{"id":3660,"date":"2026-07-09T15:37:57","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T15:37:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.independentagent.com\/new-jersey\/?page_id=3660"},"modified":"2026-07-09T15:37:58","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T15:37:58","slug":"howard-kucher-award","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.independentagent.com\/new-jersey\/howard-kucher-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Howard A Kucher Award"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"header has-background has-background-gradient has-radial-gradient-background header--page header--text-left header--width-full\">\n\t\t\t<figure class=\"header__media\" role=\"presentation\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\n\t<div class=\"header__layout\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\n<div class=\"header__content\">\n\t\n<h1 class=\"header__title has-h1-display-variant\">Howard A Kucher Award<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns alignwide is-layout-50-50 is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-a59044aa wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--xsmall);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--xsmall);flex-basis:50%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" style=\"object-position: 50% 50%\" src=\"https:\/\/www.independentagent.com\/new-jersey\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/25\/2026\/07\/umbrella_exposures.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3469\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.independentagent.com\/new-jersey\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/25\/2026\/07\/umbrella_exposures.jpg 750w, https:\/\/www.independentagent.com\/new-jersey\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/25\/2026\/07\/umbrella_exposures.jpg?resize=300,169 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-right:var(--wp--preset--spacing--xsmall);padding-left:var(--wp--preset--spacing--xsmall);flex-basis:50%\">\n<p class=\"has-h4-variant wp-block-paragraph\">Howard A Kucher Award<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Howard A Kucher Award is presented in memory of a man who zealously advocated on behalf of independent agents and who demonstrated remarkable dedication to the association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Each year, the Big I New Jersey chariman selects a member most deserving of this high honor. Receipients are announced during the banquet at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independentagent.com\/new-jersey\/2026-nj-agents-conference\/\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.independentagent.com\/new-jersey\/2026-nj-agents-conference\/\">NJ Agents Conference<\/a> in the fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center has-h2-variant\" id=\"h-past-award-recipients\">Past Award Recipients<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignwide has-primary-wash-background-color has-background is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--medium);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--medium)\">\n<div class=\"alignwide feature-grid has-3-columns\">\n<div class=\"feature feature--row\"><div class=\"feature__layout\"><div class=\"feature__text\"><h3 class=\"feature__heading\"><\/h3><div class=\"feature__description\"><strong>2000<\/strong> Howard Kucher<br><strong>2001 <\/strong>Michael Roche<br><strong>2002<\/strong> David L. Wyrsch, Sr., AAI<br><strong>2003<\/strong> Doris Zampella<br><strong>2004<\/strong> William H. Malone, Jr.<br><strong>2005<\/strong> Jacki Jungsberger, AAI, ACSR, CPIW<br><strong>2006<\/strong> Charles S. Stults, III<br><strong>2007<\/strong> Robert P. Aitkens, CRIS<br><strong>2008<\/strong> Louis Sofianakos, CPCU<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"feature feature--row\"><div class=\"feature__layout\"><div class=\"feature__text\"><h3 class=\"feature__heading\"><\/h3><div class=\"feature__description\"><strong>2009<\/strong> Glenn Watkins<br><strong>2010<\/strong> Gregory S. Blair, CIC, AAI<br><strong>2011<\/strong> Gerald F. Ford, III, CPCU, AAI<br><strong>2012<\/strong> L. Scott Stanford, AAI<br><strong>2013<\/strong> Brian Durkin, AAI<br><strong>2014<\/strong> Ken and Nancy Hagerman<br><strong>2015<\/strong> Michael Razze<br><strong>2016<\/strong> Denise Clayton<br><strong>2017<\/strong> Robert Hess<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"feature feature--row\"><div class=\"feature__layout\"><div class=\"feature__text\"><h3 class=\"feature__heading\"><\/h3><div class=\"feature__description\"><strong>2018<\/strong> L. Scott Stanford<br><strong>2019<\/strong> Roberta Fallon<br><strong>2020<\/strong> Christopher O&#8217;Neill, CRIS<br><strong>2021<\/strong> Jacki Frank<br><strong>2022<\/strong> Ramiro Martinez-Anillo<br><strong>2023<\/strong> Hal Soden Jr<br><strong>2024<\/strong> David Strout<br><strong>2025<\/strong> Matthew Hill<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<br><br>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In memory of Henry A. Franz.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":87,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"authentication_status":"","authentication_restrictions":[],"_downloads_block_files":[],"_sponsor_title":"","_sponsor_url":"","_person_author_id":0,"content-type":"","share_enabled":false,"community_list_site":"","bigi_community_list_restrictions":[],"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3660","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.2 (Yoast SEO v28.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Howard A Kucher Award - New Jersey<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independentagent.com\/new-jersey\/howard-kucher-award\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Howard A Kucher Award\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In memory of Henry A. 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