| For many independent agents, political activism is part of daily life—not just a once-a-year visit to Washington, D.C. At the annual issues briefing yesterday during the Big “I” Legislative Conference, the Big “I” presented three awards to honor legislative involvement in the states.
The Big “I” gave the 2015 Sidney O. Smith Award—the association’s highest honor for legislative activism—to John Deardorff of Nebraska for going above and beyond the call of duty to serve his fellow agents and brokers in 2015. A two-time member of the Big “I” government affairs committee who has also served as the state government affairs chairman, Deardorff is a huge InsurPac supporter and has been a key contact for legislators in his state.
The 2015 Herndon Award went to the Insurors of Tennessee for successfully defeating an opt-out workers comp law in 2015, as well as achieving its overall 2015 InsurPac and Young Agent InsurPac goals. Political involvement runs deep in Tennessee, where a dozen insurance agents serve in the state legislature. The Insurors of Tennessee always send a strong contingency of agents to the Legislative Conference.
The Big “I” also honored Ray Gallant of Massachusetts with the 2015 Barney Burns Award for outstanding work for InsurPac. Since taking over as his state’s InsurPac chair three years ago, Gallant has helped increase InsurPac contributions in Massachusetts by $10,000 per year—culminating in raising more than $50,000 in 2015. His state recorded the second-highest number of total InsurPac donors last year, and 100% of his agency’s employees chose to follow his lead, donating to InsurPac in 2015. |