Thomas M. Cothron of Ocala was sworn in as president of theFlorida Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (FAIFA) atthe group's 76th Annual Career Advancement Conference & Expo inJuly in Orlando. Cothron has been a NAIFA member since 1979 and isan IFAPAC Diplomat. Cothron received FAIFA's Five-Star Award forthe last three years and has twice served as president of the OcalaAssociation.

He began his career with Farm Bureau Insurance Company in 1984and was promoted to agency manager in 1986. He earned Farm Bureau's“Agency Manager of the Year” award on several occasions, and isalso a recipient of the Florida Farm Bureau's “Team Player”award.

President-Elect is Mark R Tiralosi, LUTCF, vice president andemployee benefits specialist with the Sihle Insurance Group inAltamonteSprings.

Senior Vice President is Tim Holladay, CLU, CASL, LUTCF, CSA,J.D. He has been a member of NAIFA since 1983 and has representedState Farm for 31 years. He is an agency manager in New PortRichey.

FAIFA elected three directors-at-large: Vince Orlando, LUTCF ofOcala, manager for Eager-1 Marketing; Alberto Espinosa, CLU, LUTCF,who is an Allstate agency owner in Miami; and Jim Koburger, LUTCF,who is a Farm Bureau agent in Tallahassee.

In addition to providing a venue for members to network andcompanies to display their products and services, the annualconvention offers an impressive array of continuing educationclasses and presentations from well-known experts in theirfields.

This year, that included Guy Marvin III, president of theFlorida Insurance Council, providing the keynote address.Professional speaker, author, and radio personality Bryan Dodge ofDallas delivered the message, “How to Build a Better YOU!”; NAIFAPresident Jeffrey J. Taggart, CLU, ChFC, LUTCF, of the TaggartCompany, Cody, WY, reported on the “State of NAIFA”; Donald F.White, president of Treasure Coast Financial Services, Inc, inStuart, listed the “Five Things You Can Do to Get To the Top of theTable and Stay There.”