ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 6, 2013 – InVEST, the insurance industry’s premier classroom to career education program, actively supports efforts across the country for members of the independent agency system to participate in National Job Shadow Day and year round. Numerous InVEST students, agents, brokers, company leaders and other industry leaders participate each year.
“InVEST is proud to maximize opportunities, like the National Job Shadow Day that bring students and professionals together,” says Spencer Houldin, IIABA executive committee liaison to the InVEST board and president of Ericson Insurance in Washington Depot, Conn. who spoke at a recent event in Connecticut. “An important initiative for our board is to encourage more agencies and carriers to host job shadow days and this program successfully brought more than 100 students, educators and industry professionals together for a unique and enriching experience.”
A program hosted Friday at Travelers in Hartford, Conn. included 74 student participants, 25 host business units, InVEST alumni, InVEST students from area high schools in Connecticut, and an InVEST teacher from Massachusetts. Participants toured a Travelers Mobile Claim Office, Claim U Training Facility and the company’s Risk Control and Forensics Lab. Some students watched as a TV commercial was being shot live. The carrier sponsored a day of activities for the students.
“Quite often, students view the insurance industry by what they see on the surface, primarily sales and claim personnel,” says Neal Montgomery, InVEST Board member and Travelers director of field management. “Through this event, students are exposed to varied areas of insurance, from large national accounts to homeowner’s insurance. They also have an opportunity to explore product development, risk control and forensics, underwriting, finance and accounting, compliance and regulatory areas, market research, information technology, as well as college recruiting and event planning.”
InVEST works with 380 educators in 44 states. More than 13,000 students are participating in InVEST programs this year. The program continues to grow in popularity among teachers and school systems. In the last year alone, InVEST has grown by 47% and now includes 380 programs across the country.
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 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.
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