The results of the 2010 Accellerations sales contest were revealed this afternoon at a recognition luncheon held at the Glasbern Inn in Fogelsville, PA.

The October Commercial Lines Producer of the month was Tim Sebastian of Hampson Mowrer Kreitz with $265,738 new business. That business also helped Tim take home the Next Generation Award for 2010 with $761,762 of new business written for the entire contest period.

The Commercial Lines Producer of the Year was awarded to Tim Kurtz of Hampson Mowrer Kreitz with $820,070 of new business written for the entire contest period. Tim also won the The Commercial Lines Grand Prize Winner drawing from among the monthly winners.

Miers Insurance won the Personal Lines Agency of the Year, and Hampson Mowrer Kreitz was the winner of the Commercial Lines Agency of the Year.

Also present at the event were our Platinum Sponsors, Ohio Casualty and Selective Insurance who were recognized for their great support of the contest.

Accellerations 2010 generated a total new business written for the contest period of $10,067,714 in commercial lines business and $1,656,142 in personal lines.
Pictured are Tim Kurtz, Alliance President and CEO Jane Koppenheffer, and Tim Sebastian, with their awards.

The Insurance Alliance is once again partnering with Westfield Insurance to support the new season of Westfield Insurance Brain Busters, the academic contest TV show that features teams from local high schools. Alliance President and CEO Jane Koppenheffer and Alliance Vice President of Claims and Operations Chuck Joiner will appear on several of the shows, so tune in to see The Alliance featured on WGAL-TV. The schedule of appearances includes:

Selective Insurance and The Insurance Alliance have partnered once again to donate scholarship funding through the Pennsylvania EITC program. This year, $80,000 was provided to The Bravo Foundation to support schools nominated by several Insurance Alliance members.

The check presentation was made at The Insurance Alliance’s September Board Meeting. Attending were (left to right):

Joe Geise – Gearhart-Herr; Jeffrey Mac – The Nativity School; Amy Keller – New Covenant Christian School, Bill Kreitz of Hampson Mowrer Kreitz, Jim Pace – Christian-Baker Company; Shaun Yorgey – the Perkiomen School, Wayne Dotson of The Nativity School, Rick Hartfield of
Rigg Darlington Group, Roger Lawson – The Nativity School, Don Wert - American Insurance Administrators, David Bond – Selective Insurance; Tim Wilkins – Bethlehem Christian School; Juanya Jones - The Nativity School; Paul Sheaffer – Paul I. Sheaffer Insurance Agency; Bart Bronk – The School at Church Farm; Doug Gibbons – Mierrs Insurance; Jaki Cobb – The Nativity School; John Hine – Hutchison Insurance Agency; Alan Sterner – Sterner Insurance.

For the fifth consecutive year, The Insurance Alliance has been named among the Top 100 Property Casualty Independent Agencies, according to Insurance Journal magazine.

This year’s ranking is #45, up from #47 last year, and maintaining the position of #2 for Pennsylvania-centric P&C agencies.

As part of the Insurance Alliance – Eastern Alliance Client Encounter recently held at the Hershey Country Club, American Insurance Administrators (AIA) took home the first Eastern Alliance Return-To-Work Award.

Suzanne Emmett of Eastern Alliance presented Don Wert of AIA with the plaque that recognizes the agency’s commitment to returning injured workers to full or part-time employment, both as a cost-control method for clients as well as a benefit to the workers, who are not abandoned to the workers’ compensation bureaucracy.

The Insurance Alliance and Eastern Alliance Insurance Group recently worked together to create the first Client Encounter that brought together senior management from both organizations along with Alliance customers and prospects to discuss real-world issues in workers’ compensation.

The event was held at the Hershey Country Club, with presentations and roundtable sessions in the morning, followed by a golf outing in the afternoon. Alan Sterner and Ryan Amey of Sterner Insurance and their guests won the scramble tournament, Jeff Barr of Miers Insurance won the longest drive, and Don Wert of American Insurance Administrators took home the closest-to-the-pin prize.

Alan Sterner, principal of Sterner Insurance, was selected to attend Westfield Insurance’s recent Legislative Conference. This conference held at Westfield’s home office was designed to provide agents with insight into the legislative process to equip them to become more involved with political issues. The conference included a congressional simulation exercise, a panel with two independent insurance agents who serve as representatives in their state governments, and an overview of current insurance/political issues. Insurance Alliance President and CEO Jane Koppenheffer, who is serving as President of the Westfield Agents Association in 2010, also attended.

The 2010 version of The Insurance Alliance’s Connections was a little different this year. A picnic in the Allenberry Meadow featured a variety of activities, including two dunk tanks.

Members of The Insurance Alliance and their members’ took turns in Tank 1, while carrier volunteers cooled off in Tank 2. It was all in good fun, but also had a purpose: to help raise money for Kids’ Chance of PA, an organization that helps with the education of children who’s parents were killed or seriously injured in a work-related accident.

Suzanne Emmett of the Eastern Alliance Insurance Group accepted a check from a dunked Alliance President and CEO Jane Koppenheffer for over $750 in donations.

Volunteering to get wet for a good cause were (in alphabetical order):

• Chuck Adams of Selective Insurance
• Mike Boguski of Eastern Alliance Insurance Group
• John Cyb of Travelers
• Dave Dyson of Hampson Mowrer Kreitz
• Randy Fulmer of The Donegal Insurance Companies
• Dan Gaynor of Harleysville Insurance
• Kurt Gjerde of Ohio Casualty
• Chuck Joiner of The Insurance Alliance
• Jane Koppenheffer of The Insurance Alliance
• Matt Macievic of Sterner Insurance
• Jim Pace of Christian-Baker Company
• Alle Parker of Mierrs Insurance
• Mike Telarico of The Cincinnati Insurance Companies
• Jon Zinn of Zinn Insurance

More than a few photos of the dunkers and dunkees are included in the Connections 2010 Flickr photo set.

At Connections 2010, The Cincinnati Insurance Companies were awarded Commercial Carrier of the Year honors for the second year in a row.

J.F. Scherer, Executive Vice President, and Bill Clevidence, Assistant Vice President for Sales and Marketing, were on hand to accept the award from Alliance President and CEO Jane Koppenheffer as well as participate in the event.

Alliance staff members cited their underwriter’s professionalism and commitment, responsiveness and attitude as some of the top reasons for their second trip to the podium.

The Insurance Alliance made some changes to the annual Connections event this year. Instead of the more structured, presentation-oriented format of past years, a picnic in the Meadow at the Allenberry Resort in Boiling Springs.

Held on August 3, the event featured a picnic lunch, lots of informal networking time while playing volleyball, softball, frisbee and horseshoes, not one but two dunk tanks to benefit Kids’ Chance of PA, and the “Carrier Carnival,” where attendees could visit tables set up by exhibiting carriers, participate in carnival games, and earn tickets toward the raffle prizes.

At the end of the day, Connections awards, Personal and Commercial Carrier of the Year awards were handed out, and raffle prizes of Alliance beach towels, Keurig coffee makers, customized Flip video cameras and Apple iPads were given out to lucky Alliance and carrier winners.

Enjoy the sights of the day (over 300 of them) in our Connections 2010 Flickr photo set.