The Commercial Insurance Agency of the Year Award program, runfor the past eight years exclusively by NationalUnderwriter, is being expanded and managed in partnership forthe first time with its sister publication, American Agent& Broker, with entries due by July 1.

Both publications are part of Summit Business Media's Property& Casualty Magazine Group.

In past years, NU editors, working in conjunction withoutside judges from the industry, would give out awards to threeagencies–with one named the year's “Champion” and the other tworeceiving an Honorable Mention.

This year, NU and AA&B editors will workin tandem with industry judges to cite one organization as theoverall 2010 “Commercial Insurance Agency of the Year,” but willalso hand out four additional “Commercial Agency Awards forExcellence” to recognize organizations doing an outstanding job in“Sales and Marketing,” “Customer Service,” “Technology andOperations,” as well as “Recruitment and Training.”

The major objective of the award program remains the same–toshine a national spotlight on agencies that serve as role modelsfor their peers. To that end, the winning agencies will be profiledin the Oct. 4 cover story of NU, as well as in theNovember issue of AA&B.

Principals from the winning agencies will also participate in aroundtable discussion on “The Future of the Independent Agent,”hosted by the two publications, with edited highlights appearing inthe Nov. 2 edition of NU and the December issue ofAA&B.

For your agency to be considered, you must send in a completedentry form (including essay questions about the agency's operationsand approach in the various award categories), along with a sampleproposal for a new or renewal account so the judges can see how anagency positions itself to buyers.

Although a third-party nomination is not required to enter theaward program, NU and AA&B welcomenominations from insurance carriers or others doing business withindependent agencies to call our attention to worthy candidates.Nominations are due by May 15. (See the entry material for furtherdetails.)

Agencies will be judged based on a variety of factors,including:

o Growth and development

o Management of client relationships

o Technology aptitude and efficiency

o Innovative solutions to sales challenges

o Projection and maintenance of brand identity

To receive a copy of the award program's rules and an entryform, e-mail [email protected]. Entriesare due by July 1.