IIAT Installs New Leadership, Names Award-Winners
At the recent Independent Insurance Agents of Texas (IIAT) 112th Annual Trade Show & Conference in San Antonio, the group installed new officers and directors, and presented membership service awards.
Bryan Shofner, president of Shofner & Associates Insurance Agency Inc., a holding company that owns and operates Shofner Lynch and Shulse LLC in Texas and New Mexico, was installed as president for 2009-2010. David Wood, vice president and partner at Bogan, Dunlap & Wood Insurance in Odessa, was named president-elect, and Bob Shepard, of Shepard Walton King Insurance Group, Harlingen, will serve as vice president.
The IIAT also elected three new directors: Bill Barnard of Barnard Insurance Group in Wichita Falls, Kyle Paschall of Naler Insurance Agency Inc. in McGregor, and Diannah Tatum of Sanford & Tatum Insurance Agency in Lubbock.
The new leadership roles begin Sept. 1.
Shofner has served as IIAT president-elect and vice president, as well as an IIAT director. He also has served as the chairman of IMPACT and on the Personnel Recruitment & Development Task Force. In 2001, Shofner was named IIAT Young Agent of the Year.
Wood served most recently as chairman of the IMPACT Regional Vice Presidents and has served on the IIAT board of directors for three years, including vice-president of IIAT for 2008-2009. He also has been an active member on various IIAT committees, including the Budget & Finance Committee and the Volunteer Development Committee.
Wood began his insurance career working for United General Insurance Agency in Midland and in 1986, founded David Wood & Associates.
In addition to serving on IIAT’s board of directors, Shepard served as chairman of the IIAT Windstorm Task Force in 2008-2009. In the local community, he has served as a member of the Harlingen Industrial Foundation and president of the Harlingen Economic Development Board. He is a past member and chairman of the Harlingen Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.
Young Agent
Mark Bridges, a producer at Edmond, Deaton & Stephens Insurance Agency in Amarillo, was named the André P. Juneau Young Agent of the Year. The award is given annually to a young agent in Texas who has achieved success through hard work, community engagement and industry participation in a manner that would be considered exceptional for a person of his or her age.
Bridges is a third-generation independent insurance agent. His agency, Edmond, Deaton & Stephens, is owned by the Duncan, Fraser & Bridges Insurance Agency in Pampa, Texas, a member of the Combined Agents of America group.
Bridges began his career with The Millers Group in Ft. Worth, working in a variety of departments and helping Millers launch a new software company. But he was never far from his roots in the Panhandle.
In 2004, he opened an Amarillo office for Duncan, Fraser and Bridges. Within three years, he helped double the size of the organization, taking it from being virtually unknown to being among the top three largest agencies in Amarillo.
Drex Forman
Plano, Texas, independent insurance agent Don Medlin received the Drex Foreman Award, IIAT’s highest honor. The award is named after Drex Forman, who served as executive director of IIAT for more than 30 years.
Medlin is president and CEO of Scar-brough, Medlin & Associates Inc. He has served the independent agency system at several levels, including on the board and as president of the Independent Insurance Agents of Dallas. He is also a past president of IIAT.
Medlin started his career with the Gulf Insurance Group in Dallas. He formed Scarbrough, Medlin & Associates in 1982 with Dallas broker Paul Scarbrough. It now is one of the largest independent insurance agencies in the South Central United States.
2009 Paige Eiland Award
Bill Henry, CEO of Dallas-based McQueary Henry Bowles Troy LLP, is the winner of IIAT’s Paige Eiland Award for Voluntary Political Action. As a regional vice president for IIAT’s IMPACT program, Henry has raised more than half a million dollars for Texas agent political action programs. He is also one of the largest individual contributors to IMPACT and regularly supports elections at both the state and national level. He has worked closely with the Texas Legislature and regulators on improving the workers’ compensation system and reducing the Assigned Risk Pool deficit in Texas.
Henry has been active in the insurance industry since 1972. In 1983, he co-formed McQueary & Henry Inc. Today, McQueary Henry Bowles Troy LLP is one of the largest privately owned independent agencies in the United States.
The political action award honors Paige Eiland, a politically active member of IIAT and a long-serving IMPACT regional VP.
ACSR of the Year
Patricia Ann Daniel, assistant vice president and insurance consultant with Extraco Banks N.A. dba: Extraco Insurance in Waco, was named Accredited Customer Service Representative (ACSR) of the Year.
Specializing in life and health insurance, Daniel oversees the Employee Benefits Department for Extraco Insurance, serving as the in-house agent for hundreds of Extraco Bank employees.
In 2008, Daniel was given a Top Financial Partners Award at Extraco for having increased Employee Benefits sales 246 percent over the previous year.