(West Point, New York, May 12, 2016) - The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of New York (IIABNY) today elected John H. (Jack) Smith, Jr., CPCU, ARM, CIC as its chair of the board for the 2016-17 term. Smith was sworn in during a ceremony following IIABNY’s Annual Business Meeting, held at The Thayer Hotel at West Point. Members also elected and installed new officers and regional members of the board of directors.
Smith is executive vice-president of William A. Smith & Son Insurance, an 88-year-old family-owned and operated agency headquartered in Newburgh, New York. He also managers the agency’s subsidiary Ralph V. Ellis Insurance in Poughkeepsie.
A member of the IIABNY board of directors since 2009, he has chaired the group’s health care reform task force and its audit, finance and CEO search committees. He has also served on the association’s insurance review and telematics task forces; the cost-shifting working group; and the health care advisory group. As the IIABNY board’s chair-elect and secretary-treasurer, he has also served as chair of the board of IAAC, IIABNY’s member services division. He is past president of the Independent Insurance Agents Association of Orange County and is a current co-chair of New York First, a coalition of insurance companies and trade associations that support the independent agency system in the State of New York.
A resident of the Town of Poughkeepsie, Jack Smith has coached youth soccer and basketball in Poughkeepsie and served as president of the Town of Poughkeepsie Little League; served as a member of the board of directors of Family Services, Inc. in Poughkeepsie, and as chair of the Newburgh YMCA; currently serves as a member of the board of directors of the St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital Foundation; and is a former member of the Lions Club of Newburgh. He graduated from Wake Forest University and worked in commercial underwriting and management capacities with Kemper Insurance. Prior to joining William A. Smith & Son, he was a sales representative for Computer Sciences Corp., marketing software, consulting and outsourced services to the insurance industry.
In his remarks, Smith outlined the issues that will be his focus during his one-year term, including:
- Legislation to ensure that New York employers will receive advance notice when their Workers’ Compensation premiums increase substantially
- A bill to ease financial burdens on New York employers with regard to safe workplace programs
- Improvements to the state’s processes for insurance producer licensing and continuing education
- Continued collaboration with the New York State Insurance Fund to make doing business with the Fund easier for insurance brokers
- Promoting the value of the independent insurance agency/brokerage system
- Programs to encourage high school and college students to pursue insurance careers
- The transition following the forthcoming retirement of President and CEO Richard Poppa
Richard MacDonald, CPCU, ARM, AIM, vice-president, director of sales for Haylor, Freyer & Coon in Syracuse, was elected to a one-year term as vice-chair and secretary-treasurer.
IIABNY members also elected and re-elected the following regional directors:
- Jessica Belleville, president of Belleville Associates in Tupper Lake, New York, to a two-year term representing the state’s Capitol District and areas north
- Ronald Brunell, managing principal of The Signature B&B Companies in Valley Stream, New York, to a one-year term representing the New York City metro-suburban areas
- David MacLachlan, partner at Dominick Falcone Agency, Inc. and Falcone Associates, Inc. in Syracuse, to a two-year term representing the central and western areas of the state
- Karen Peters, CPCU, senior vice-president of Rose & Kiernan, Inc. in Albany, New York, to represent the state’s Capitol District and areas north
Christopher Brassard, CIC, executive vice-president and director of Ten Eyck Group in Albany, New York, won a two-year term as a member representative on the Nominating Committee, which evaluates candidates for leadership positions and makes recommendations to the membership. Brassard is a past chair of the IIABNY board.
Earlier in the day, the IIABNY board of directors re-elected Jeanne Salvatore of the Insurance Information Institute in New York City to a two-year term as a director-at-large.
About IIABNY
The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of New York, Inc. has represented the common business interests of independent insurance professionals since 1882. More than 1,750 agencies and their 13,000 plus employees currently rely on the DeWitt, New York-based not-for-profit trade association for legislative advocacy, continuing education and other means of industry support. In addition, most IIABNY members proudly identify themselves as Trusted Choice® agents and brokers, a national consumer brand uniting more than 21,000 independent agencies across the United States.
For more information, go to www.trustedchoice.com or www.iiabny.org.
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