• YAC – we have a successful Young Agents Committee that continues to grow and connects young agents throughout the state. The YAC provides direction for individuals that enter the insurance industry. They provide sales and educational training along with great networking opportunities while always having a good time. We need to continue to find ways to recruit and retain young talent to our industry.
• ADVOCACY – we have a strong Government Affairs team that monitors key issues while keeping our members well informed on state and national legislation. Will Larson and our lobbyist Dan Murray, spend countless hours at the Capital attending committee meetings, functions and legislative activities. They are always networking with our key legislators on the important issues that face our industry. It’ s great to see Ken Selzer, Kansas Insurance Commissioner, attend many of our events and be involved with our association on many levels. During the session, KAIA hosts a weekly reception for our legislators that is always well attended. We have received great feedback from our legislators on how effective these receptions are, and this allows us valuable one-on-one time.
• COMMUNICATION – Keeping our members informed on industry related news, trends, upcoming events, continuing education and member benefits is an important function of KAIA. With three different publications- KIA & B magazine, Capitol Notes Newsletter and the Kansas Agent Newsletter, the association provides our members with both print and email material on important issues and information to benefit our agencies and industry.
• INDUSTRY PARNTERS – We have a valuable Industry Partnership Program with our companies. This partnership allows our companies to connect with our members by sponsoring and attending our events, functions and promotions. Having this support from our company partners enables KAIA to host our great events and conferences.
I also want to recognize and applaud the AScK staff and board that was challenged this year to expand market access programs. We recognized that many of our members struggle to place several lines of coverage. Having all the resources and capabilities already within AScK allowed this opportunity to get started for minimal costs and in a timely manner. Please consider using AScK for any of your difficult or hard to place risks.
I need to express much thanks to Joan Sutton, Shannon Bower and Bob Harris for their leadership during our transition process. The board and staff leaned heavily on this these three for their guidance and managing the day-to-day operations for the association. Thanks again to Joan, Shannon and Bob for stepping up!
I want to thank the KAIA Board of Directors and all those who have served on the various committees the past year. Your time and dedication to our association benefits all our members first and foremost. Having a diverse group of insurance professionals serving on our board allows us insight and understanding as to how the insurance industry affects all of us throughout the state. I appreciate your time away from the office and family and your commitment to the association. For those who have not served on a committee, I encourage you do so.
The Executive Committee was instrumental in the hiring of our new Executive Director, Dave Hulcher. We’ ve spent hours in meetings, on conference calls and sending / reading emails. I cannot thank SueAnn Schultz, Cindy Hower, Lyle Davidson, Scott Strong and Lee Gleason enough for all their time and energy spent during the search process. Thank you all for making this a major success for the association. We had fun along the way, and I tried to keep everything under control. Going through the search process may have triggered my first few gray hairs!! KAIA was also very fortunate to have SueAnn serve on our board. She brought many great ideas, and her judgment and approach is always spot on.
Once the EC established the skills sets and key drivers needed for this position, it was our intention to find the best candidate to be the“ Face of KAIA.” We received numerous outstanding resumés, and almost all the candidates had previous ties with Larry Magill, even Dave did. This shows how well respected Larry was, and how he represented our association. The Exec. Committee quickly identified Dave as our top candidate. Dave had a strong skill set, a positive energy and twenty years of insurance experience. We had just one minor issue … he lived in Virginia. Dave and his wife Laura, were able to visit Kansas a couple times and see why we all make our homes here. We worked through the negotiations and were able to get Dave on board in early July. If you have not had a chance to meet or visit with Dave, please reach out to him. He will be a great leader, resource and asset for our association!
The association is in very good hands moving forward. My congratulations to Lyle Davidson as our new President for KAIA. Lyle will do a tremendous job guiding our association for the next year.
As Elvis said“ Thank you. Thank you very much”
| September- October 2016 | KANSAS INSURANCE AGENT & BROKER
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