FALL <strong>2019</strong> THE BIG V I R G I N I A <strong>The</strong> <strong>Big</strong> I <strong>Virginia</strong> is a publication of the Independent Insurance Agents of <strong>Virginia</strong> 8600 Mayland Drive, Richmond, VA 23294 Phone: 804.747.9300 / Toll-free: 800.288.IIAV (4428) Fax: 804.747.6557 / E-mail: members@iiav.com / Website: iiav.com INSIDE 6 Message from the Chairman of the Board – Dennis Winfree 8 Meet Your New Chairman of the Board – Q & A with Dennis Winfree 12 Message from the Carter Lyons, CAE, IIAV Director of Education & Professional Development/VAIA Executive Director 13 Message from the State National Director – Michael F. Funkhauser 14 <strong>2019</strong> Preferred Partner Program 16 IIAV Year in Review 18 IIAV National Convention Highlights 20 Thank You to Our Convention Sponsors 22 Save the Date 2020 IIAV Convention 24 2018 Young Agent Awards 26 Meet Jake Nelson – New YA Committee Chair 28 Registration for A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats 30 How to Get Testimonials That Boost Your Credibility 32 Cool Ideas to Attract and Engage Employees 37 Good Things Are Coming! 38 <strong>2019</strong> IIAV Education THANK YOU ADVERTISERS 10 Allstar Financial Group AllstarFG.com 40 Applied Underwriters auw.com/us 25 Berkshire Hathaway GUARD Ins guard.com/apply 36 Bloss & Dillard aim-ins.com 7 Builders Mutual Insurance BuildersMutual.com 3 Donegal Insurance Group DonegalGroup.com 15 EMC Insurance emcins.com 31 FCCI Insurance Group fcci-group.com 13 Genesee Insurance geneseeins.com 11 Harford Mutual HarfordMutual.com 5 Iroquois Group iroquoisgroup.com 2 Jackson Sumner & Associates jsausa.com For more information on advertising, contact Eric Johnson Blue Water Publishers, LLC / 9406 N. 107th St., Milwaukee, WI 53224 414-708-2059 / fax: 414-354-5317 / eric@bluewaterpublishers.com 34 JGS Insurance/Preferred Property Program ppp-quotes.com 21 Keystone Insurance Group keystoneinsgrp.com 26 Penn National PennNationalInsurance.com 9 SageSure Insurance Managers Sagesure.com/besure/<strong>Virginia</strong> 38 SIAA 6 Triumph Commercial Finance triumphcf.com IIAV IS AN ORGANIZATION DEVOTED TO PROMOTING, ENHANCING, SERVING AND ASSISTING INDEPENDENT INSURANCE AGENTS. IIAV Staff Ally Barbour Communications/Media Manager abarbour@iiav.com Robert N. Bradshaw, Jr., MAM President & CEO rbradshaw@iiav.com Cell (804) 929-4134 Teri Chester Executive Secretary/ Receptionist & Membership Coordinator tchester@iiav.com Joe Hudgins, CPCU Technical Consultant jhudgins@iiav.com Cell (804) 929-4138 Bonnie Joyce Senior Insurance Administrative Assistant bjoyce@iiav.com Linda Loving, CIC, AISM, AIAO IIAV Chief Operating Officer & VFSC Executive Vice President lloving@iiav.com Cell (804) 929-4133 Susan E. C. Perkins Membership/Education Coordinator sperkins@iiav.com Carter Lyons, CAE IIAV Director of Education & Professional Development & VAIA Executive Director clyons@iiav.com Bonnie J. Warren, ACSR, CPIW, DAE, RPLU Insurance Account Executive bwarren@iiav.com Rebecca Arnold Member Services Assistant rarnold@iiav.com Donald W. Bragg, CPCU, CIC, CPIA, MBA Director of Membership & Marketing dbragg@iiav.com <strong>The</strong> <strong>Big</strong> I <strong>Virginia</strong> is a publication of the Independent Insurance Agents of <strong>Virginia</strong> and is published quarterly by Blue Water Publishers, LLC. <strong>The</strong> Independent Insurance Agents of <strong>Virginia</strong>, Inc. reserves the right in its sole discretion to reject advertising that does not meet IIAV qualifications or which may detract from its business, professional or ethical standards. IIAV and Blue Water Publishers, LLC do not necessarily endorse any of the companies advertising in the publication or the views of its writers. <strong>The</strong> publisher cannot assume responsibility for claims made by advertisers, content provided by the editor, or for the opinions expressed by contributing authors. 4 THE BIG VIRGINIA FALL <strong>2019</strong>