Jackson Sumner & Associates is a company that is full of activity, despite being located in a quiet mountain town. Full of youthful exuberance by our close proximity to Appalachian State University, we also get tremendous energy from being an MGA in the constantly-changing E&S insurance market and the tenacity of the family-run leadership of the company itself.
As we come to the year-end, it’s always a good time to look back and see the journey that we have taken the prior year…see some of the good we’ve accomplished. Companies should be no different than individuals, and it should extend far beyond a profit and loss sheet. So join JSA as we look back at some of our top accomplishments in our journey through 2018 (and click on the link in each headline to learn more):
1) JSA Won National MGA Award from PIA
Jackson Sumner & Associates (JSA) was named the 2018 Managing General Agent (MGA) of the Year by the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA) during the PIA Fall Governance Meeting award luncheon on Sept 28th in Portland, Maine for our “successful efforts to create a better business environment for professional insurance agents.”
2) We Enhanced our Website for Agent’s Needs
We revamped our Online Application Page to make it easier to search for apps. We also launched a Marketing Resources Page that allows agents to easily download sales sheets of programs and customize them with their own information for marketing use.
3) We Added New Faces
We bolstered our Marketing Team with the addition of Marketing Representative Adam Winfree in Virginia and promoted Scott Banks from Underwriting to be the Marketing Representative for North Carolina. Internally, we promoted Ken Howell to Accounting Assistant, and also added Devin Sink to our IT department, Liz Kuentzel as Administrative Assistant, Mandy Marxen as Communications & Content Coordinator, Macey Williams as P&C Renewal Underwriter, Burke Allred as Transportation Renewal Underwriter, and Roy DeBord as Building Maintenence & Cleaning.
4) We Launched Peak Programs for New Heights of Awareness
We unveiled 10 top specialty areas of expertise across each of our departments in an easy-to-use format for our agents and named them “Peak Programs.” With reliable coverage, competitive rates, and experienced underwriting, each one offers “peak points” of coverage, available enhancements, and target classes.
5) We Weathered 2 Major Storms
North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia saw two major hurricanes come through this fall with Hurricane Michael and Hurricane Florence. Both hit NC very hard and were intense rain events that impacted so many of our agents and their insureds. We stayed up the whole time and tried to help out in any way possible throughout these serious events. (And it was really THREE major storms if you factor in the snow brought by Diego in December.)
6) Wayne Won Big
Jackson Sumner & Associates Founder & CEO, Wayne Sumner, was awarded the 2018 Company Person of the Year by Independent Insurance Agents of Virginia at the Virginia Annual Convention in June for being, “an example of leadership and selflessness.”
7) Haley Everett Got a Citation – The Good Kind
P&C Underwriter Haley Everett was awarded A Chairman’s Citation Award from Independent Insurance Agents of North Carolina for her “long-standing and impactful contribution to the iLEAD Committee.”
8) Agencies Got In On More Fun
We held our first ever JSA Agency Halloween Contest because our internal contest was so popular. We were overwhelmed by the creativity and enthusiasm of our agencies! It was voted on by JSA employees, and the first winner was SIA Group with their representation of the cast of ‘The Office.’ Well done! We also crowned Will Hendricks of Murrow Insurance Agency as the winner of the 2018 NCAA Basketball Tournament Contest, and released our first ever College Football Bowl Game Contest – going on now!
9) We Played Around With Wayne
We unveiled a new video game for our Thanksgiving arcade this year, Hang Wayne! It was a fun way to play around with our CEO’s commitment to veganism and feed our competitive spirit to win that high score.
10) We Gave Back in a Record-Setting Way
JSA raised a record amount through the Charitable Giving Campaign in 2018 with over $16,240 being raised in total. The charities our employees chose to benefit from these funds were Watauga Humane Society, Hunger & Health Coalition of Watauga Backpack Food Program, Richmond Conexiones, Matthews Help Center, Carney Strong/ Brothers Helping Brothers, and Sunnyside Ministry.
All in all, we feel like 2018 was a really good one. We were able to help our agents, serve our companies, add good people to our mix and give back to the industry and our community. We can’t wait to see what 2019 holds, and we are eager to make it a great year together!
