Remembering James P. Jacobs and the VAIA Educational Mission

"Jo" Jacobs called the other day and asked how the James P. Jacobs scholarship fund was doing with VAIA and how the association was doing overall. The fund was established in 2005 upon the passing of her husband. Jim was a CPCU, very involved in IIAV and the Richmond association and, as described by Ms. Jacobs, VERY interested in professional education and getting new people interested in the profession that served him so well. Actually, Ms. Jacobs says that he LOVED the profession.

I was pleased to mention that VAIA is doing very well and, although its mission has been adjusted slightly, they are working very hard to introduce new people to the industry and profession and are actively conducting pre-licensing classes across the state.

As Jim Jacobs knew so very well, the insurance industry is a great profession and industry to belong to. The bottom line for our profession is that we are doing our very best to be in a position to help people when they need it most. I hope that Jim would be proud of our efforts:

• To be at as many professional , high school or college career fairs as we possibly can across the state actively promoting the profession.
• To be active and working with VCU and ODU’s insurance departments and meeting with students and offering them intern opportunities with our membership.
• Holding pre-licensing classes across the state and providing people with the resources they need to become a part of our profession.
• Our strong and ever growing young agents program. This dynamic group shows that the future of the Big I and our profession is GREAT! The networking among these professionals is simply outstanding. We count more than 1,000 young professionals in this audience and I encourage all agency managers to not hold their professionals back. Let them attend the young agents networking programs, education sessions, fun events and annual conference. It’s great to watch how these young people support each other and it should remind all of us of what it was like when we started in this profession. All the support you can possibly provide to this group is beneficial and an investment in the profession.

We can never do enough and there’s more that we can do. I’m also pleased to report that the VAIA program is being run by an innovative, dynamic professional in her own right – Kristina Preisner. She’s the "face of our industry" at the career fairs and the high schools and runs our young agent program. If you haven’t had a chance to meet her, I encourage you to give her a call.

As a independent 501(c)(3) educational organization, VAIA operates through your donations and income programs such as the pre-licensing classes. However, you can help someone become an agent by making a contribution to the VAIA James P. Jacobs Memorial Scholarship Fund – and those monies will be used exclusively to help students take our classes and/or learn more about our industry and profession. We welcome and encourage your support.

Sincerely,

Robert N. Bradshaw Jr., MAM
President & CEO

Independent Insurance Agents of Virginia