Southwest Missourians lead statewide agents' group

The leadership of a statewide group that represents Missouri's independent insurance agents will have a southwest flair in 2010-11.

In July, Missouri Association of Insurance Agents named Scott Brothers, president of The Insurancenter in Joplin, and Byron Robison, vice president and director of Great Southern Insurance in Springfield, president-elect and vice-president elect, respectively.

Founded in 1899, MAIA represents about 4,000 independent insurance agents, brokers and their employees, who sell all lines of insurance, employee benefit plans and retirement products.

Rounding out MAIA's current executive officer roster with Brothers and Robison is 2009 President Belinda Brenizer, president of Hawkins Insurance Group in Edina, and Secretary-Treasurer Doug Clift, president of Bowersox Insurance Agency in St. Louis.

Brothers and Robison say they're eager to help Missouri insurance agents achieve business growth and tackle issues such as health care and marketing.

"I see it as a way to give back to an industry that has been good to me for many years," Brothers said of his involvement with MAIA. A 35-year industry veteran, Brothers was an MAIA regional director 1998-2004, and he has served on its producer development and leadership conference committees.

The association's goal is to educate and inform the state's professional independent insurance agents, promote high standards of conduct among its members, increase public understanding of the insurance business, and represent the interest of its members and their clients in the Missouri legislature and at the federal level.

"The MAIA is important because it provides people a voice in the legislature," Brothers said. "Insurance agents are advocates for their clients."

MAIA's Web site, which can be accessed through www.iiaba.net, shows several pieces of insurance-related legislation supported by MAIA that passed in 2008, including:

• SB 788, which codified an executive order that renamed the Missouri Department of Insurance as the Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions and Professional Registration, bringing multiple regulatory divisions into the department;

• HB 1690, which allowed insurers to make Web based rate and form filings and authorized them to send auto coverage renewal notices electronically as long as policyholders opt in to receiving electronic notices; and

• HB 1833, which addressed employment practices and includes a provision specifying that the right to workers' compensation benefits ends upon an injured employee's death.

At the top of Robison's legislative target list is the House Democrats' health care bill, and in particular, how the coverage products endorsed by the plan would be delivered to consumers.

Robison has served as chairman of MAIA's government relations committee for the last 11 years and was a regional director 1999-2005. He also serves on the public relations committee.

Robison found his start in the industry at Hartford Insurance in 1973 before moving to S&S Insurance in Ozark in 1985 to become an independent agent. He joined Great Southern Insurance in 1988.

"As an independent agent, I can go out and contact different companies to see which one will do a better job for my clients," Robison says. "The MAIA provides products an independent agent might not have access to. For example, I might have a high-end homeowner's policy, say $2 million, and I have to go out into the market and look for a company that would insure that. The MAIA helps with that."

MAIA also is working on a new branding and messaging campaign for the next couple of years. The group is rolling out a new "Trusted Choice" logo that will help customers recognize independent insurance agents who belong to the MAIA.

Education for agents is another focus, with classes offering continuing education in property-casualty, life-health, ethics and general categories.

A board of directors elected by the association's membership sets MAIA's policy, which is implemented by a professional staff in Jefferson City. In September, that staff will move MAIA into a new headquarters building in Jefferson City.

That move will give the organization more space for classes, Robison said.