ELM Brokers Open North Calif. and Orange Cty. Offices
ELM Insurance Brokers, Inc., has opened two new offices – one in Concord, Calif., which will be managed by Michele Epstein, and a second in Mission Viejo, to be run by Gregg E. Higgins.
Epstein began her insurance career in 1988 as a part-time data entry clerk. She went on to open and run an agency in San Francisco in 1990 and formed Attorneys Insurance Services in Concord in 1994. Through 2007, she was president of Attorneys & Professionals Insurance Services, Inc., a full-service retail brokerage focusing on professional liability, primarily within California’s legal community. Epstein holds both a property/casualty and life license and has earned the AAI, AIS, ACSR, CISR, CPIW and DAE designations. She has served as regional vice president and California state director of the National Association of Insurance Women. CCC of NAIW honored Epstein as the Rookie of the Year in 1995, Region VIII Rookie of the Year in 1996, and Member of the Year in 2003. In addition, she received the California AAMGA award in 2001.
Higgins has been a broker and director of field marketing since joining ELM in 2004. After retiring from the Navy in 1993, Higgins began his specialty lines career in the Boston office of AIG/National Union as an underwriting assistant. After numerous promotions, he was transferred to Arizona and appointed branch manager of the specialty lines division, a position he held until January 2000. Higgins subsequently was specialty lines underwriting manager for The Philadelphia Insurance Co. He is a graduate of University of Phoenix with a bachelor’s degree in business management. Higgins also attended Northeastern University in Boston, completing the H&R Block tax preparation course, and the Dale Carnegie Leadership for Managers Course.