New York--National Underwriter presented its fourth annual "NU Commercial Insurance Agency of the Year" award today to Haake Companies of Overland Park, Kan.

Steve Schill, chief operating officer of Haake Companies, received the award here during a special reception hosted by NU at the New York Hilton Hotel. He will also be introduced as the award winner on Sunday, Sept. 11, during the opening general session of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America annual conference.

In addition to the winner, two other agency finalists in the award program were cited by National Underwriter with an "Honorable Mention." They are Fullerton & Company in Portland, Ore., and the Insurance Office of America, based in Longwood, Fla.

All three agencies are profiled in the Sept. 12 edition of National Underwriter.

Representatives of the three finalist agencies joined the winners from the past two years--Scott Addis, principal of the Addis Group in King of Prussia, Pa. (2003's winner) and T. Gray McCaskill, president of Senn Dunn in Greensboro, N.C. (2004's winner)--in a "State Of The Independent Agent Roundtable" after today's award ceremony. Highlights of the discussion will appear in the Oct. 10 edition of National Underwriter.

Those entering their agencies in the award program had to fill out an extensive questionnaire tracking their growth, as well as hand in representative marketing material and a sample proposal to land new or renewal business. Those entering also had to include an essay on this year's award program theme: "How My Agency Earns The Trust & Loyalty Of Clients."

"It was not easy picking three finalists--let alone a 'winner'--from so many worthy entries," according to Sam Friedman, NU's editor-in-chief, as well as the founder and chairman of the award program. "Everyone who entered justifiably had a lot of pride in how they help their clients identify, limit and cover their exposures."

Mr. Friedman said that he chose the three finalists because "they are role models for their agency colleagues. All have a very disciplined, professional approach. All are fanatical about customer service."

The winner was chosen from among the three finalists by Mr. Friedman and two outside judges--Mr. McCaskill (last year's winner) and Bobby Reagan, president and CEO of Reagan & Associates, an independent Atlanta-based management consulting firm working with insurance agents, brokers and companies. Reagan & Associates developed and produces the IIABA's "Best Practices" program. Mr. Reagan also helps set the award's entry requirements.

Haake Companies was chosen as the winner because "they exemplify everything a growing and successful agency must offer to excel in this competitive environment, focusing more on loss control than on policy peddling and price shopping," said Mr. Friedman. "At a time when the heat is on, with the market softening, Haake remains dedicated to consultative risk management. They are concerned not just with the short-term price of insurance but with the long-term cost of risk."

He added that "when confronted with competitors looking to take accounts with a better premium quote alone, they don't panic." Indeed, "price is relative," Haake's Mr. Schill told NU. "If we're doing what we need to [from a risk management perspective], we can produce lower overall costs."

"Our other two finalists were definitely worthy of 'Honorable Mention,'" according to Mr. Friedman. "The Insurance Office of America--which also positions producers as risk managers for clients--featured a unique agency ownership, management and compensation structure. Fullerton & Company--another 'Best Practices' agency--stressed producer autonomy. They discarded the bureaucratic model and eliminated middle management to improve client service."

Mr. Friedman said that other agencies "undoubtedly will see elements of their own operations reflected in the profiles of the three finalists we published in our Sept. 12 edition. Better yet, their agencies might feature unique products, services or approaches that they feel put their firms in the same class or even higher than the three cited this year."

Mr. Friedman said that "if this is the case, by all means, I urge you to enter your agencies for consideration in the 2006 award program! The competition will open shortly after the new year."

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