Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 20, 2007

Contact:
Janay Rickwalder
(703) 383-3081 
jrickwalder@nailba.org

Gentry Recipient of First-Ever NAILBA Education Excellence Award

(Fairfax, Va.) During its Annual Meeting last week in Orlando, the National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies (NAILBA) presented the first-ever NAILBA Education Excellence Award to Cindy Gentry, CLU, ChFC, president of Brown & Brown Associates, P.C., an independent life and annuity brokerage agency in Corpus Christi, Texas.

 “Over the past seven years, Cindy has worked within the NAILBA organization to create strategic alliances between our member agencies, our carriers, our industry educational providers, and our vendors to develop educational programs and tools for each NAILBA agency,” stated NAILBA Education Committee Chairman Alyse Blumberg.  “Her tireless efforts and incredible dedication have resulted in, among other things, the NAILBA Field Underwriting Guide, the standard informal transmittal, and the Standard Communications Coding initiative. It is safe to say that there would not be a NAILBA University without her dedication and tenacity.”

Gentry has devoted significant time and talent to NAILBA, having first served as NAILBA Education Chair and moving through the ranks to ultimately serve as Chairman of the Board in 2004.  She currently chairs the Application Pipeline Task Force that continues to generate new tools for more efficient business processes in our agencies.

“Education, I believe, is an integral part of our ever changing industry,” stated Gentry in her acceptance speech.  “Not only do we have to keep ourselves educated, we need to continually bring new ideas and information to our producers to help keep them ahead of their game.  The offerings that NAILBA has put together are impressive and they are tools that you should be using, not only within your agency but with your producers as well.”

Gentry is also an active member of Corpus Christi Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors since 1989, serving on the board and executive committees – ultimately as President of the local chapter in 1996. She is a member of the Society of Financial Services Professionals. In 1997, she was presented the “Agent of the Year” award. She is also a member of the Corpus Christi Estate Planning Council.

“With the growth of brokerage, it is NAILBA’s duty to develop quality educational programs,” stated 2008 NAILBA Chairman of the Board Douglas Mishkin.  “And NAILBA has made significant steps in providing quality educational programs.  It’s extremely important to NAILBA to acknowledge those who have volunteered a lot of time to help us get to where we are today.”

Editor’s Note: Please contact NAILBA for photos.

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The National Association of Independent Life Brokerage Agencies (NAILBA) is a nonprofit trade association with 350 member agencies in the U.S., representing 100,000 producers who deliver more than one billion dollars in first year life insurance premiums annually. NAILBA is dedicated to fostering the growth of its member agencies by providing educational resources, industry standards and a collective voice for legislative and regulatory efforts. Each of NAILBA's members commits to a statement of responsibilities to ethically and responsibly serve their clients' best interests. For more information, visit www.nailba.org.