association’s current president. In addition, Shomo has served as a CIC Instructor. Aside from the agency’s Marshalltown main location, it has regional offices in Jewell, Colfax, Prairie City, Newton, Monroe, and Mingo.
Topics Mergers & Acquisitions Carriers
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