Agency of the month The Aspire Insurance Group team. From left: Chloe DeLaForest, Marketing; Caryn Weingartner, Agent; Beth DeLaForest, President; Adam DeLaForest, Chief Financial Officer; Kaitlyn Jensen, Agency Manager; and Whitney Elsen, Personal Lines Account Specialist. GOING REMOTE WITHOUT BEING REMOTE Relationships are key to success in the virtual world for this upper Midwest agency By Dennis H. Pillsbury • Photography by Lynn Donaldson Beth DeLaForest started her insurance career
From The Latest Issue
PIA National’s 2023 Young Insurance Professional (YIP) of the Year winner, Shannon S. Springer, vice president and chief financial officer of Springer Insurance, located in Midlothian, Virginia. A TRUE PROFESSIONAL Virginia young pro leaves mortgage industry to join family agency, and wins PIA national award By Christopher W. Cook Photography by Nick Judy “Shannon has a lot of energy and always projects a positive energy. She is always
OVERCOMING THE GENERATIONAL DIVIDE How to attract and successfully manage Gen Z talent By Mike Becker “I believe the children are our future.” These words from Whitney Houston’s song “Greatest Love of All” ring true for many businesses, including independent agencies. Agency owners understand that they need the next generation of talent to grow and thrive. Consider this: One-half of the current insurance workforce is set to retire in the
EXECUTING A STRONG GROWTH PLAN FOR INDEPENDENTS Leverage agency resources today that will pay off in the future By Nicole Farley In an increasingly competitive market, it’s essential for small and mid-sized agencies to have a growth plan. However, it’s difficult to concentrate on the long-term future when the short-term needs are pressing. Without a strong integrated growth plan in place, there are limited options for long-term profitability. Unfortunately, too
FRAUD BUSTERS THE TECH (AND HUMAN) APPROACH TO WORKERS COMP CLAIMS HANDLING The best way to combat fraud takes both technology and human intervention By Lori Widmer It comes as no surprise to anyone operating a business that fraud is a big cost driver in workers comp. While it is not a large percentage of the claims filed (estimates from Radius Insurance put it somewhere between 1% and 2% of
