350 Members and Partners Celebrate, Plan Continued Growth at Annual Meeting

Renaissance Alliance recently hosted its third annual meeting at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA. More than 350 representatives from New England agencies, insurers, and vendors attended the event to review the growth and achievements of the prior year and to plan for continued growth of both the group and each of its independent partner agencies.

At the October event, J. Bruce Cochrane, President of Renaissance Group, noted that the Renaissance Alliance offers member agencies the opportunity to successfully compete, differentiate, and innovate in the market, while maintaining independence and locality, critical to service excellence. He announced the following accomplishments in the prior year:

• Membership grew to a total of 52, with 67 locations throughout Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire.
• The number of affiliated carriers providing service to Alliance agencies grew to 30 national and regional insurers.
• Aggregate premium under management totaled nearly $300 million, a 24 percent growth from 2005
• Renaissance Alliance issued 200,300 policies for 122,000 personal and commercial accounts. Member agencies insure 2.9 percent of the total vehicles registered in Massachusetts.
•  Members aggregate loss ratio for the prior three years totaled 44.8 percent.

In addition, 17 member agencies were recognized with commemorative awards for having reached the landmark of 5 or more years of membership in Renaissance Alliance. These agencies include:

• Cochrane & Porter Insurance Agency, Inc., Wellesley, Mass.
• The Fair Insurance Agency, Inc., Centerville, Mass.
• Wolpert Insurance Agency, Inc., Worcester, Mass.
• Bradley P. Howes, Jr. Insurance Agency, LLC, Concord, Mass.
• Meagher Insurance Agency, Inc., Rockland, Mass.
• The Gaudreau Group, Inc., Wilbraham MA
• Bjorkland & Reilly Insurance Agency, Inc., Milton, Mass.
• William L. Goodrich Agency, Inc., Milton, Mass.
• Borawski Insurance, Sturbridge, Mass.
• Costello Insurance Agency, Inc., Bradford, Mass.
• American Heritage Insurance Agency, Inc., West Springfield, Mass.
• Akey Insurance Agency, Inc., Greenfield, Mass.
• Wiersma Insurance Agency, LLC, Whitinsville, Mass.
• Bouvier Insurance Agency, Sturbridge, Mass.
• E. J. Stochaj Insurance Agency, Inc., Dudley, Mass.
• Wayside Insurance Agency, Inc., Framingham, Mass.
• Hollis Insurance Agency, Inc., Plymouth, Mass.

The Renaissance Alliance Annual meeting offers an annual forum for member agencies, partner insurers, Renaissance staff, service providers, and guests to discuss challenges and opportunities facing independent agents. The day’s events included presentations, seminars, awards, lunch, and a cocktail reception. The theme for the 2006 meeting was RAISing Expectations: Getting to the Next Level. Guest speakers included J. Bruce Cochrane, CEO and founder of Renaissance Group; Gerald Faust, noted national entrepreneurial consultant and renowned motivational speaker and president, and founder, Faust Management Consulting; Lloyd Skip Daigle Vice President, Agency Development and Sales, Travelers; Ed Dvorak, President, ECD Associates; Stephen Faust, Senior Consultant, Faust Management Corporation; and Ron Harrell AMS Sales Engineer and Consultant. New, valued-added member programs were also introduced, including group buying programs, disaster recovery planning services, and planned member upgrades to AMS 360 computer systems.