ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 24, 2013 – The InVEST program awarded Lorrie Partridge, AAI, president of Blackadar Insurance in Longwood, Fla., with the Dach Award which honors an insurance industry volunteer who has made tremendous contributions in fostering the growth and development of InVEST. The InVEST program is a key driver to attract new talent to the insurance industry.
 
“InVEST is a group effort and great mentors and volunteers, like Lorrie Partridge, are the backbone of this amazing program which is so critical for the success of the industry and financial literacy,” says Heather Minkler, chair of the National InVEST board of directors and CEO of Clark-Mortenson Agency, an independent insurance agency in Keene, N.H. “Lorrie is tirelessly dedicated to so many efforts that go hand in hand with InVEST’s mission and we are very proud to present the Dach Award to her for her countless contributions.”
 
Partridge has served as the InVEST chairperson for the Independent Insurance Agents of Central Florida for the past five years. She has been heavily involved in scholarship fundraising efforts and volunteers countless hours at Dr. Phillips High School. She coordinates various activities, including a mock job interview project activity that has been hailed as largely successful. 
 
During her time as the InVEST chairperson, Partridge successfully strengthened the relationships with high school administration and faculty involved in the InVEST program. She works with the participating high schools to schedule the classroom teaching and interviewing portions of the programs. She frequently meets individually with InVEST teachers to work through the curriculum and expectations for the program.
 
The Dach award, created in 1989, is named in memory of the program’s founder, Stephen Dach. Dach had a vision in 1970 to capture the attention of students at an early age to reveal the vast opportunities available to them in the insurance industry, which led him to begin what is now known as the InVEST program.
 
“The future of the independent insurance agency system and the industry as a whole depends on attracting new talent and InVEST is a major part of this development,” says Robert Rusbuldt, Big “I” president & CEO. “We need InVEST industry professionals like Lorrie Partridge to continue stepping up to train, inspire and teach the next generation of industry leaders.”
 
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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