The winners of Accellerations 2011, the Insurance Alliance’s annual sales contest, were announced at a luncheon at the West Shore Country Club in Mechanicsburg today.

In attendance were the monthly winners of the contest, those in contention for the various prizes, members of The Alliance’s Board of Directors and representatives of Accellerations’ Platinum sponsors, Ohio Casualty and Selective Insurance.

Award winners announced included:

• The October Commercial Lines Producer of the Month was Matt Maurer of American Insurance Administrators.
• Ryan Rispoli of Hampson Mowrer Kreitz was the winner of the Next Generation Award with $432,167 of new business written for the entire contest period.
• Jon Zinn of Zinn Insurance was the winner of the new Diversification Award writing over $288,000 of new business in this category.
• The Commercial Lines Producer of the Year was Patrick McElwee of Sterner Insurance with $1,257,362 of new business written for the entire contest period.
• The Commercial Lines Grand Prize Winner (chosen by drawing) was Patrick McElwee of Sterner Insurance.
• Miers Insurance was the winner of the Personal Lines Agency of the Year.
  
• Sheaffer Insurance was the winner of the Commercial Lines Agency of the Year.

More photos of the event are available on the Alliance Flickr stream.

(Pictured from let to right: Paul Sheaffer of Sheaffer Insurance, Patrick McElwee of Sterner Insurance, Ryan Rispoli of Hampson Mowrer Kreitz, and Doug Gibbons of Miers Insurance.)

Westfield Insurance donated $10,000 to Lutheran Disaster Relief of Lower Susquehanna Valley on November 4, matching an earlier donation to the Bridge of Penn-York Valley Churches.

Following Tropical Storm Lee, Westfield customers were among the hundreds who did not have flood insurance. Flood damage is only covered by the National Flood Insurance Program through the federal government. According to local officials, the floodwaters were some of the highest since Hurricane Agnes hit the area in 1972. Due to low incidence of flooding, flood insurance is not required in most of the Pennsylvania communities affected by Tropical Storm Lee.

“Our business is about helping people put their lives back together after the unexpected happens,” says Steve Fisher, Westfield Insurance eastern division leader. “This donation from our Foundation aids in the recovery efforts for flood victims across the region.”

Westfield worked with local employees, agency partners such as Henry-Dunn, Inc., as well as The Insurance Alliance of Central Pennsylvania and another local nonprofit partner Habitat for Humanity of Lancaster County to determine where to send philanthropic support.

Pictured a the check presentation are Steve Fisher (Westfield), Tim Brown (Lutheran Disaster Relief), Judy Bassett (Lutheran Disaster Relief), Greg Zinn (Zinn Agency-Myerstown) and Wayne Gearhart (Westfield) (Photo credit: Westfield Insurance)