The year was 1924. The first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was held in New York City. Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” premiered at Carnegie Hall. The first Winter Olympics opened in Chamonix, France. Ford Motor Company manufactured its 10 millionth automobile. Hubble announced the existence of distant galaxies. And the Insurance Exchange of Houston was born.
The small organization would go on to become the Independent Insurance Agents of Houston (IIAH), the largest local association in the nation. IIAH will celebrate the 80th anniversary of its incorporation on June 11, 2004. Despite its age, IIAH is today a vibrant, vigorous organization that is central to the Houston and Texas insurance communities.
How did it all begin?
Records show that insurance agents were providing services in Houston as early as 1878 and several precursors to the organization that eventually became IIAH existed throughout the late 1800s and into the first years of the 20th century.
In 1924, the Insurance Exchange of Houston was incorporated by L. O. Jarrell. Its purpose was to “reduce fire waste and elevate the individual professional standard of insurance business.” It began with four charter Directors, A. D. Langham, W. Tucker Blaine, S. G. Raphael and W. T. Torrey, and several charter members, including L. O Jarrell, W. O. Woods and De Witt Jones. By the end of the decade the group listed 37 members.
“The history of the Independent Insurance Agents of Houston is concurrent with the history of the City of Houston, ” said Carole Shelton, executive director of the IIAH. “The rise and progress of Houston, as one of the greatest cities in the United States, is parallel to the progress of the IIAH—both due to foresight, determination and dynamic leadership.”
In response to mounting fire losses in the city, the group campaigned for increased fire safety throughout the 1930s, and in 1933 the Insurance Exchange was instrumental in the creation of the city’s Bureau of Fire Prevention, which included an active arson squad. In addition, that year one of its members, Gus S. Wortham, was honored as the first insurance man to be elected president of the Houston Chamber of Commerce.
Through the years of World War II and well into the 1950s the Insurance Exchange evolved and responded to the changing risks created by the rapidly growing metropolis. Just as Houston was booming, so was the local association. By 1963, it had become the largest local association in the United States. In 1966, 29 people graduated from the first Insurance Exchange Clerical School and the organization changed its name to the Houston Association of Insurance Agents (HAIA).
In 1972, the HAIA merged with Houston Association of Mutual Insurance Agents, dba Insurance Counselors Association of Houston. A few years later the association changed its name to the Independent Insurance Agents of Houston.
Shelton became secretary/executive director of IIAH in 1992. The following year, with the merger of the Professional Insurance Agents of Texas (PIAT) and the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas (IIAT), IIAH and PIA-Greater Houston merged. The name of the combined group was changed to Independent Insurance Agents of Houston, dba Houston Association of Insurance Agents, once again.
By 1998, the association went back to calling itself the Independent Insurance Agents of Houston. Now, its 164 member agencies represent over 10,000 independent insurance professionals in the Houston and surrounding area. In addition, it has 114 affiliate member companies.
“To this day it remains the largest local association,” Shelton said, “with its membership and member benefit programs rivaling that of many current state associations.”
Devotion to education
IIAH is perhaps best known for the educational opportunities that it provides to its members.
“[IIAH] continues to provide a solid foundation for some of the best education for insurance people in Texas,” said Bill Fink, president of Delta General Agency Corp., an IIAH affiliate.
Lenny Bauer, IIAH immediate past president and senior vice president of Brady, Chapman, Holland & Associates, said it is important for agencies to take advantage of the education that IIAH provides.
“The association provides the education to the agency staff that is important in maintaining their licenses and also in continually improving their technical knowledge and staying up to date with changes in the industry,” he said.
Central to IIAH’s educational offerings is the Insurance Service Advisor (ISA) Program. The six-week training program to recruit and train new service staff to the insurance industry was established in the year 2000. About 40 students have completed the program thus far, according to Shelton.
Ken Kapelka, former IIAH president and principal at Insurance Associates of the Southwest, lauded the ISA program.
“One of the major challenges in the insurance industry today is finding qualified, trained professional staff to work in our agencies to handle our clients,” he said. “The program itself takes new hires into our agencies (people that are not in our industry) and it puts them through a course where they learn the basics of our industry and our business and they come out prepared to work in our agencies and to start handling clients.
“The other thing that goes hand in glove with this is they have just recently put a virtual university online where they have interactive classes. The amount of education that they bring to the table for our agency is a great benefit.”
The IIAH’s virtual university, established in 2002, is the first Texas Department of Insurance approved provider offering on-line classroom equivalent of continuing education credits.
IIAH also provides free CE classes, offering licensed individuals in member agencies the opportunity to obtain all of their license CE credit hours annually at no cost.
The organization also holds an average of 75 CE training days annually, both at the association and in-house.
Steve Davis, president of IIAH, said that the local association is able to provide more educational opportunities than a state or national organization. He stated that the ISA program and virtual university available through the association’s Web site are unique offerings that “are harder to do at a state or national level.”
Events, awards and recognitions
IIAH’s accomplishments include the Houston Insurance Day annual convention, which marked its 21st year in 2004. Attended by more than 800 individuals, this year’s event featured educational opportunities for both CSRs and agency principals/managers, and an exhibit hall representing 90 vendors.
Other events the association organizes include the IIAH Charity Gala and IIAH Beach Bowl. These annual events raise funds to support the charities funded through the association’s Charitable Foundation.
IIAH awards two scholarships: the Myron F. Steves Scholarship, given to an IIAH member individual for tuition towards the designation of their choosing; and the Richard Marks Scholarship, awarded to an individual to attend the IIAH ISA training program.
The association also recognizes a Houston firefighter for his or her valor and service to the Houston community with the Firefighter of the Year Award. In addition, IIAH sponsors a Fire Poster Contest, which celebrates its 30th year in 2004. The contest is held in conjunction with the Houston Fire Department, with awards given to grades kindergarten through twelve for excellence in fire safety posters.
In 2003, IIAH partnered with the National Alliance for Insurance Education & Research to conduct CIC Institutes in Houston and the surrounding 34 counties. It is currently the only local association in the United States to hold a licensee
agreement with the National Alliance, according to Shelton.
Affiliate members play vital role
IIAH currently has 114 affiliate member companies. Shelton said that the affiliates sponsor educational programs and events and also serve on its committees and its board of directors.
“Our affiliate members are a vital part of our association,” she said. “They are a tremendous part of the success of our association. IIAH membership also gives the affiliates the opportunity to interact directly with our members on issues facing our industry and our clients.”
Delta General Agency Corporation has been an affiliate member of IIAH for a very long time, according to Bill Fink.
“The local association is the source and grass roots of any state or national organization,” he stated. “The talent, service and spirit of our insurance community begins at home with the IIAH. It is evident from IIAH’s proud history that having a strong local [association] provides for a strong and vibrant insurance marketplace.”
London American Risk Specialists Inc. has been an IIAH affiliate since 1990. “Our IIAH affiliation is important to our company because it allows us to meet people and to keep up with industry issues,” said Brady Carruth, president of the company.
Marcus Jensvold, president of M.D. Jensvold & Company, noted that his company’s involvement in the association is extremely valuable.
“IIAH is a superb organization that contributes many good things to the industry,” he said. “It is important to us for the benefits it offers and for the recognition we receive by being a member.
“The direct benefits of belonging to IIAH include learning from the excellent continuing education program and helping us to foster good relations with the members. The indirect benefits come from IIAH helping to make the insurance community better educated and informed on important issues and promoting a positive public image for the industry in the Houston area. In my nearly 34 years in Houston, I cannot recall any other group providing the latter.”
Benefiting agents and brokers
Agencies benefit from the networking opportunities that the association provides, according to Bauer. He said the association allows agencies to develop relationships with each other and promotes friendly competition.
“The association provides networking opportunities and resources to stay up to date with agency management issues such as compensation levels and staffing issues,” Bauer said. “Member agencies can share ideas, participate in legislative issues that impact the industry and give the member agencies a voice in what is best for the industry that provides a livelihood for all of us.
“The information provided by the local association keeps you up to date with the local activities of the agency members and affiliates and supports functions that provide funds to local charities, which improves and promotes the ethical and technical professionalism of the independent agency.”
Kapelka said that agents and brokers can get more out of the association by serving on the committees. The association’s working committees represent the areas of career development, charitable projects, education, legislative, membership, young agents, recreational, publications and convention activities. Over 160 individual members meet monthly to plan and implement the activities of IIAH.
“The executive director and the staff are probably as skilled as any group of people that I’ve ever worked with,” Kapelka stated. “They know what they’re doing, they’re very responsive, and if you’ll go to any of their committee meetings or board meetings, they use their membership and their committees to come together and to develop concepts and ideas. The committee chair people and the rest of the staff will actually take the ball and run with it. They develop the programs from there. So it’s a pleasure just to even work on the committees with them.”
Davis encouraged agents and brokers to take the initiative and volunteer for the association.
“The cliché of you get out of something what you put into it [is true],” he said. “Call the association; they’re not going to contact you, but find a committee to be on because they’re always looking for volunteers. I have felt like I have been on a committee since the very beginning and it’s been nothing but fun.”
Topics USA Texas Agencies Training Development
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