ALEXANDRIA, VA, March 21, 2022— The Big “I" is pleased to announce the appointment of Chris Cline as the new executive director of the Big “I" Agents Council for Technology (ACT). Cline replaces Ron Berg, who will retire in May after eight years of outstanding contributions to the independent agency channel.
Cline comes to this new role after having been with Westfield Insurance for 28 years, with his most recent role as national agency distribution leader, which included directing agency life cycle management and overseeing existing and emerging agency technology. Cline has been the host of “Closing the Gap," a podcast for independent insurance agents, and has also worked in partnership with the Big “I" in a number of areas, including the Trusted Choice® consumer brand and on various ACT projects.
“Chris' experience guiding independent agencies as an active voice in the channel makes him a great fit to lead ACT's initiatives to improve agency workflow and technology," says Bob Rusbuldt, Big “I" president & CEO. “Westfield and Chris have been longtime friends and partners of the Big “I," ACT and the independent agency community, and we're excited for him to continue the great work of shaping the future of insurance technology here in this leadership role."
“Joining the Big 'I' allows Chris to continue his service to independent insurance agents," says Robyn Hahn, president of commercial lines at Westfield. “We look forward to continuing to partner with the Big 'I' and ACT to provide technology solutions for agencies and the industry."
Cline will begin in his new role with ACT on April 4.
Founded in 1896, the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (the Big “I") is the nation's oldest and largest national association of independent insurance agents and brokers, representing more than 25,000 agency locations united under the Trusted Choice® brand. Trusted Choice independent agents offer consumers all types of insurance—property, casualty, life, health, employee benefit plans and retirement products—from a variety of insurance companies.
The Agents Council for Technology (ACT) was established in January 1999 by the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (the Big “I") to provide a candid, action-oriented forum to address the critical workflow and technology issues facing the independent agency system. ACT helps participants understand the perspectives of the other stakeholders in the process and provides excellent networking opportunities with the participants who are shaping the future for the industry on these issues.
ACT members include:
Carriers: Allstate IA, The Berkley Companies, Central Insurance, Chubb Group of Insurance Companies, The Cincinnati Insurance Companies, CNA, EMC Insurance Companies, Encompass, Encova Insurance, Foremost (Farmers Insurance Company), Grange Insurance, The Hanover Insurance Group, The Hartford, Hartford Steam Boiler, Liberty Mutual Insurance, The Main Street America Group, Merchants Insurance Group, National General, Nationwide Insurance, New York Central Mutual Insurance, Ohio Mutual Insurance Group, Penn National Insurance, Progressive, Safeco Insurance, Selective Insurance Company of America, Travelers, Utica National Insurance Group and Westfield Insurance
Industry associations and consultants: ACORD, Angela Adams Consulting Services, CSIO, IIABA, Insurance Brokers Association of Canada, Wholesale & Specialty Insurance Association
MGAs: Joyn Insurance
Technology providers: AgencyKPI, Agency Revolution, Agentero, Applied Systems/IVANS, CoverWallet for Agents, DAIS, Duck Creek Technologies, EZLynx, GloveBox, HawkSoft, Indio Technologies, Insurance Agent Mobile Application, ITC, Layr, LegacyArmour, Levitate, Neilson Marketing Services, North American Software Associates, ProNavigator, Rigid Bits, RiskStream Collaborative, SimplePin, Simply Easier Payments/EchoSage, Strategic Insurance Software, TEKRiSQ, Vertafore, Veruna, Xanatek, XDimensional Technologies
User Groups: AgentLynx by EZLynx, Applied Client Network, the HawkSoft Users Group, NetVU, the Nexsure User Group, Partner XE User Community