BRITT/PAULK NEWS
Brant Neal overseas Eastern Region for Commercial Ag Program
Joining the Commercial Agriculture team is Brant Neal, who will be overseeing all accounts in the Eastern region for Commercial Agriculture.
Brant comes to Britt/Paulk with 33 years of experience in the insurance business; the last 28 years devoted exclusively to agriculture. He graduated
with a Bachelor's degree from Pacific Christian College in California, and completed a Masters degree from California State University. His career in
the insurance business has included: supervision of an eight state underwriting territory of farm and ranch business, opening and staffing a branch office,
managing sales in a ten state agribusiness territory, developing coverage forms and a farm and ranch program manual; and creating an agribusiness underwriting
unit that grew to $39 million in written premium.
Brant will be aiding Jon Solberg with the expansion of the Commercial Agriculture package program. This entails managing the underwriting process, monitoring
market developments in pricing and coverage, and building strong company and agency relationships in order to develop and grow a profitable book of business.
2 NEW Office Additions!
We are proud to announce we've added two additional offices! Our expanded footprint includes additional offices in Stuart, Florida and Boise, Idaho.
7000 SE Federal Hwy
Suite 302
Stuart, FL 34997
In our Florida office we have our National Marine Director, Steve York. Steve comes to us through a recent acquisition with Mitchell, York &Cooper.
Steve, president and one of the original founders of Mitchell, York &Cooper said, “We are delighted to become a part of the Britt / Paulk team." Steve comes to Britt /Paulk with 32 years of experience in the Marine
Industry and are proud to welcome him to the Britt / Paulk Marine team.
P.O. Box 4479
Boise, ID 83711
In our Boise Office we have Charles S.(Chad) Winston, Vice President of Commercial Agriculture, Will McCurdy, Senior Underwriter and Kevin Bargen, Senior Underwriter, along with Underwriting Assistants, Leslie
Tavares and Brenda Ellis.
Chad, founder of recently acquired Magnum Opus Insurance Services, comes to Britt / Paulk with 29 years of Underwriting management experience specializing in the Agricultural and Forestry industries.
Will McCurdy joins Britt / Paulk in conjunction with Chad and brings his 5 years of underwriting experience to the team specializing in Commercial Agribusiness.
Kevin Bargen is based in Lincoln, NE and adds another 15 years of Agribusiness underwriting experience to our team.
Our Boise team will service agents and insureds in most states West of the Mississippi River.
Britt/Paulk Insurance Agency Announces Acquisition of Magnum OPUS
Effective January 1, 2008, agriculture insurance specialist, Magnum OPUS and all of its assets have been acquired by Britt/Paulk and will begin operating as the Britt/Paulk Boise, Idaho branch office.
Magnum OPUS was founded in 2005 and provides specialized package insurance products to the agriculture and food processing industry through unique vertical insurance integration. With the addition of Magnum Opus and their expert team, Britt/Paulk will be offering an exclusive, nationwide Commercial Agriculture Package Program.
John Paulk, president of Britt/Paulk commented, “This merger provides Britt/Paulk with a Western presence and matches well with our strategy of expanding our agriculture focus beyond our current equipment and poultry confinement programs.”
Chad Winston, president of Magnum OPUS commented, "We are very excited about this merger because it will bring greater resources (both programs and companies) to our office and through us to our agency partners.”
Dene Schoerner, chief operating officer of Britt/Paulk added, “The experience and skill sets brought to Britt/Paulk through the addition of Magnum OPUS and Chad Winston along with Britt/Paulk’s carrier relationships will be a great benefit in helping us expand our agriculture presence across the U.S.”
Britt / Paulk Insurance Agency Announces Acquisition of Mitchell, York &Cooper, LLC
Britt / Paulk Insurance Agency, Inc., announced today that it has agreed to acquire substantially all of the assets of Mitchell, York &Cooper, LLC, a Florida-based Marine Insurance broker. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
Mitchell, York &Cooper was founded in 1988 and provides quality marine insurance products for marinas, ship yards, marine contractors, cargo, boat dealers, and U.S. longshore and harbor workers through independent agents.
John Paulk, president of Britt / Paulk commented, “This acquisition strengthens our presence in Florida and provides our company with our first entrance into the marine products market. As a company, this is our first acquisition, but, it will certainly not be our last. We intend to continue looking for additional growth opportunities through acquisitions that will fit well with our corporate culture and our long term strategy.”
Stephen York, president and one of the original founders of Mitchell, York &Cooper said, “We are delighted to become a part of the Britt / Paulk team. The national distribution channels established by Britt / Paulk and their easy to operate Online Policy Underwriting System (OPUS) will make our marine products accessible to literally, thousands of new agents.”
Dene Schoerner, Britt / Paulk’s COO, added, “The acquisition of Mitchell, York &Cooper has opened the way for Britt / Paulk to contract with the top carriers of marine products in this country. Steve York’s decision to join the Britt / Paulk team is a real bonus. He will continue to head up the Florida operation. With Steve’s guidance, we see short and long term opportunities, regionally and nationally, to quickly expand the markets for our new marine products. We are delighted to have a marine products insurance professional with Steve’s qualifications and background to join our team.”
Britt Paulk Insurance Underwriter's New Staff!
Britt Paulk has hired on a new member to the Timber Harvesting Program! Tom LaBerge will join the team in the Carrollton office as Senior Underwriter.
Tom comes to us with 30 years of insurance experience, the last 19 dedicated to the Forestry Products Industry. Tom received his B.G.S. Degree in Environmental Psychology at the University of Kansas.
Tom will also underwrite equipment risk in conjunction with other Timber Harvesting Program product lines, expanding into the Pacific Northwest region of the United States.
With the additional staff and Britt/Paulk's continued focus to meet the needs of the timber harvesting industry, we expect these changes will result in more timely quote turnaround and customer service.