2010s
tournament and premier junior golf event . The Big “ I ” attracted elite junior golfers throughout the United States .
• Kansas was honored to host the Trusted Choice Big “ I ” National Golf Championship at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson on August 1-6 , 2015 . It was the second time that KAIA had been privileged to hold this event . The last time was in 1972 . The event has been four years in the planning . The tournament had 159 outstanding elite junior golfer participants . The tournament was won by Kansan , Wells Padgett of Wichita . The economic impact for Kansas having hosted the championship was estimated to be $ 1 million . The volunteers and sponsors for the event included 81 Kansas agents , company representatives , and many others .
• Kansas Trusted Choice partnered with the Kansas Chapter of Make-A-Wish . To mark the occasion , the Young Agents of Kansas sponsored a booth at the Rural & Small Agents ’ Conference featuring the Trusted Choice Chopper for Charity . The funds collected enabled KAIA members and Trusted Choice to send a four year old girl from Emporia , along with her family , to Disney World . Her wish to “ See the princesses ” came true . On April 30 , 2013 , KAIA and local agents hosted a welcome home party for her in Emporia . Trusted Choice committee chairman , Ron Bolz , served as spokesman at the party .
• In 2013 , the mission statement of KAIA was changed to read : “ Provide professional development ; Meet the business needs of Independent Agents in Kansas ; Represent the interest of the industry before the government and regulatory bodies ; Encourage integrity and high ethical standards ; Provide insurance information to members and the public through a private , non-profit , member-driven association .”
• The newest member of the Big “ I ” National Executive Committee was Kansan Bob Fee , president , and COO of Fee Insurance Group in Hutchinson . Bob was elected in April 2015 to serve as part of the toplevel leadership team for the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America . Bob served on the national Trusted Choice Committee , becoming chairman of the committee in 2009 . He then served on the Big “ I ” Government Affairs Committee while also representing Kansas as State Director for three years .
• The association presented a Lifetime Achievement Award to the family of Tom Murry at the 2015 conference . Tom died on March 13 , 2015 . He served on the KAIA board for ten years and was president of the association in 2001 . He was a member of the Government Affairs Committee at the time of his death .
• Dave Hulcher was hired as the new Executive Director for KAIA . He started July 1 , 2016 .
• March 6 , 2017 , KAIA received word from Monica Meininger of the Snell-Nelson Agency that devastating fires were burning around Ashland . The fire burned for three days and destroyed 400,000 acres in 21 Kansas counties . The Trusted Choice Disaster Relief Fund provided a cash donation to the Volunteer Fire Department in Ashland . Shannon Bower and Joan Sutton from KAIA , along with Monica Meininger , presented the donation to Bill Nier , the Volunteer Fire Chief . Nier and his volunteer crew worked more than 40 consecutive hours to save their town and as many homes as they could .
• An article in the January / February 2018 issue of the KIA & B magazine honored Case & Son Insurance for its 150 years of service to the insurance industry . It is the oldest insurance agency in Kansas to operate continuously in the same location , under the same name . Their slogan was “ In the Same
62 Kansas Association of Insurance Agents