ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 21, 2011 – InVEST, the insurance industry’s premier classroom to career education program, recently appointed James Bradner to its national board. Bradner is president of select business and personal lines of Towne Insurance Agency, LLC, in Virginia Beach, Va.
“InVEST is proud to announce James Bradner has joined our distinguished group of board members,” says Heather Minkler, InVEST board chair and CEO of Clark-Mortenson Agency, an independent agency in Keene, N.H. “Jim’s dedication to the industry through his leadership at the association level and as the principle of an independent insurance agency will be a huge asset to the InVEST board.”
In 1988, Bradner started The Chesapeake Agency, an independent insurance agency, and in 2001 sold it to Towne Bank, a community bank located in Eastern Virginia. He remains on the team of the growing organization. Bradner has long been active in the association and formerly served on the IIAV legislative committee. In 1999, he was elected chairman of the Independent Agents of Virginia (IIAV) and was named IIAV Agent of the Year (Golden Eagle) in 2009. Bradner currently serves on the Big “I” national board of directors from Virginia.
“InVEST is critically important not just to the future of the independent agency system, but to the insurance industry as a whole,” says Robert Rusbuldt, Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA or the Big “I”) president & CEO. “Survey results from the Agency Universe Study by Future One (a collaboration of the Big ‘I’ and leading independent agency companies) pointed to InVEST as a solution to save the future of the industry, with a majority of respondents stating the insurance industry should encourage high schools and community colleges to help students plan for insurance careers. Educators, volunteers, agents and industry leaders, like Jim Bradner, are key to the success of this program.”
As a 501(c)(3) educational trust, InVEST benefits from the support of numerous insurance organizations, hundreds of agencies, brokers and volunteers. The program provides the insurance industry with motivated, talented and intelligent professionals through a support structure of state associations, board members, national staff, teachers and the many industry professionals who work in the field as classroom liaisons.
Founded in 1970 and based in Alexandria, Va., InVEST promotes insurance education in order to attract individuals to pursue a career in the insurance industry. Each year, the program prepares thousands of students for insurance-related careers with a hands-on curriculum taught in high schools, adult education centers and community colleges. The high school curriculum is a business-education program that utilizes a hands-on approach which simulates an insurance agency and company operations to prepare students for various business careers and create more knowledgeable insurance consumers. At the college level, InVEST is an information-intensive curriculum of risk management and financial services. These courses provide students with a working knowledge of the basics needed to pursue careers in the insurance industry. For more information, go to www.investprogram.org.
Founded in 1896, the Big “I” is the nation’s oldest and largest national association of independent insurance agents and brokers, representing a network of more than 300,000 agents, brokers and their employees nationally. Its members are businesses that offer customers a choice of policies from a variety of insurance companies. Independent agents and brokers offer all lines of insurance—property, casualty, life, health, employee benefit plans and retirement products. Web address: www.independentagent.com.
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