ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 2, 2012 – InVEST, the insurance industry’s premier classroom to career education program, recently announced that Ian Hoffman has joined its national board. Hoffman is Applied Systems chief marketing officer.
 
“InVEST is proud to announce Ian Hoffman has joined our distinguished group of board members,” says Heather Minkler, InVEST board chair and CEO of Clark-Mortenson Agency, an independent agency in Keene, N.H. “Ian’s international marketing experience and commitment to education is a huge asset to the InVEST board.”
 
Hoffman joined the Applied Systems team in 2011. Previously, he developed strategic planning, brand development and integrated marketing and communications functions at global software companies including Intergraph Corporation, an organization at the forefront of geospatial and computer-aided design software. Prior to Intergraph, he served as vice president of Global Marketing at Solution 6 Holdings, the largest software company in Australia; and vice president of Marketing at Novient, a major provider of software for professional services automation. Hoffman earned a bachelor’s degree from Florida State University.
 
“InVEST is critically important not just to the future of the independent agency system, but to the insurance industry as a whole,” says Robert Rusbuldt, Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA or the Big “I”) president & CEO. “Survey results from the Agency Universe Study by Future One (a collaboration of the Big ‘I’ and leading independent agency companies) pointed to InVEST as crucial to the future of the industry, with a majority of respondents stating the insurance industry should encourage high schools and community colleges to help students plan for insurance careers. Educators, volunteers, agents and industry leaders, like Ian Hoffman, are key to the success of this program.”
 
As a 501(c)(3) educational trust, InVEST benefits from the support of numerous insurance organizations, hundreds of agencies, brokers and volunteers. The program provides the insurance industry with motivated, talented and intelligent professionals through a support structure of state associations, board members, national staff, teachers and the many industry professionals who work in the field as classroom liaisons.
 
Founded in 1970 and based in Alexandria, Va., InVEST promotes insurance education in order to attract individuals to pursue a career in the insurance industry. Each year, the program prepares thousands of students for insurance-related careers with a hands-on curriculum taught in high schools, adult education centers and community colleges. The high school curriculum is a business-education program that utilizes a hands-on approach which simulates an insurance agency and company operations to prepare students for various business careers and create more knowledgeable insurance consumers. At the college level, InVEST is an information-intensive curriculum of risk management and financial services. These courses provide students with a working knowledge of the basics needed to pursue careers in the insurance industry. For more information, go to www.investprogram.org.
 
Founded in 1896, the Big “I” is the nation’s oldest and largest national association of independent insurance agents and brokers, representing a network of approximately a quarter of a million agents, brokers and their employees nationally. Its members are businesses that offer customers a choice of policies from a variety of insurance companies. Independent agents and brokers offer all lines of insurance—property, casualty, life, health, employee benefit plans and retirement products. Web address: www.independentagent.com.