The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers said its 96th annual Insurance Leadership Forum meeting will be held next year in Colorado because of continued labor strife at the Greenbrier, its traditional meeting place in West Virginia.

The Washington-based association said it will hold its meeting at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colo., and change the date of the annual meeting to Oct. 10-14.

CIAB President Ken A. Crerar said the move was made due to ongoing labor problems and uncertainty about the future of the Greenbrier, the White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., resort hotel where the CIAB was founded and traditionally held its meetings up until this year.

CIAB said the meeting is its largest, attracting 1,500 attendees from leading commercial insurance agencies, brokerages and major carriers.

"The decision to move the conference to The Broadmoor was not made lightly," Mr. Crerar said in a statement. "It had been our sincere hope that The Greenbrier management and labor unions would reach an accord so the [Insurance Leadership Forum] could return to the place where the conference began back in 1913 and where every one of those meetings had been held until this year."

He said labor talks remain stalled and there is no thaw in sight.

"We worked hard to try to bring the two sides together, but our efforts have not been successful," he continued. "Basically, there has been no progress since June, and we simply cannot wait any longer for the resort management and the unions to break their stalemate."

Earlier this year, the CIAB moved three major meetings (the 2008 Wholesale Insurance Leadership Forum, Employee Benefits Leadership Forum and Insurance Leadership Forum) from The Greenbrier to different locations because of the labor difficulties.

The association has also scheduled its 2009 Employee Benefits Leadership Forum, May 26-29, to be held at The Broadmoor.

Mr. Crerar said that if the labor problems can be resolved favorably, the CIAB would consider returning to The Greenbrier for its 2010 conference.

The CIAB has actively sought to be a moderator in the labor dispute, taking out advertising and speaking with both sides to help resolve their issues.

Further complicating matters are reports that the hotel's owner, CSX, may be seeking to sell the hotel, raising questions about the facility's future.

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CIAB Announces It Won't Be At Greenbrier Next Year

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