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Meet our team

Meet the people behind Iroquois.

A team of experienced insurance professionals.

Iroquois is an intentionally lean organization comprised of experienced insurance professionals who take their role as trusted advisors seriously and who are committed to partnering with Member Agencies and carrier partners for their mutual benefit.

Are we a good fit for you?

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Executive Team
Iroquois insurance network president Laurie-Branch

Laurie Branch

President

As CEO and President of Iroquois, Laurie brings to the operation over 30 years of managing the financial and organizational aspects of Iroquois along with her years of service in brand management at Procter & Gamble. Laurie is a lifelong long learner having earned 3 graduate degrees (Business Administration from Dartmouth’s Tuck School; English from Middlebury’s Breadloaf School of English; History from St. Bonaventure) and a Ph.D. in Management from Case Western. Laurie constantly pushes to improve the organization in all areas using best practices and an evidence-based management approach to keep Iroquois on the cutting edge as a company.

Phone: 716-373-5511

Iroquois insurance network consultant Amy Branch

Amy Branch-Benoliel

Executive Officer

Working from the Philadelphia area, Amy supports Managing Partners across the country as they build relationships with Carrier-Partners. Amy’s earlier experience as a Regional Manager and then Managing Partner for Iroquois provides Amy with a unique and valuable perspective on how to build and maintain mutually beneficial relationships between Member Agencies and Carrier-Partners. Amy is passionate about service to Members Agencies and leads the Customer Experience cross-functional team at Iroquois.

Phone: 215-233-1402

Matt Ward, insurance consultant

Matt Ward

Executive Officer

Matt’s unique position straddling the field and home office worlds makes him an invaluable resource to both. Matt serves as an Executive Officer as well as leading four regions - Iroquois Northeast, Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group, Iroquois Midwest and Iroquois South – as Managing Partner. Matt oversees Carrier-Partner relationships and field operations. Innovation and commitment to the independent agency channel have defined Matt’s insurance career. Creator of the PartnerPlan®, Matt constantly pushes Iroquois to find new ways to reward highly partnered Member Agencies.

Phone: 804-370-2862

National Support
Iroquois insurance network consultant Charlie Venus

Charlie Venus

Vice President, Middle Market & Specialty

Charles joined The Iroquois Group® as its Vice President, Middle Market & Specialty. The former Commercial Lines Leader for Brown & Brown of Virginia is a seasoned insurance professional who will help Iroquois members further develop their Middle Market and Specialty Insurance business. Prior to working for Brown & Brown, Venus served in varying leadership roles with Travelers and The Hartford.
Charlie is a graduate of the University of New Orleans, where he obtained both his undergraduate degree and MBA. He lives in Northern Virginia.
Regional Team

Please indicate your state for the appropriate Iroquois team members.

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Alabama

David Ward, Iroquois South Managing Partner

David D. Ward

Managing Partner: Iroquois South

David’s Prudential Insurance experience, followed by over 20 years of leadership roles in marketing, sales management, and strategic planning, prepared him to manage Iroquois’ fast growing South region. David works closely with his Regional Managers to provide the best that Iroquois has to offer their members. His passion is to deliver the full Iroquois Value Proposition to every Iroquois member.

Phone: 843-568-5543

Team - Perry Grant

Perry Grant

Regional Manager: Iroquois South

Before joining Iroquois, Perry spent 30+ years in underwriting and marketing positions with carriers such as Travelers, CNA and Hanover. Perry’s passion for the business is consistently demonstrated in his dealings with his members. He works with his members to take advantage of all available Iroquois programs and strategies to ensure each member maximizes annual revenue and stays focused on optimizing books of business. Perry is responsible for members in Mississippi, Alabama and western Tennessee. He is an Auburn graduate.

Phone: 205-910-5961

Alaska

Team - Ken Koehler

Ken Koehler

Regional Vice President

Ken’s leadership positions in underwriting and sales with Nationwide, Fireman’s Fund, Liberty Mutual, and Encompass were perfect preparation for his new role as Regional Vice President supporting our members and carrier partners in Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan. In addition, he will develop the Northwest states for Iroquois, with an initial focus on Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and the Dakotas.

Arizona

Bob-Stallings Iroquois insurance cluster consultant

Bob Stallings

Managing Partner

Bob put his 20 years of underwriting, marketing, management and product development at Prudential Property and Casualty Insurance to use when he joined the Iroquois Group in 2001 and started Iroquois Southwest in Arizona. The Southwest region has since grown to include membership in California, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Nevada and Idaho. Under Bob’s direction, ISW has grown phenomenally.

Phone: 480-854-3913

Team - Regional Manager Gene Knippers

Gene Knippers

Regional Director: Iroquois Southwest

New to the Iroquois team in 2021, Gene brings 25-years of experience in the insurance industry to his role with an energetic approach and extensive background in operations. Prior to joining Iroquois, he served in a variety of leadership positions at CNA, Progressive®, AIG, and CSE Insurance. As Regional Manager in Arizona, Gene is responsible for membership growth and collaborates with Iroquois Members to increase revenue, profit, and agency value. Gene holds a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Organizational Management from Bushnell University and Juris Doctorate (JD) from Concord Law School at Purdue University Global.
Insurance network consultant John Maurer

John Maurer

Regional Sales and Marketing Facilitator

Over his 38-year career, John operated a captive agency for 10 years, an independent agency for 13 years, and spent 15 years as a consultant to independent agencies. John draws upon his extensive experience as a business owner and consultant when working with his members. He combines his business acumen and marketing and economics degrees to provide strategic planning, cash flow management guidance and to assist in building successful marketing campaigns. John is responsible for increasing agency membership and enhancing relationships with member agencies and carrier-partners in Arizona, Nevada and Utah.

Phone: 480-440-6209

Arkansas

Matt Ward, insurance consultant

Matt Ward

Managing Partner

Hired in 1985 as the first Iroquois Regional Manager, Matt has been instrumental in expanding Iroquois beyond its home state of New York. Matt’s unique position straddling the field and home office worlds makes him an invaluable resource to both. Matt serves as an Executive Officer as well as leading four regions - Iroquois Northeast, Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group, Iroquois Midwest and Iroquois South – as Managing Partner. Matt overseas Carrier-Partner relationships and field operations. Innovation and commitment to the independent agency channel have defined Matt’s insurance career. Creator of the PartnerPlan®, Matt constantly pushes Iroquois to find new ways to reward highly partnered Member Agencies.

Phone: 804-370-2862

John McCaleb, Regional VP, Iroquois Midwest and Texas

John McCaleb

Regional Vice President

John has an extensive and diverse background spanning Underwriting, Sales, Business Development, and Executive Leadership while serving for 15 years at Liberty Mutual Insurance and The Hartford prior to joining Iroquois. John and his team of Regional Managers partner with strong, professional independent insurance agencies to increase revenues, profits and value and partner with insurance company leaders to drive profitable growth for Iroquois carriers. John manages the lower half of the Midwest including Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, and Missouri.
Lucas Howard, insurance consultant regional manager in Arkansas and Oklahoma

Lucas Howard

Regional Manager

Lucas is a strong insurance sales leader and relationship development executive. He has held regional distribution leadership roles at Encompass, Statewide General Agency, and Kemper Specialty covering Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Lucas partners with strong, professional independent insurance agencies to increase revenue, profits and agency value and partners with local insurance company leaders to drive profitable growth for Iroquois carriers.

California

Bob-Stallings Iroquois insurance cluster consultant

Bob Stallings

Managing Partner

Bob put his 20 years of underwriting, marketing, management and product development at Prudential Property and Casualty Insurance to use when he joined the Iroquois Group in 2001 and started Iroquois Southwest in Arizona. The Southwest region has since grown to include membership in California, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Nevada and Idaho. Under Bob’s direction, ISW has grown phenomenally.

Phone: 480-854-3913

Insurance network regional manager Mike Mullens

Mike Mullens

Regional Manager

Based in Sacramento, Mike works with members in Northern California, Northern Nevada and Idaho. He applies his 17 years of experience in insurance management, operations, marketing, and due diligence to help his members grow and enhance their agency value. Mike is a trusted advisor focused on elevating his member agencies’ overall performance.

Phone: 916-365-1865

Iroquois insurance cluster consultant Bruce-Thompson

Bruce Thompson

Regional Manager: Iroquois Southwest

As the Southern California regional manager for Iroquois Southwest, Bruce brings more than 30 years of insurance industry experience in P&C, life insurance and financial services to his role. As a former producer, agency owner, and territory manager for Inland Empire and MAPFRE Insurance Company, Bruce has a deep skill set that his member agencies value. He is well known in the SoCal marketplace and thrives on building relationships and helping agencies grow and become more successful.

Phone: 951-200-9991

Insurance network consultant John Maurer

John Maurer

Regional Sales and Marketing Facilitator

Over his 38-year career, John operated a captive agency for 10 years, an independent agency for 13 years, and spent 15 years as a consultant to independent agencies. John draws upon his extensive experience as a business owner and consultant when working with his members. He combines his business acumen and marketing and economics degrees to provide strategic planning, cash flow management guidance and to assist in building successful marketing campaigns. John is responsible for increasing agency membership and enhancing relationships with member agencies and carrier-partners in Arizona, Nevada and Utah.

Phone: 480-440-6209

Colorado

Bob-Stallings Iroquois insurance cluster consultant

Bob Stallings

Managing Partner

Bob put his 20 years of underwriting, marketing, management and product development at Prudential Property and Casualty Insurance to use when he joined the Iroquois Group in 2001 and started Iroquois Southwest in Arizona. The Southwest region has since grown to include membership in California, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Nevada and Idaho. Under Bob’s direction, ISW has grown phenomenally.

Phone: 480-854-3913

Insurance consultant Erik Kaufman

Erik Kaufman

Regional Manager

Erik Kaufman has almost 20 years of experience in the insurance industry, most of it working with leading national carriers Allstate, Encompass and Travelers. All of his roles within these companies were in the field working with independent agents to help grow their revenue and profits. He believes that his ability to develop strong, trustworthy, and productive relationships have been a key to his success. Erik joined Iroquois in early 2020 and his region includes Colorado and New Mexico.

Phone: 720-441-8723

Insurance network consultant John Maurer

John Maurer

Regional Sales and Marketing Facilitator

Over his 38-year career, John operated a captive agency for 10 years, an independent agency for 13 years, and spent 15 years as a consultant to independent agencies. John draws upon his extensive experience as a business owner and consultant when working with his members. He combines his business acumen and marketing and economics degrees to provide strategic planning, cash flow management guidance and to assist in building successful marketing campaigns. John is responsible for increasing agency membership and enhancing relationships with member agencies and carrier-partners in Arizona, Nevada and Utah.

Phone: 480-440-6209

Connecticut

Matt Ward, insurance consultant

Matt Ward

Managing Partner

Hired in 1985 as the first Iroquois Regional Manager, Matt has been instrumental in expanding Iroquois beyond its home state of New York. Matt’s unique position straddling the field and home office worlds makes him an invaluable resource to both. Matt serves as an Executive Officer as well as leading four regions - Iroquois Northeast, Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group, Iroquois Midwest and Iroquois South – as Managing Partner. Matt overseas Carrier-Partner relationships and field operations. Innovation and commitment to the independent agency channel have defined Matt’s insurance career. Creator of the PartnerPlan®, Matt constantly pushes Iroquois to find new ways to reward highly partnered Member Agencies.

Phone: 804-370-2862

Iroquois insurance network's Kevin-McKay

Kevin McKay

Regional Vice President: Iroquois Northeast

Kevin draws on over 32 years of experience as an agency owner and producer to deliver outstanding counsel and direction to his members and prospects. Kevin specializes in market optimization, utilizing Iroquois strategies and resources to build agency revenue and value, and functions as a true trusted advisor on a variety of agency management issues. In his current role as Regional Vice President of Iroquois Northeast, Kevin is responsible for both member and carrier relationships in this 7-state region.

Phone: 603-785-3581

Insurance agency consultant Charlie Orbann

Charlie Orbann

Regional Manager: Iroquois Northeast

With over 12 years of his career spent with premier carriers such as Travelers, Farmers and Prudential, Charlie brings a wealth of knowledge to his members. Using his skills in distribution management, Charlie helps his members maximize revenue, optimize books of business, and utilize the tools and programs Iroquois provides to drive agency growth and profitability. He works with members in Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Phone: 860-670-8824

Iroquois insurance network's Kathy-Patenaude

Kathy Patenaude, CIC

Regional Manager: Iroquois Northeast

Kathy’s 25 years in the insurance industry and solid agency background as a producer, manager and owner, drives her commitment to support her members’ efforts to organically grow, maximize revenue and enhance agency value. She is deeply skilled at working with her members to identify and implement marketing initiatives, optimize books of business and align Iroquois resources to enhance agency value. She manages members in Connecticut and Rhode Island.

Phone: 860-461-5365

Delaware

Matt Ward, insurance consultant

Matt Ward

Managing Partner

Hired in 1985 as the first Iroquois Regional Manager, Matt has been instrumental in expanding Iroquois beyond its home state of New York. Matt’s unique position straddling the field and home office worlds makes him an invaluable resource to both. Matt serves as an Executive Officer as well as leading four regions - Iroquois Northeast, Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group, Iroquois Midwest and Iroquois South – as Managing Partner. Matt overseas Carrier-Partner relationships and field operations. Innovation and commitment to the independent agency channel have defined Matt’s insurance career. Creator of the PartnerPlan®, Matt constantly pushes Iroquois to find new ways to reward highly partnered Member Agencies.

Phone: 804-370-2862

Iroquois insurance cluster consultant Allen-Kramer

Allen Kramer, CIC, AIU

Regional Manager

Allen spent the first half of his career in underwriting, marketing and agency management with Allstate, Atlantic Mutual and General Accident. He began his Iroquois career in 1996, and immediately put his expertise to work for his members. Allen delivers expert counsel to assist his members in maximizing revenue, optimizing books of business and utilizing the tools and programs Iroquois provides to drive growth and profitability. He works with members in Maryland, Washington DC, Delaware and Pennsylvania.

Phone: 301-947-8552

Iroquois insurance network's Joe-Lesko

Joe Lesko, CPCU, CIC

Regional Manager: Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group

For more than 30 years, Joe built his Property & Casualty skills on the carrier side in underwriting, sales, marketing and distribution. His tenure on the carrier side included Fireman’s Fund, Harleysville, Liberty Mutual and most recently, Safeco as a Regional Distribution Manager and AVP. Joe brings his dedication to the independent agency channel to Iroquois and continues his focus on helping members organically grow, maximize revenue and take advantage of all the resources that Iroquois has to offer. He works with members in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware.

Phone: 301-789-3496

Iroquois insurance network consultant Andrew Trass

Andy Trass

Senior Business Analyst

As a Senior Business Analyst, Andy is responsible for addressing business process inefficiencies and implementing potential improvements, as well as overseeing reporting and analytics for Iroquois and its Member Agencies. Andy’s background in Finance along with his unique position of working with all departments of Iroquois helps in delivering Iroquois’ value proposition to its Members and Carrier-Partners.

Phone: 716-378-2953

Angela Bulan Iroquois Mid-Atlantic

Angela Bulan

Field Administrator: Iroquois Mid-Atlantic

Angela came to Iroquois in the summer of 2019 with a varied background in the insurance industry. Having compiled a solid sales background with Prudential Financial, Angela earned several management positions and was the owner of a Richmond, Va., P&C agency that she founded in 2004. She also built and developed a profitable P&C agency for a large financial firm in Richmond. Most recently she served as the underwriting manager for the Small Commercial Division for Richmond-based All Risks, Ltd., then on that company's operations team as sales support coordinator.

Washington DC

Matt Ward, insurance consultant

Matt Ward

Managing Partner

Hired in 1985 as the first Iroquois Regional Manager, Matt has been instrumental in expanding Iroquois beyond its home state of New York. Matt’s unique position straddling the field and home office worlds makes him an invaluable resource to both. Matt serves as an Executive Officer as well as leading four regions - Iroquois Northeast, Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group, Iroquois Midwest and Iroquois South – as Managing Partner. Matt overseas Carrier-Partner relationships and field operations. Innovation and commitment to the independent agency channel have defined Matt’s insurance career. Creator of the PartnerPlan®, Matt constantly pushes Iroquois to find new ways to reward highly partnered Member Agencies.

Phone: 804-370-2862

Iroquois insurance cluster consultant Allen-Kramer

Allen Kramer, CIC, AIU

Regional Manager

Allen spent the first half of his career in underwriting, marketing and agency management with Allstate, Atlantic Mutual and General Accident. He began his Iroquois career in 1996, and immediately put his expertise to work for his members. Allen delivers expert counsel to assist his members in maximizing revenue, optimizing books of business and utilizing the tools and programs Iroquois provides to drive growth and profitability. He works with members in Maryland, Washington DC, Delaware and Pennsylvania.

Phone: 301-947-8552

Iroquois insurance network consultant Erin Marshall of Virginia

Erin Marshall, CPCU

Regional Manager: Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group

Erin draws on 20 years of experience as a carrier production underwriter, marketing representative, affinity specialist and sales manager to deliver insightful counsel and direction to her members. Erin specializes in market optimization and utilizing Iroquois’ strategies and resources to build agency revenue and value. Erin functions as a true trusted advisor to her members. She works with members in Northern Virginia, Washington, D.C. and Maryland.

Phone: 703-450-1782

Iroquois insurance network consultant Andrew Trass

Andy Trass

Senior Business Analyst

As a Senior Business Analyst, Andy is responsible for addressing business process inefficiencies and implementing potential improvements, as well as overseeing reporting and analytics for Iroquois and its Member Agencies. Andy’s background in Finance along with his unique position of working with all departments of Iroquois helps in delivering Iroquois’ value proposition to its Members and Carrier-Partners.

Phone: 716-378-2953

Angela Bulan Iroquois Mid-Atlantic

Angela Bulan

Field Administrator: Iroquois Mid-Atlantic

Angela came to Iroquois in the summer of 2019 with a varied background in the insurance industry. Having compiled a solid sales background with Prudential Financial, Angela earned several management positions and was the owner of a Richmond, Va., P&C agency that she founded in 2004. She also built and developed a profitable P&C agency for a large financial firm in Richmond. Most recently she served as the underwriting manager for the Small Commercial Division for Richmond-based All Risks, Ltd., then on that company's operations team as sales support coordinator.
Team - Chris Ward, AU

Chris Ward, AU

Agency Manager

Christopher Ward, AU joins Iroquois as an Agency Manager supporting our members in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia. He previously spent two years as a commercial underwriter for Frederick Mutual. A Virginia Tech grad, Chris lives in Arlington, Va.

Florida

David Ward, Iroquois South Managing Partner

David D. Ward

Managing Partner: Iroquois South

David’s Prudential Insurance experience, followed by over 20 years of leadership roles in marketing, sales management, and strategic planning, prepared him to manage Iroquois’ fast growing South region. David works closely with his Regional Managers to provide the best that Iroquois has to offer their members. His passion is to deliver the full Iroquois Value Proposition to every Iroquois member.

Phone: 843-568-5543

Team - Cole Shannahan

Cole Shannahan

Regional Manager: Iroquois South

Cole’s experience as a commercial producer for both a large regional broker and a local independent agency, made him acutely aware of the challenges and needs of Iroquois members. Cole brings this familiarity and expertise to his dealings with his members. He works with his members to organically grow, maximize revenue and enhance agency value. Cole also served his country in the U.S. Coast Guard for 10 years before beginning his insurance career. He handles agencies throughout Florida and is a graduate of the University of Central Florida.

Phone: 863-224-5763

Insurance agency consultant Joya Schoolcraft

Joya Schoolcraft

Regional Manager: Iroquois South

Joya joined Iroquois as a Regional Manager in January of 2018, but her association with Iroquois goes back decades. In 1992, she began working for an Iroquois Member Agency in Virginia and then continued her association with Iroquois when she worked for a core Carrier-Partner. In 2004, Joya bought that same Member Agency and built an impressive track record of profitable growth with Iroquois and her Carrier-Partners. Her Iroquois agency experience culminated in maximizing her own agency’s revenue and value through the Iroquois Preferred Member Agreement. Joya recently sold her agency to Iroquois and is already imparting her personal Iroquois story to her assigned members and prospects. Her background makes her uniquely qualified to assist members in optimizing books and maximizing revenue.

Phone: 239-270-4644

>Georgia

David Ward, Iroquois South Managing Partner

David D. Ward

Managing Partner: Iroquois South

David’s Prudential Insurance experience, followed by over 20 years of leadership roles in marketing, sales management, and strategic planning, prepared him to manage Iroquois’ fast growing South region. David works closely with his Regional Managers to provide the best that Iroquois has to offer their members. His passion is to deliver the full Iroquois Value Proposition to every Iroquois member.

Phone: 843-568-5543

Don Hunt

Regional Manager: Iroquois South

Don joined Iroquois with more than 30 years of carrier experience in marketing, sales and underwriting. As an Iroquois Regional Manager, Don works with his membership to organically grow, maximize revenue and enhance agency value. He is passionate about his role as Trusted Advisor and is always willing to help any agent in need. Don works with members throughout Georgia.

Phone: 678-825-7903

Team - Wendy Simpson Small

Wendy Simpson

Regional Manager: Iroquois South

Wendy brings to her new role at Iroquois more than 20 years of insurance experience with multiple national and regional carriers including Hanover, Berkshire Hathaway Guard and State Auto. She also brings extensive knowledge of agency management, operations, and sales from her time at a local independent agency. Wendy’s diverse insurance background enhances her ability to help member agencies organically grow their revenue, profits and agency value. She is a Clemson graduate with a degree in Finance and Accounting.

Hawaii

Team - Ken Koehler

Ken Koehler

Regional Vice President

Ken’s leadership positions in underwriting and sales with Nationwide, Fireman’s Fund, Liberty Mutual, and Encompass were perfect preparation for his new role as Regional Vice President supporting our members and carrier partners in Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan. In addition, he will develop the Northwest states for Iroquois, with an initial focus on Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and the Dakotas.

Idaho

Bob-Stallings Iroquois insurance cluster consultant

Bob Stallings

Managing Partner

Bob put his 20 years of underwriting, marketing, management and product development at Prudential Property and Casualty Insurance to use when he joined the Iroquois Group in 2001 and started Iroquois Southwest in Arizona. The Southwest region has since grown to include membership in California, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Nevada and Idaho. Under Bob’s direction, ISW has grown phenomenally.

Phone: 480-854-3913

Team - Ken Koehler

Ken Koehler

Regional Vice President

Ken’s leadership positions in underwriting and sales with Nationwide, Fireman’s Fund, Liberty Mutual, and Encompass were perfect preparation for his new role as Regional Vice President supporting our members and carrier partners in Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan. In addition, he will develop the Northwest states for Iroquois, with an initial focus on Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and the Dakotas.
Insurance network regional manager Mike Mullens

Mike Mullens

Regional Manager

Based in Sacramento, Mike works with members in Northern California, Northern Nevada and Idaho. He applies his 17 years of experience in insurance management, operations, marketing, and due diligence to help his members grow and enhance their agency value. Mike is a trusted advisor focused on elevating his member agencies’ overall performance.

Phone: 916-365-1865

Team-Member-Denise-Moore-Grey-Background

Denise Moore, CIC

Regional Manager: Iroquois Northwest

Denise Moore, CIC, recently joined Iroquois after a successful career on the carrier side with Liberty Mutual in the Northwest. She was a President Award winning Senior Territory Manager for Liberty, who managed and significantly grew a territory over 8 years. Prior to taking on the Senior TM role, Denise was the Association Programs Director for Liberty Northwest. She also held positions as Commercial Lines Producer and Senior Underwriter, Workers’ Compensation. Denise brings her energy, enthusiasm, and a wealth of experience to Iroquois as we develop Oregon and Idaho for Iroquois Northwest.

Illinois

Matt Ward, insurance consultant

Matt Ward

Managing Partner

Hired in 1985 as the first Iroquois Regional Manager, Matt has been instrumental in expanding Iroquois beyond its home state of New York. Matt’s unique position straddling the field and home office worlds makes him an invaluable resource to both. Matt serves as an Executive Officer as well as leading four regions - Iroquois Northeast, Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group, Iroquois Midwest and Iroquois South – as Managing Partner. Matt overseas Carrier-Partner relationships and field operations. Innovation and commitment to the independent agency channel have defined Matt’s insurance career. Creator of the PartnerPlan®, Matt constantly pushes Iroquois to find new ways to reward highly partnered Member Agencies.

Phone: 804-370-2862

Team - Ken Koehler

Ken Koehler

Regional Vice President

Ken’s leadership positions in underwriting and sales with Nationwide, Fireman’s Fund, Liberty Mutual, and Encompass were perfect preparation for his new role as Regional Vice President supporting our members and carrier partners in Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan. In addition, he will develop the Northwest states for Iroquois, with an initial focus on Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and the Dakotas.
Christian Rebello, regional manager and insurance consultant

Christian Rebello

Regional Manager: Iroquois Midwest

Christian came to Iroquois from a top 20 independent agency in the Chicago area where he was an Assistant Vice President and producer. Prior to becoming an AVP, Christian focused on marketing and account management Christian uses his skills and experience to help agencies optimize their carrier appointments and maximize agency revenues. Christian handles Illinois and Wisconsin in his Regional Manager role.

Phone: 630-200-8523

Indiana

Matt Ward, insurance consultant

Matt Ward

Managing Partner

Hired in 1985 as the first Iroquois Regional Manager, Matt has been instrumental in expanding Iroquois beyond its home state of New York. Matt’s unique position straddling the field and home office worlds makes him an invaluable resource to both. Matt serves as an Executive Officer as well as leading four regions - Iroquois Northeast, Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group, Iroquois Midwest and Iroquois South – as Managing Partner. Matt overseas Carrier-Partner relationships and field operations. Innovation and commitment to the independent agency channel have defined Matt’s insurance career. Creator of the PartnerPlan®, Matt constantly pushes Iroquois to find new ways to reward highly partnered Member Agencies.

Phone: 804-370-2862

Team - Ken Koehler

Ken Koehler

Regional Vice President

Ken’s leadership positions in underwriting and sales with Nationwide, Fireman’s Fund, Liberty Mutual, and Encompass were perfect preparation for his new role as Regional Vice President supporting our members and carrier partners in Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan. In addition, he will develop the Northwest states for Iroquois, with an initial focus on Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and the Dakotas.
Rich Laffoon

Rich Laffoon

Regional Manager

Rich Laffoon became Iroquois’ regional manager in Indiana in August of 2023. Most recently, Rich was a Field construction underwriter for Nationwide Insurance in Indiana and the Chicagoland area. Before his role at Nationwide, Rich held underwriting and distribution roles at Amerisure, Travelers, Zurich and Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance. Rich has a degree in Insurance and Risk Management from Indiana State University and an MBA from Indiana Wesleyan University.

Iowa

Matt Ward, insurance consultant

Matt Ward

Managing Partner

Hired in 1985 as the first Iroquois Regional Manager, Matt has been instrumental in expanding Iroquois beyond its home state of New York. Matt’s unique position straddling the field and home office worlds makes him an invaluable resource to both. Matt serves as an Executive Officer as well as leading four regions - Iroquois Northeast, Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group, Iroquois Midwest and Iroquois South – as Managing Partner. Matt overseas Carrier-Partner relationships and field operations. Innovation and commitment to the independent agency channel have defined Matt’s insurance career. Creator of the PartnerPlan®, Matt constantly pushes Iroquois to find new ways to reward highly partnered Member Agencies.

Phone: 804-370-2862

Team - Ken Koehler

Ken Koehler

Regional Vice President

Ken’s leadership positions in underwriting and sales with Nationwide, Fireman’s Fund, Liberty Mutual, and Encompass were perfect preparation for his new role as Regional Vice President supporting our members and carrier partners in Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan. In addition, he will develop the Northwest states for Iroquois, with an initial focus on Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and the Dakotas.
Team - Kari Smith

Kari Smith

Regional Manager

Kari Smith joined Iroquois in the summer of 2023 bringing extensive and multi-faceted experience in the insurance industry to her new role as Regional Manager for Minnesota and the Dakotas. Kari owned an agency for many years prior to her most recent work with AAA of Minnesota. When not working, she and her family share a passion for Minnesota Wild games, the Minnesota Twins, and the Minnesota Vikings.

Kansas

Matt Ward, insurance consultant

Matt Ward

Managing Partner

Hired in 1985 as the first Iroquois Regional Manager, Matt has been instrumental in expanding Iroquois beyond its home state of New York. Matt’s unique position straddling the field and home office worlds makes him an invaluable resource to both. Matt serves as an Executive Officer as well as leading four regions - Iroquois Northeast, Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group, Iroquois Midwest and Iroquois South – as Managing Partner. Matt overseas Carrier-Partner relationships and field operations. Innovation and commitment to the independent agency channel have defined Matt’s insurance career. Creator of the PartnerPlan®, Matt constantly pushes Iroquois to find new ways to reward highly partnered Member Agencies.

Phone: 804-370-2862

John McCaleb, Regional VP, Iroquois Midwest and Texas

John McCaleb

Regional Vice President

John has an extensive and diverse background spanning Underwriting, Sales, Business Development, and Executive Leadership while serving for 15 years at Liberty Mutual Insurance and The Hartford prior to joining Iroquois. John and his team of Regional Managers partner with strong, professional independent insurance agencies to increase revenues, profits and value and partner with insurance company leaders to drive profitable growth for Iroquois carriers. John manages the lower half of the Midwest including Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, and Missouri.
Team - Josh Crocker

Josh Crocker, CIC, AU

Regional Manager

Josh has nearly 10 years’ experience in commercial and personal lines in the independent agent channel and prides himself on strong relationships with his agency partners. He will focus on partnering with member agencies to drive profitable growth to his carrier partners by stressing market optimization and alignment of tools that create value for Iroquois members. Prior to Iroquois, Josh was a Nationwide Small Commercial territory sales manager for the state of Missouri. Prior to Nationwide, he worked for Missouri Employers Mutual and Auto Owners in sales and underwriting roles. He holds both the Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) and Associate in Underwriting (AU) designations and graduated from Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Mo.

>Kentucky

Matt Ward, insurance consultant

Matt Ward

Managing Partner

Hired in 1985 as the first Iroquois Regional Manager, Matt has been instrumental in expanding Iroquois beyond its home state of New York. Matt’s unique position straddling the field and home office worlds makes him an invaluable resource to both. Matt serves as an Executive Officer as well as leading four regions - Iroquois Northeast, Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group, Iroquois Midwest and Iroquois South – as Managing Partner. Matt overseas Carrier-Partner relationships and field operations. Innovation and commitment to the independent agency channel have defined Matt’s insurance career. Creator of the PartnerPlan®, Matt constantly pushes Iroquois to find new ways to reward highly partnered Member Agencies.

Phone: 804-370-2862

Team - Kurt Keller New

Kurt Keller, CIC

Regional Director: Mid-Atlantic Group

As a Regional Manager serving members in Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia, Kurt has had great success in helping members grow organically while maximizing their revenue and agency value. As a result, he has recently been given the added responsibility of overseeing Iroquois’ further expansion in Ohio and Kentucky.
Kentucky insurance consultant regional manager Chris Renfroe

Chris Renfroe

Regional Manager

Chris Renfroe has joined the Iroquois team to expand its presence in the state of Kentucky. HIs 6 years as a Senior Territory Manager with State Auto covering the Louisville, KY area and previous work for Sentry Insurance and Philadelphia Insurance make him well suited to add and service members in KY.

Chris is a graduate of Bellarmine University in Louisville, KY. He loves to travel, watch college sports, and spend time with his son who currently attends the University of Louisville. We look forward to Chris bringing his extensive commercial lines knowledge and networking skills to the Iroquois Group.

Angela Bulan Iroquois Mid-Atlantic

Angela Bulan

Field Administrator: Iroquois Mid-Atlantic

Angela came to Iroquois in the summer of 2019 with a varied background in the insurance industry. Having compiled a solid sales background with Prudential Financial, Angela earned several management positions and was the owner of a Richmond, Va., P&C agency that she founded in 2004. She also built and developed a profitable P&C agency for a large financial firm in Richmond. Most recently she served as the underwriting manager for the Small Commercial Division for Richmond-based All Risks, Ltd., then on that company's operations team as sales support coordinator.

Louisiana

David Ward, Iroquois South Managing Partner

David D. Ward

Managing Partner: Iroquois South

David’s Prudential Insurance experience, followed by over 20 years of leadership roles in marketing, sales management, and strategic planning, prepared him to manage Iroquois’ fast growing South region. David works closely with his Regional Managers to provide the best that Iroquois has to offer their members. His passion is to deliver the full Iroquois Value Proposition to every Iroquois member.

Phone: 843-568-5543

Cameron Cardinal, insurance cluster consultant

Cameron Cardinal, CIC

Regional Manager: Iroquois South

Cameron joined Iroquois in June of 2016 to manage Iroquois’ expansion into Louisiana. He brought proven marketing and agency management skills to his role which were honed as an agency owner and during his carrier tenure with Encompass, Zurich and CNA. Cameron’s broad knowledge of the Louisiana insurance market has been invaluable to Iroquois and instrumental in our quick success there. In the Regional Manager role, Cameron concentrates his effort with his members toward optimizing books of business and utilizing various Iroquois tools and resources to enhance agency value.

Phone: 504-579-3278

Maine

Matt Ward, insurance consultant

Matt Ward

Managing Partner

Hired in 1985 as the first Iroquois Regional Manager, Matt has been instrumental in expanding Iroquois beyond its home state of New York. Matt’s unique position straddling the field and home office worlds makes him an invaluable resource to both. Matt serves as an Executive Officer as well as leading four regions - Iroquois Northeast, Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group, Iroquois Midwest and Iroquois South – as Managing Partner. Matt overseas Carrier-Partner relationships and field operations. Innovation and commitment to the independent agency channel have defined Matt’s insurance career. Creator of the PartnerPlan®, Matt constantly pushes Iroquois to find new ways to reward highly partnered Member Agencies.

Phone: 804-370-2862

Iroquois insurance network's Kevin-McKay

Kevin McKay

Regional Vice President: Iroquois Northeast

Kevin draws on over 32 years of experience as an agency owner and producer to deliver outstanding counsel and direction to his members and prospects. Kevin specializes in market optimization, utilizing Iroquois strategies and resources to build agency revenue and value, and functions as a true trusted advisor on a variety of agency management issues. In his current role as Regional Vice President of Iroquois Northeast, Kevin is responsible for both member and carrier relationships in this 7-state region.

Phone: 603-785-3581

Maryland

Matt Ward, insurance consultant

Matt Ward

Managing Partner

Hired in 1985 as the first Iroquois Regional Manager, Matt has been instrumental in expanding Iroquois beyond its home state of New York. Matt’s unique position straddling the field and home office worlds makes him an invaluable resource to both. Matt serves as an Executive Officer as well as leading four regions - Iroquois Northeast, Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group, Iroquois Midwest and Iroquois South – as Managing Partner. Matt overseas Carrier-Partner relationships and field operations. Innovation and commitment to the independent agency channel have defined Matt’s insurance career. Creator of the PartnerPlan®, Matt constantly pushes Iroquois to find new ways to reward highly partnered Member Agencies.

Phone: 804-370-2862

Iroquois insurance network's Lindy-Bane

Lindy Bane, CPCU, ARM, APA

Regional Manager: Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group

With over 40 years of P&C experience, including underwriting, marketing and management roles at Maryland Casualty and Zurich, Lindy is known as a Trusted Advisor throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. He takes advantage of all the Iroquois tools at his disposal to advance his members’ operations, forging deep, long-term partnerships that generate high returns for his members. Lindy is a certified instructor for Virginia Continuing Education. He works with members throughout Virginia and Maryland.

Phone: 804-557-2299

Iroquois insurance cluster consultant Allen-Kramer

Allen Kramer, CIC, AIU

Regional Manager

Allen spent the first half of his career in underwriting, marketing and agency management with Allstate, Atlantic Mutual and General Accident. He began his Iroquois career in 1996, and immediately put his expertise to work for his members. Allen delivers expert counsel to assist his members in maximizing revenue, optimizing books of business and utilizing the tools and programs Iroquois provides to drive growth and profitability. He works with members in Maryland, Washington DC, Delaware and Pennsylvania.

Phone: 301-947-8552

Iroquois insurance network's Joe-Lesko

Joe Lesko, CPCU, CIC

Regional Manager: Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group

For more than 30 years, Joe built his Property & Casualty skills on the carrier side in underwriting, sales, marketing and distribution. His tenure on the carrier side included Fireman’s Fund, Harleysville, Liberty Mutual and most recently, Safeco as a Regional Distribution Manager and AVP. Joe brings his dedication to the independent agency channel to Iroquois and continues his focus on helping members organically grow, maximize revenue and take advantage of all the resources that Iroquois has to offer. He works with members in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware.

Phone: 301-789-3496

Iroquois insurance network consultant Erin Marshall of Virginia

Erin Marshall, CPCU

Regional Manager: Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group

Erin draws on 20 years of experience as a carrier production underwriter, marketing representative, affinity specialist and sales manager to deliver insightful counsel and direction to her members. Erin specializes in market optimization and utilizing Iroquois’ strategies and resources to build agency revenue and value. Erin functions as a true trusted advisor to her members. She works with members in Northern Virginia, Washington, D.C. and Maryland.

Phone: 703-450-1782

Angela Bulan Iroquois Mid-Atlantic

Angela Bulan

Field Administrator: Iroquois Mid-Atlantic

Angela came to Iroquois in the summer of 2019 with a varied background in the insurance industry. Having compiled a solid sales background with Prudential Financial, Angela earned several management positions and was the owner of a Richmond, Va., P&C agency that she founded in 2004. She also built and developed a profitable P&C agency for a large financial firm in Richmond. Most recently she served as the underwriting manager for the Small Commercial Division for Richmond-based All Risks, Ltd., then on that company's operations team as sales support coordinator.
Iroquois insurance network consultant Andrew Trass

Andy Trass

Senior Business Analyst

As a Senior Business Analyst, Andy is responsible for addressing business process inefficiencies and implementing potential improvements, as well as overseeing reporting and analytics for Iroquois and its Member Agencies. Andy’s background in Finance along with his unique position of working with all departments of Iroquois helps in delivering Iroquois’ value proposition to its Members and Carrier-Partners.

Phone: 716-378-2953

Team - Chris Ward, AU

Chris Ward, AU

Agency Manager

Christopher Ward, AU joins Iroquois as an Agency Manager supporting our members in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia. He previously spent two years as a commercial underwriter for Frederick Mutual. A Virginia Tech grad, Chris lives in Arlington, Va.

Massachusetts

Matt Ward, insurance consultant

Matt Ward

Managing Partner

Hired in 1985 as the first Iroquois Regional Manager, Matt has been instrumental in expanding Iroquois beyond its home state of New York. Matt’s unique position straddling the field and home office worlds makes him an invaluable resource to both. Matt serves as an Executive Officer as well as leading four regions - Iroquois Northeast, Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group, Iroquois Midwest and Iroquois South – as Managing Partner. Matt overseas Carrier-Partner relationships and field operations. Innovation and commitment to the independent agency channel have defined Matt’s insurance career. Creator of the PartnerPlan®, Matt constantly pushes Iroquois to find new ways to reward highly partnered Member Agencies.

Phone: 804-370-2862

Iroquois insurance network's Kevin-McKay

Kevin McKay

Regional Vice President: Iroquois Northeast

Kevin draws on over 32 years of experience as an agency owner and producer to deliver outstanding counsel and direction to his members and prospects. Kevin specializes in market optimization, utilizing Iroquois strategies and resources to build agency revenue and value, and functions as a true trusted advisor on a variety of agency management issues. In his current role as Regional Vice President of Iroquois Northeast, Kevin is responsible for both member and carrier relationships in this 7-state region.

Phone: 603-785-3581

Insurance agency consultant Charlie Orbann

Charlie Orbann

Regional Manager: Iroquois Northeast

With over 12 years of his career spent with premier carriers such as Travelers, Farmers and Prudential, Charlie brings a wealth of knowledge to his members. Using his skills in distribution management, Charlie helps his members maximize revenue, optimize books of business, and utilize the tools and programs Iroquois provides to drive agency growth and profitability. He works with members in Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Phone: 860-670-8824

Iroquois insurance network consultant Ben Ward of Albany

Ben Ward, CIC

Regional Manager: Iroquois Northeast

As an Iroquois Regional Manager, Ben brings both agency and carrier experience to his role and to the benefit of Iroquois’ members. His time in direct sales at Liberty Mutual and as a producer at an independent agency cemented his commitment to the independent agency model. He supports agencies in Massachusetts and New York.

Phone: 781-718-8920

Michigan

Matt Ward, insurance consultant

Matt Ward

Managing Partner

Hired in 1985 as the first Iroquois Regional Manager, Matt has been instrumental in expanding Iroquois beyond its home state of New York. Matt’s unique position straddling the field and home office worlds makes him an invaluable resource to both. Matt serves as an Executive Officer as well as leading four regions - Iroquois Northeast, Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group, Iroquois Midwest and Iroquois South – as Managing Partner. Matt overseas Carrier-Partner relationships and field operations. Innovation and commitment to the independent agency channel have defined Matt’s insurance career. Creator of the PartnerPlan®, Matt constantly pushes Iroquois to find new ways to reward highly partnered Member Agencies.

Phone: 804-370-2862

Team - Ken Koehler

Ken Koehler

Regional Vice President

Ken’s leadership positions in underwriting and sales with Nationwide, Fireman’s Fund, Liberty Mutual, and Encompass were perfect preparation for his new role as Regional Vice President supporting our members and carrier partners in Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan. In addition, he will develop the Northwest states for Iroquois, with an initial focus on Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and the Dakotas.
Insurance network advisor Maureen Vincent

Maureen Vincent, CIC

Regional Manager: Iroquois Midwest

Maureen’s work with Cincinnati and SECURA in underwriting, marketing and agency management roles prepared her well to add value to Iroquois members. She works with her members to organically grow, maximize revenue and enhance agency value. Maureen serves Iroquois members in Michigan and is a Michigan State grad.

Phone: 248-416-0780

Minnesota

Matt Ward, insurance consultant

Matt Ward

Managing Partner

Hired in 1985 as the first Iroquois Regional Manager, Matt has been instrumental in expanding Iroquois beyond its home state of New York. Matt’s unique position straddling the field and home office worlds makes him an invaluable resource to both. Matt serves as an Executive Officer as well as leading four regions - Iroquois Northeast, Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group, Iroquois Midwest and Iroquois South – as Managing Partner. Matt overseas Carrier-Partner relationships and field operations. Innovation and commitment to the independent agency channel have defined Matt’s insurance career. Creator of the PartnerPlan®, Matt constantly pushes Iroquois to find new ways to reward highly partnered Member Agencies.

Phone: 804-370-2862

Team - Ken Koehler

Ken Koehler

Regional Vice President

Ken’s leadership positions in underwriting and sales with Nationwide, Fireman’s Fund, Liberty Mutual, and Encompass were perfect preparation for his new role as Regional Vice President supporting our members and carrier partners in Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan. In addition, he will develop the Northwest states for Iroquois, with an initial focus on Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and the Dakotas.
Team - Kari Smith

Kari Smith

Regional Manager

Kari Smith joined Iroquois in the summer of 2023 bringing extensive and multi-faceted experience in the insurance industry to her new role as Regional Manager for Minnesota and the Dakotas. Kari owned an agency for many years prior to her most recent work with AAA of Minnesota. When not working, she and her family share a passion for Minnesota Wild games, the Minnesota Twins, and the Minnesota Vikings.

Mississippi

David Ward, Iroquois South Managing Partner

David D. Ward

Managing Partner: Iroquois South

David’s Prudential Insurance experience, followed by over 20 years of leadership roles in marketing, sales management, and strategic planning, prepared him to manage Iroquois’ fast growing South region. David works closely with his Regional Managers to provide the best that Iroquois has to offer their members. His passion is to deliver the full Iroquois Value Proposition to every Iroquois member.

Phone: 843-568-5543

Team - Perry Grant

Perry Grant

Regional Manager: Iroquois South

Before joining Iroquois, Perry spent 30+ years in underwriting and marketing positions with carriers such as Travelers, CNA and Hanover. Perry’s passion for the business is consistently demonstrated in his dealings with his members. He works with his members to take advantage of all available Iroquois programs and strategies to ensure each member maximizes annual revenue and stays focused on optimizing books of business. Perry is responsible for members in Mississippi, Alabama and western Tennessee. He is an Auburn graduate.

Phone: 205-910-5961

Missouri

Matt Ward, insurance consultant

Matt Ward

Managing Partner

Hired in 1985 as the first Iroquois Regional Manager, Matt has been instrumental in expanding Iroquois beyond its home state of New York. Matt’s unique position straddling the field and home office worlds makes him an invaluable resource to both. Matt serves as an Executive Officer as well as leading four regions - Iroquois Northeast, Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group, Iroquois Midwest and Iroquois South – as Managing Partner. Matt overseas Carrier-Partner relationships and field operations. Innovation and commitment to the independent agency channel have defined Matt’s insurance career. Creator of the PartnerPlan®, Matt constantly pushes Iroquois to find new ways to reward highly partnered Member Agencies.

Phone: 804-370-2862

John McCaleb, Regional VP, Iroquois Midwest and Texas

John McCaleb

Regional Vice President

John has an extensive and diverse background spanning Underwriting, Sales, Business Development, and Executive Leadership while serving for 15 years at Liberty Mutual Insurance and The Hartford prior to joining Iroquois. John and his team of Regional Managers partner with strong, professional independent insurance agencies to increase revenues, profits and value and partner with insurance company leaders to drive profitable growth for Iroquois carriers. John manages the lower half of the Midwest including Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, and Missouri.
Team - Josh Crocker

Josh Crocker, CIC, AU

Regional Manager

Josh has nearly 10 years’ experience in commercial and personal lines in the independent agent channel and prides himself on strong relationships with his agency partners. He will focus on partnering with member agencies to drive profitable growth to his carrier partners by stressing market optimization and alignment of tools that create value for Iroquois members. Prior to Iroquois, Josh was a Nationwide Small Commercial territory sales manager for the state of Missouri. Prior to Nationwide, he worked for Missouri Employers Mutual and Auto Owners in sales and underwriting roles. He holds both the Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) and Associate in Underwriting (AU) designations and graduated from Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Mo.

Montana

Team - Ken Koehler

Ken Koehler

Regional Vice President

Ken’s leadership positions in underwriting and sales with Nationwide, Fireman’s Fund, Liberty Mutual, and Encompass were perfect preparation for his new role as Regional Vice President supporting our members and carrier partners in Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan. In addition, he will develop the Northwest states for Iroquois, with an initial focus on Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and the Dakotas.
Team - Bob Hoogendam

Bob Hoogendam

Regional Manager

Bob Hoogendam, CPCU, has joined Iroquois as a regional manager in the Pacific Northwest. He will be responsible for growing the agency network’s membership in Washington and Montana. In 2019, Hoogendam was named Industry Person of the Year by the IIABW (Big I Washington) and Carrier Person of the Year by the IIAMT (Big I Montana). Before joining Iroquois, Hoogendam was a sales executive for Travelers Select Insurance. In that role, he managed agency relationships for commercial insurance in Washington and Idaho. Prior to his role at Travelers, Hoogendam spent time at Imperial Premium Finance Services, where he managed third-party relationships as a financial consultant for agents in Washington, Alaska, Idaho and Montana. He has also held roles as a senior territory marketing manager for Zurich Small Business and Foremost Insurance.

Nebraska

Matt Ward, insurance consultant

Matt Ward

Managing Partner

Hired in 1985 as the first Iroquois Regional Manager, Matt has been instrumental in expanding Iroquois beyond its home state of New York. Matt’s unique position straddling the field and home office worlds makes him an invaluable resource to both. Matt serves as an Executive Officer as well as leading four regions - Iroquois Northeast, Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group, Iroquois Midwest and Iroquois South – as Managing Partner. Matt overseas Carrier-Partner relationships and field operations. Innovation and commitment to the independent agency channel have defined Matt’s insurance career. Creator of the PartnerPlan®, Matt constantly pushes Iroquois to find new ways to reward highly partnered Member Agencies.

Phone: 804-370-2862

Team - Kari Smith

Kari Smith

Regional Manager

Kari Smith joined Iroquois in the summer of 2023 bringing extensive and multi-faceted experience in the insurance industry to her new role as Regional Manager for Minnesota and the Dakotas. Kari owned an agency for many years prior to her most recent work with AAA of Minnesota. When not working, she and her family share a passion for Minnesota Wild games, the Minnesota Twins, and the Minnesota Vikings.

Nevada

Bob-Stallings Iroquois insurance cluster consultant

Bob Stallings

Managing Partner

Bob put his 20 years of underwriting, marketing, management and product development at Prudential Property and Casualty Insurance to use when he joined the Iroquois Group in 2001 and started Iroquois Southwest in Arizona. The Southwest region has since grown to include membership in California, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Nevada and Idaho. Under Bob’s direction, ISW has grown phenomenally.

Phone: 480-854-3913

Insurance network regional manager Mike Mullens

Mike Mullens

Regional Manager

Based in Sacramento, Mike works with members in Northern California, Northern Nevada and Idaho. He applies his 17 years of experience in insurance management, operations, marketing, and due diligence to help his members grow and enhance their agency value. Mike is a trusted advisor focused on elevating his member agencies’ overall performance.

Phone: 916-365-1865

Insurance network consultant Mike Walker

Mike Walker

Regional Manager

Mike’s experience as an independent agent for 15 years and as a carrier Marketing Rep with Austin Mutual and Main Street America for 12 years gives him an excellent perspective on the needs of both Iroquois member agencies and our Carrier-Partners. Mike has strong industry relationships in Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. He works primarily to support and further develop our member base in Utah. Mike is a University of Utah grad.

Phone: 385-235-0239

Insurance network consultant John Maurer

John Maurer

Regional Sales and Marketing Facilitator

Over his 38-year career, John operated a captive agency for 10 years, an independent agency for 13 years, and spent 15 years as a consultant to independent agencies. John draws upon his extensive experience as a business owner and consultant when working with his members. He combines his business acumen and marketing and economics degrees to provide strategic planning, cash flow management guidance and to assist in building successful marketing campaigns. John is responsible for increasing agency membership and enhancing relationships with member agencies and carrier-partners in Arizona, Nevada and Utah.

Phone: 480-440-6209

New Hampshire

Matt Ward, insurance consultant

Matt Ward

Managing Partner

Hired in 1985 as the first Iroquois Regional Manager, Matt has been instrumental in expanding Iroquois beyond its home state of New York. Matt’s unique position straddling the field and home office worlds makes him an invaluable resource to both. Matt serves as an Executive Officer as well as leading four regions - Iroquois Northeast, Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group, Iroquois Midwest and Iroquois South – as Managing Partner. Matt overseas Carrier-Partner relationships and field operations. Innovation and commitment to the independent agency channel have defined Matt’s insurance career. Creator of the PartnerPlan®, Matt constantly pushes Iroquois to find new ways to reward highly partnered Member Agencies.

Phone: 804-370-2862

Iroquois insurance network's Kevin-McKay

Kevin McKay

Regional Vice President: Iroquois Northeast

Kevin draws on over 32 years of experience as an agency owner and producer to deliver outstanding counsel and direction to his members and prospects. Kevin specializes in market optimization, utilizing Iroquois strategies and resources to build agency revenue and value, and functions as a true trusted advisor on a variety of agency management issues. In his current role as Regional Vice President of Iroquois Northeast, Kevin is responsible for both member and carrier relationships in this 7-state region.

Phone: 603-785-3581

New Jersey

Matt Ward, insurance consultant

Matt Ward

Managing Partner

Hired in 1985 as the first Iroquois Regional Manager, Matt has been instrumental in expanding Iroquois beyond its home state of New York. Matt’s unique position straddling the field and home office worlds makes him an invaluable resource to both. Matt serves as an Executive Officer as well as leading four regions - Iroquois Northeast, Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group, Iroquois Midwest and Iroquois South – as Managing Partner. Matt overseas Carrier-Partner relationships and field operations. Innovation and commitment to the independent agency channel have defined Matt’s insurance career. Creator of the PartnerPlan®, Matt constantly pushes Iroquois to find new ways to reward highly partnered Member Agencies.

Phone: 804-370-2862

Iroquois insurance network's Ken-Bull-Small

Ken Bull, CIC, AU

Regional Manager: Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group

Ken joined Iroquois in 2006 with almost twenty years of sales, marketing and administrative experience in the insurance industry. Working with his members to organically grow, maximize revenue and enhance agency value, Ken is seen as a true Trusted Advisor. He is responsible for serving current Iroquois member agents and adding new members in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware.

Phone: 908-698-7355

Shanna Muscavage regional manager

Shanna Muscavage

Regional Manager - Mid-Atlantic Group

Shanna Muscavage recently joined Iroquois to support our members in eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey. She brings experience as an agent and agency office manager as well as carrier experience with Iroquois carrier-partners, Amerisafe and Main Street America. Shanna’s insurance experience, talent for relationship building, and presentation skills will serve her well in her role as Regional Manager.
Angela Bulan Iroquois Mid-Atlantic

Angela Bulan

Field Administrator: Iroquois Mid-Atlantic

Angela came to Iroquois in the summer of 2019 with a varied background in the insurance industry. Having compiled a solid sales background with Prudential Financial, Angela earned several management positions and was the owner of a Richmond, Va., P&C agency that she founded in 2004. She also built and developed a profitable P&C agency for a large financial firm in Richmond. Most recently she served as the underwriting manager for the Small Commercial Division for Richmond-based All Risks, Ltd., then on that company's operations team as sales support coordinator.
Iroquois insurance network consultant Andrew Trass

Andy Trass

Senior Business Analyst

As a Senior Business Analyst, Andy is responsible for addressing business process inefficiencies and implementing potential improvements, as well as overseeing reporting and analytics for Iroquois and its Member Agencies. Andy’s background in Finance along with his unique position of working with all departments of Iroquois helps in delivering Iroquois’ value proposition to its Members and Carrier-Partners.

Phone: 716-378-2953

New Mexico

Bob-Stallings Iroquois insurance cluster consultant

Bob Stallings

Managing Partner

Bob put his 20 years of underwriting, marketing, management and product development at Prudential Property and Casualty Insurance to use when he joined the Iroquois Group in 2001 and started Iroquois Southwest in Arizona. The Southwest region has since grown to include membership in California, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Nevada and Idaho. Under Bob’s direction, ISW has grown phenomenally.

Phone: 480-854-3913

Insurance consultant Erik Kaufman

Erik Kaufman

Regional Manager

Erik Kaufman has almost 20 years of experience in the insurance industry, most of it working with leading national carriers Allstate, Encompass and Travelers. All of his roles within these companies were in the field working with independent agents to help grow their revenue and profits. He believes that his ability to develop strong, trustworthy, and productive relationships have been a key to his success. Erik joined Iroquois in early 2020 and his region includes Colorado and New Mexico.

Phone: 720-441-8723

Insurance network consultant John Maurer

John Maurer

Regional Sales and Marketing Facilitator

Over his 38-year career, John operated a captive agency for 10 years, an independent agency for 13 years, and spent 15 years as a consultant to independent agencies. John draws upon his extensive experience as a business owner and consultant when working with his members. He combines his business acumen and marketing and economics degrees to provide strategic planning, cash flow management guidance and to assist in building successful marketing campaigns. John is responsible for increasing agency membership and enhancing relationships with member agencies and carrier-partners in Arizona, Nevada and Utah.

Phone: 480-440-6209

New York

Matt Ward, insurance consultant

Matt Ward

Managing Partner

Hired in 1985 as the first Iroquois Regional Manager, Matt has been instrumental in expanding Iroquois beyond its home state of New York. Matt’s unique position straddling the field and home office worlds makes him an invaluable resource to both. Matt serves as an Executive Officer as well as leading four regions - Iroquois Northeast, Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group, Iroquois Midwest and Iroquois South – as Managing Partner. Matt overseas Carrier-Partner relationships and field operations. Innovation and commitment to the independent agency channel have defined Matt’s insurance career. Creator of the PartnerPlan®, Matt constantly pushes Iroquois to find new ways to reward highly partnered Member Agencies.

Phone: 804-370-2862

Branch_Ted Iroquois insurance cluster consultant

Ted Branch

Managing Partner: Iroquois Northeast

Ted represents the fourth generation of the Branch family’s insurance business. Ted’s mastery of the Regional Manager role, his solid negotiation skills for agency acquisitions utilized during the 80’s, and his ownership and management of Databranch, an agency/business automation company, more than prepared him for his role as Managing Partner for New York and Ohio.

Phone: 330-606-6556

Insurance network advisor Kevin McKay speaking about continued education.

Kevin McKay

Regional Vice President: Iroquois Northeast

Kevin draws on over 32 years of experience as an agency owner and producer to deliver outstanding counsel and direction to his members and prospects. Kevin specializes in market optimization, utilizing Iroquois strategies and resources to build agency revenue and value, and functions as a true trusted advisor on a variety of agency management issues. In his current role as Regional Vice President of Iroquois Northeast, Kevin is responsible for both member and carrier relationships in this 7-state region.

Phone: 603-785-3581

Iroquois insurance network's Marshall-Glass

Marshall Glass

Regional Manager: Iroquois Northeast

As an active member of PIA and the Young Insurance Professionals of New York, Marshall is committed to the independent agency model. Marshall brings a wealth of experience and perspective to his Member Agencies from years as a sales leader for Allstate and AIG. He actively counsels members on a broad array of agency issues from sales initiatives, profit improvement, maximizing bonus opportunities, staffing and more. He works with members located in both Long Island and the New York Metro regions.

Phone: 917-387-7603

Iroquois insurance network consultant Ben Ward of New York

Ben Ward, CIC

Regional Manager: Iroquois Northeast

As an Iroquois Regional Manager, Ben brings both agency and carrier experience to his role and to the benefit of Iroquois’ members. His time in direct sales at Liberty Mutual and as a producer at an independent agency cemented his commitment to the independent agency model. He supports agencies in Massachusetts and New York.

Phone: 781-718-8920

North Carolina

David Ward, Iroquois South Managing Partner

David D. Ward

Managing Partner: Iroquois South

David’s Prudential Insurance experience, followed by over 20 years of leadership roles in marketing, sales management, and strategic planning, prepared him to manage Iroquois’ fast growing South region. David works closely with his Regional Managers to provide the best that Iroquois has to offer their members. His passion is to deliver the full Iroquois Value Proposition to every Iroquois member.

Phone: 843-568-5543

Iroquois insurance network consultant Andrew Ward of South Carolina

Andrew Ward

Regional Manager

Andrew Ward serves our members in the Carolinas, helping them grow revenue, profits and agency value. He got his start in Winston-Salem, where he graduated from Wake Forest and began his insurance career with National General, which only strengthens his dedication to our Carolina agency members. Andrew moved into the Regional Manager role after three years as an Iroquois Agency Manager.

North Dakota

Team - Ken Koehler

Ken Koehler

Regional Vice President

Ken’s leadership positions in underwriting and sales with Nationwide, Fireman’s Fund, Liberty Mutual, and Encompass were perfect preparation for his new role as Regional Vice President supporting our members and carrier partners in Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan. In addition, he will develop the Northwest states for Iroquois, with an initial focus on Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and the Dakotas.
Team - Kari Smith

Kari Smith

Regional Manager

Kari Smith joined Iroquois in the summer of 2023 bringing extensive and multi-faceted experience in the insurance industry to her new role as Regional Manager for Minnesota and the Dakotas. Kari owned an agency for many years prior to her most recent work with AAA of Minnesota. When not working, she and her family share a passion for Minnesota Wild games, the Minnesota Twins, and the Minnesota Vikings.

Ohio

Matt Ward, insurance consultant

Matt Ward

Managing Partner

Hired in 1985 as the first Iroquois Regional Manager, Matt has been instrumental in expanding Iroquois beyond its home state of New York. Matt’s unique position straddling the field and home office worlds makes him an invaluable resource to both. Matt serves as an Executive Officer as well as leading four regions - Iroquois Northeast, Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group, Iroquois Midwest and Iroquois South – as Managing Partner. Matt overseas Carrier-Partner relationships and field operations. Innovation and commitment to the independent agency channel have defined Matt’s insurance career. Creator of the PartnerPlan®, Matt constantly pushes Iroquois to find new ways to reward highly partnered Member Agencies.

Phone: 804-370-2862

Team - Kurt Keller New

Kurt Keller, CIC

Regional Director: Mid-Atlantic Group

As a Regional Manager serving members in Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia, Kurt has had great success in helping members grow organically while maximizing their revenue and agency value. As a result, he has recently been given the added responsibility of overseeing Iroquois’ further expansion in Ohio and Kentucky.
Team - Andy Harter

Andy Harter

Regional Manager

Andy joins Iroquois as the Regional Manager for Ohio where he will draw on his two decades of sales and leadership experience to act as a trusted advisor for Iroquois members in the state. Andy’s goal is to drive profitable growth for both our member agencies and carrier partners. He spent the previous three years as the Inside Territory Manager at Grange Insurance, managing agency relationships in Virginia. Andy's carrier experience, along with his passion for relationship building, will serve him well in his role as Ohio Regional Manager.
Angela Bulan Iroquois Mid-Atlantic

Angela Bulan

Field Administrator: Iroquois Mid-Atlantic

Angela came to Iroquois in the summer of 2019 with a varied background in the insurance industry. Having compiled a solid sales background with Prudential Financial, Angela earned several management positions and was the owner of a Richmond, Va., P&C agency that she founded in 2004. She also built and developed a profitable P&C agency for a large financial firm in Richmond. Most recently she served as the underwriting manager for the Small Commercial Division for Richmond-based All Risks, Ltd., then on that company's operations team as sales support coordinator.
Iroquois insurance network consultant Andrew Trass

Andy Trass

Senior Business Analyst

As a Senior Business Analyst, Andy is responsible for addressing business process inefficiencies and implementing potential improvements, as well as overseeing reporting and analytics for Iroquois and its Member Agencies. Andy’s background in Finance along with his unique position of working with all departments of Iroquois helps in delivering Iroquois’ value proposition to its Members and Carrier-Partners.

Phone: 716-378-2953

Team - Kelsey Branch

Kelsey Branch

Agency Manager

Kelsey Branch joined Iroquois Group in 2018 as the Digital Marketing Director handling the social media for the network as well as producing The Trusted Advisor Podcast. Prior to joining Iroquois, Kelsey worked for Travelers handling auto claims in their Pittsburgh office. With the retirement of one of our Ohio regional managers, Kelsey moved into an agency manager position at Iroquois Group to help some of our longtime members in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Oklahoma

Matt Ward, insurance consultant

Matt Ward

Managing Partner

Hired in 1985 as the first Iroquois Regional Manager, Matt has been instrumental in expanding Iroquois beyond its home state of New York. Matt’s unique position straddling the field and home office worlds makes him an invaluable resource to both. Matt serves as an Executive Officer as well as leading four regions - Iroquois Northeast, Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group, Iroquois Midwest and Iroquois South – as Managing Partner. Matt overseas Carrier-Partner relationships and field operations. Innovation and commitment to the independent agency channel have defined Matt’s insurance career. Creator of the PartnerPlan®, Matt constantly pushes Iroquois to find new ways to reward highly partnered Member Agencies.

Phone: 804-370-2862

John McCaleb, Regional VP, Iroquois Midwest and Texas

John McCaleb

Regional Vice President

John has an extensive and diverse background spanning Underwriting, Sales, Business Development, and Executive Leadership while serving for 15 years at Liberty Mutual Insurance and The Hartford prior to joining Iroquois. John and his team of Regional Managers partner with strong, professional independent insurance agencies to increase revenues, profits and value and partner with insurance company leaders to drive profitable growth for Iroquois carriers. John manages the lower half of the Midwest including Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, and Missouri.
Lucas Howard, insurance consultant regional manager in Arkansas and Oklahoma

Lucas Howard

Regional Manager

Lucas is a strong insurance sales leader and relationship development executive. He has held regional distribution leadership roles at Encompass, Statewide General Agency, and Kemper Specialty covering Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Lucas partners with strong, professional independent insurance agencies to increase revenue, profits and agency value and partners with local insurance company leaders to drive profitable growth for Iroquois carriers.

Oregon

Matt Ward, insurance consultant

Matt Ward

Managing Partner

Hired in 1985 as the first Iroquois Regional Manager, Matt has been instrumental in expanding Iroquois beyond its home state of New York. Matt’s unique position straddling the field and home office worlds makes him an invaluable resource to both. Matt serves as an Executive Officer as well as leading four regions - Iroquois Northeast, Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group, Iroquois Midwest and Iroquois South – as Managing Partner. Matt overseas Carrier-Partner relationships and field operations. Innovation and commitment to the independent agency channel have defined Matt’s insurance career. Creator of the PartnerPlan®, Matt constantly pushes Iroquois to find new ways to reward highly partnered Member Agencies.

Phone: 804-370-2862

Team - Ken Koehler

Ken Koehler

Regional Vice President

Ken’s leadership positions in underwriting and sales with Nationwide, Fireman’s Fund, Liberty Mutual, and Encompass were perfect preparation for his new role as Regional Vice President supporting our members and carrier partners in Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan. In addition, he will develop the Northwest states for Iroquois, with an initial focus on Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and the Dakotas.
Team-Member-Denise-Moore-Grey-Background

Denise Moore, CIC

Regional Manager: Iroquois Northwest

Denise Moore, CIC, recently joined Iroquois after a successful career on the carrier side with Liberty Mutual in the Northwest. She was a President Award winning Senior Territory Manager for Liberty, who managed and significantly grew a territory over 8 years. Prior to taking on the Senior TM role, Denise was the Association Programs Director for Liberty Northwest. She also held positions as Commercial Lines Producer and Senior Underwriter, Workers’ Compensation. Denise brings her energy, enthusiasm, and a wealth of experience to Iroquois as we develop Oregon and Idaho for Iroquois Northwest.

Pennsylvania

Matt Ward, insurance consultant

Matt Ward

Managing Partner

Hired in 1985 as the first Iroquois Regional Manager, Matt has been instrumental in expanding Iroquois beyond its home state of New York. Matt’s unique position straddling the field and home office worlds makes him an invaluable resource to both. Matt serves as an Executive Officer as well as leading four regions - Iroquois Northeast, Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group, Iroquois Midwest and Iroquois South – as Managing Partner. Matt overseas Carrier-Partner relationships and field operations. Innovation and commitment to the independent agency channel have defined Matt’s insurance career. Creator of the PartnerPlan®, Matt constantly pushes Iroquois to find new ways to reward highly partnered Member Agencies.

Phone: 804-370-2862

Iroquois insurance cluster consultant Allen-Kramer

Allen Kramer, CIC, AIU

Regional Manager: Mid-Atlantic Group

Allen spent the first half of his career in underwriting, marketing and agency management with Allstate, Atlantic Mutual and General Accident. He began his Iroquois career in 1996, and immediately put his expertise to work for his members. Allen delivers expert counsel to assist his members in maximizing revenue, optimizing books of business and utilizing the tools and programs Iroquois provides to drive growth and profitability. He works with members in Maryland, Washington DC, Delaware and Pennsylvania.

Phone: 301-947-8552

Team - Kurt Keller New

Kurt Keller, CIC

Regional Director: Mid-Atlantic Group

As a Regional Manager serving members in Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia, Kurt has had great success in helping members grow organically while maximizing their revenue and agency value. As a result, he has recently been given the added responsibility of overseeing Iroquois’ further expansion in Ohio and Kentucky.
Iroquois insurance network's Joe-Lesko

Joe Lesko, CPCU, CIC

Regional Manager: Mid-Atlantic Group

For more than 30 years, Joe built his Property & Casualty skills on the carrier side in underwriting, sales, marketing and distribution. His tenure on the carrier side included Fireman’s Fund, Harleysville, Liberty Mutual and most recently, Safeco as a Regional Distribution Manager and AVP. Joe brings his dedication to the independent agency channel to Iroquois and continues his focus on helping members organically grow, maximize revenue and take advantage of all the resources that Iroquois has to offer. He works with members in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware.

Phone: 301-789-3496

Iroquois insurance network consultant Matt Fawber of Pennsylvania

Matt Fawber, CIC

Regional Manager: Mid-Atlantic Group

For over 20 years, Matt worked on the carrier side to build his skills in sales, marketing, underwriting and claims. Matt relies on the experience gained at Commercial Union, Hartford and Millers Mutual when working with his growing member force. He partners with his members to identify and implement marketing initiatives, optimize books of business and aligns Iroquois resources to enhance agency value. He works with members in central and eastern Pennsylvania.

Phone: 717-574-7311

Iroquois insurance network's Ken-Bull-Small

Ken Bull, CIC, AU

Regional Manager: Mid-Atlantic Group

Ken joined Iroquois in 2006 with almost twenty years of sales, marketing and administrative experience in the insurance industry. Working with his members to organically grow, maximize revenue and enhance agency value, Ken is seen as a true Trusted Advisor. He is responsible for serving current Iroquois member agents and adding new members in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware.

Phone: 908-359-0752

Shanna Muscavage regional manager

Shanna Muscavage

Regional Manager - Mid-Atlantic Group

Shanna Muscavage recently joined Iroquois to support our members in eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey. She brings experience as an agent and agency office manager as well as carrier experience with Iroquois carrier-partners, Amerisafe and Main Street America. Shanna’s insurance experience, talent for relationship building, and presentation skills will serve her well in her role as Regional Manager.
Angela Bulan Iroquois Mid-Atlantic

Angela Bulan

Field Administrator: Mid-Atlantic Group

Angela came to Iroquois in the summer of 2019 with a varied background in the insurance industry. Having compiled a solid sales background with Prudential Financial, Angela earned several management positions and was the owner of a Richmond, Va., P&C agency that she founded in 2004. She also built and developed a profitable P&C agency for a large financial firm in Richmond. Most recently she served as the underwriting manager for the Small Commercial Division for Richmond-based All Risks, Ltd., then on that company's operations team as sales support coordinator.
Iroquois insurance network consultant Andrew Trass

Andy Trass

Senior Business Analyst

As a Senior Business Analyst, Andy is responsible for addressing business process inefficiencies and implementing potential improvements, as well as overseeing reporting and analytics for Iroquois and its Member Agencies. Andy’s background in Finance along with his unique position of working with all departments of Iroquois helps in delivering Iroquois’ value proposition to its Members and Carrier-Partners.

Phone: 716-378-2953

Team - Kelsey Branch

Kelsey Branch

Agency Manager

Kelsey Branch joined Iroquois Group in 2018 as the Digital Marketing Director handling the social media for the network as well as producing The Trusted Advisor Podcast. Prior to joining Iroquois, Kelsey worked for Travelers handling auto claims in their Pittsburgh office. With the retirement of one of our Ohio regional managers, Kelsey moved into an agency manager position at Iroquois Group to help some of our longtime members in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Rhode Island

Matt Ward, insurance consultant

Matt Ward

Managing Partner

Hired in 1985 as the first Iroquois Regional Manager, Matt has been instrumental in expanding Iroquois beyond its home state of New York. Matt’s unique position straddling the field and home office worlds makes him an invaluable resource to both. Matt serves as an Executive Officer as well as leading four regions - Iroquois Northeast, Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group, Iroquois Midwest and Iroquois South – as Managing Partner. Matt overseas Carrier-Partner relationships and field operations. Innovation and commitment to the independent agency channel have defined Matt’s insurance career. Creator of the PartnerPlan®, Matt constantly pushes Iroquois to find new ways to reward highly partnered Member Agencies.

Phone: 804-370-2862

Iroquois insurance network's Kevin-McKay

Kevin McKay

Regional Vice President: Iroquois Northeast

Kevin draws on over 32 years of experience as an agency owner and producer to deliver outstanding counsel and direction to his members and prospects. Kevin specializes in market optimization, utilizing Iroquois strategies and resources to build agency revenue and value, and functions as a true trusted advisor on a variety of agency management issues. In his current role as Regional Vice President of Iroquois Northeast, Kevin is responsible for both member and carrier relationships in this 7-state region.

Phone: 603-785-3581

Iroquois insurance network's Kathy-Patenaude

Kathy Patenaude, CIC

Regional Manager: Iroquois Northeast

Kathy’s 25 years in the insurance industry and solid agency background as a producer, manager and owner, drives her commitment to support her members’ efforts to organically grow, maximize revenue and enhance agency value. She is deeply skilled at working with her members to identify and implement marketing initiatives, optimize books of business and align Iroquois resources to enhance agency value. She manages members in Connecticut and Rhode Island.

Phone: 860-461-5365

South Carolina

David Ward, Iroquois South Managing Partner

David D. Ward

Managing Partner: Iroquois South

David’s Prudential Insurance experience, followed by over 20 years of leadership roles in marketing, sales management, and strategic planning, prepared him to manage Iroquois’ fast growing South region. David works closely with his Regional Managers to provide the best that Iroquois has to offer their members. His passion is to deliver the full Iroquois Value Proposition to every Iroquois member.

Phone: 843-568-5543

Iroquois insurance network consultant Andrew Ward of South Carolina

Andrew Ward

Regional Manager

Andrew Ward serves our members in the Carolinas, helping them grow revenue, profits and agency value. He got his start in Winston-Salem, where he graduated from Wake Forest and began his insurance career with National General, which only strengthens his dedication to our Carolina agency members. Andrew moved into the Regional Manager role after three years as an Iroquois Agency Manager.

South Dakota

Team - Ken Koehler

Ken Koehler

Regional Vice President

Ken’s leadership positions in underwriting and sales with Nationwide, Fireman’s Fund, Liberty Mutual, and Encompass were perfect preparation for his new role as Regional Vice President supporting our members and carrier partners in Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan. In addition, he will develop the Northwest states for Iroquois, with an initial focus on Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and the Dakotas.
Team - Kari Smith

Kari Smith

Regional Manager

Kari Smith joined Iroquois in the summer of 2023 bringing extensive and multi-faceted experience in the insurance industry to her new role as Regional Manager for Minnesota and the Dakotas. Kari owned an agency for many years prior to her most recent work with AAA of Minnesota. When not working, she and her family share a passion for Minnesota Wild games, the Minnesota Twins, and the Minnesota Vikings.

Tennessee

David Ward, Iroquois South Managing Partner

David D. Ward

Managing Partner: Iroquois South

David’s Prudential Insurance experience, followed by over 20 years of leadership roles in marketing, sales management, and strategic planning, prepared him to manage Iroquois’ fast growing South region. David works closely with his Regional Managers to provide the best that Iroquois has to offer their members. His passion is to deliver the full Iroquois Value Proposition to every Iroquois member.

Phone: 843-568-5543

Insurance network consultant Mike Petty

Mike Petty

Managing Partner: Iroquois South

Mike began his insurance career in 1982 with Dickson Insurance Agency, purchasing the agency in 1986. His independent agency experience made him an ideal candidate to jointly open Iroquois’ Tennessee operation. Mike’s long-standing carrier relationships have been instrumental in obtaining preferred arrangements with carrier markets in the South. He has been deeply involved with PIA of Tennessee, including serving as a past president and earning the Agent of the Year award in 1996. He graduated from Middle Tennessee State University.

Phone: 615-446-3742

Johnny-Cox-Small

Johnny Cox CPIA, LUTC & CPSR

Managing Partner: Iroquois South

Johnny entered the property and casualty ranks in 1974 when he joined Alder & Associates. In 1981 he purchased the agency and rebranded the agency to Alder & Cox, Inc. Johnny’s independent agency experience made him an ideal candidate to jointly open Iroquois’ Tennessee operation. He has served as president of PIA of Chattanooga, board member of PIA of Tennessee and past president. He was also named Tennessee Agent of the Year in 1995. Johnny has served on Agents Advisory Councils with a half dozen carriers.

Phone: 423-877-3536

Iroquois insurance cluster consultant Greg-Henson

Greg Henson

Regional Manager: Iroquois South

Greg joined the insurance industry in 2008 and worked for two large agencies in Tennessee building his sales and negotiation skills. Greg now blends his broad knowledge of the independent agency plant in TN and Iroquois’ many resources and strategies to develop finely tuned responses to his members’ needs. Greg is a graduate of The Hartford School of Insurance and attended UT.

Phone: 865-414-1026

Team - Perry Grant

Perry Grant

Regional Manager: Iroquois South

Before joining Iroquois, Perry spent 30+ years in underwriting and marketing positions with carriers such as Travelers, CNA and Hanover. Perry’s passion for the business is consistently demonstrated in his dealings with his members. He works with his members to take advantage of all available Iroquois programs and strategies to ensure each member maximizes annual revenue and stays focused on optimizing books of business. Perry is responsible for members in Mississippi, Alabama and western Tennessee. He is an Auburn graduate.

Phone: 205-910-5961

Iroquois insurance cluster consultant Dawn-Stuard

Dawn Stuard

Administrator

Dawn joined Iroquois of Tennessee in 2006 in an Administrative Associate position, assisting and supporting the efforts of the Managing Partners, Regional Manager and member agencies. Agency members receive monthly production reports to monitor their growth and success with Iroquois provided carriers. Agency members rely on her for assistance in contacting company personnel in marketing, underwriting, claims and accounting. Marketing representatives for Iroquois carriers enlist her service in delivering their success stories, staffing changes and a wide variety of other communications to Iroquois members in a timely fashion.

Phone: 615-604-1275

Texas

Matt Ward, insurance consultant

Matt Ward

Managing Partner

Hired in 1985 as the first Iroquois Regional Manager, Matt has been instrumental in expanding Iroquois beyond its home state of New York. Matt’s unique position straddling the field and home office worlds makes him an invaluable resource to both. Matt serves as an Executive Officer as well as leading three regions - Iroquois Northeast, Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group and Iroquois South – as Managing Partner. Matt overseas Carrier-Partner relationships and field operations. Innovation and commitment to the independent agency channel have defined Matt’s insurance career. Creator of the PartnerPlan®, Matt constantly pushes Iroquois to find new ways to reward highly partnered Member Agencies.

Phone: 804-370-2862

John McCaleb, Regional VP, Iroquois Midwest and Texas

John McCaleb

Regional Vice President

John has an extensive and diverse background spanning Underwriting, Sales, Business Development, and Executive Leadership while serving for 15 years at Liberty Mutual Insurance and The Hartford prior to joining Iroquois. John and his team of Regional Managers partner with strong, professional independent insurance agencies to increase revenues, profits and value and partner with insurance company leaders to drive profitable growth for Iroquois carriers. John manages the lower half of the Midwest including Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, and Missouri.
Texas Insurance network advisor Rayne Smith

Rayne Smith

Regional Manager: Iroquois of Texas

Rayne’s background in sales, training, marketing and licensing makes her a strong resource for her members. She draws upon her experience to collaboratively work with her members to identify areas to partner and responds with strategies to improve growth, profit, sales, and agency management. Rayne’s serves Members across the entire state of Texas. She is a graduate of the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Phone: 210-556-4894

Team - Jo Gonzalez

Jo Gonzalez, CIC

Regional Manager: North Texas

Jo Gonzalez recently joined Iroquois to serve member agencies in North Texas and to expand our membership there. She is a forward-thinking, client-centric insurance veteran executive with experience in both the exclusive and independent agency channels. Jo has held national leadership and distribution roles with Encompass Insurance, Kemper Insurance, and State Farm Insurance. Her experiences make her well qualified to partner with independent insurance agencies interested in maintaining independence while maximizing revenue.

Utah

Bob-Stallings Iroquois insurance cluster consultant

Bob Stallings

Managing Partner

Bob put his 20 years of underwriting, marketing, management and product development at Prudential Property and Casualty Insurance to use when he joined the Iroquois Group in 2001 and started Iroquois Southwest in Arizona. The Southwest region has since grown to include membership in California, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Nevada and Idaho. Under Bob’s direction, ISW has grown phenomenally.

Phone: 480-854-3913

Insurance network consultant Mike Walker

Mike Walker

Regional Manager

Mike’s experience as an independent agent for 15 years and as a carrier Marketing Rep with Austin Mutual and Main Street America for 12 years gives him an excellent perspective on the needs of both Iroquois member agencies and our Carrier-Partners. Mike has strong industry relationships in Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. He works primarily to support and further develop our member base in Utah. Mike is a University of Utah grad.

Phone: 385-235-0239

Insurance network consultant John Maurer

John Maurer

Regional Sales and Marketing Facilitator

Over his 38-year career, John operated a captive agency for 10 years, an independent agency for 13 years, and spent 15 years as a consultant to independent agencies. John draws upon his extensive experience as a business owner and consultant when working with his members. He combines his business acumen and marketing and economics degrees to provide strategic planning, cash flow management guidance and to assist in building successful marketing campaigns. John is responsible for increasing agency membership and enhancing relationships with member agencies and carrier-partners in Arizona, Nevada and Utah.

Phone: 480-440-6209

Vermont

Matt Ward, insurance consultant

Matt Ward

Managing Partner

Hired in 1985 as the first Iroquois Regional Manager, Matt has been instrumental in expanding Iroquois beyond its home state of New York. Matt’s unique position straddling the field and home office worlds makes him an invaluable resource to both. Matt serves as an Executive Officer as well as leading four regions - Iroquois Northeast, Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group, Iroquois Midwest and Iroquois South – as Managing Partner. Matt overseas Carrier-Partner relationships and field operations. Innovation and commitment to the independent agency channel have defined Matt’s insurance career. Creator of the PartnerPlan®, Matt constantly pushes Iroquois to find new ways to reward highly partnered Member Agencies.

Phone: 804-370-2862

Iroquois insurance network's Kevin-McKay

Kevin McKay

Regional Vice President: Iroquois Northeast

Kevin draws on over 32 years of experience as an agency owner and producer to deliver outstanding counsel and direction to his members and prospects. Kevin specializes in market optimization, utilizing Iroquois strategies and resources to build agency revenue and value, and functions as a true trusted advisor on a variety of agency management issues. In his current role as Regional Vice President of Iroquois Northeast, Kevin is responsible for both member and carrier relationships in this 7-state region.

Phone: 603-785-3581

Virginia

Matt Ward, insurance consultant

Matt Ward

Managing Partner

Hired in 1985 as the first Iroquois Regional Manager, Matt has been instrumental in expanding Iroquois beyond its home state of New York. Matt’s unique position straddling the field and home office worlds makes him an invaluable resource to both. Matt serves as an Executive Officer as well as leading four regions - Iroquois Northeast, Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group, Iroquois Midwest and Iroquois South – as Managing Partner. Matt overseas Carrier-Partner relationships and field operations. Innovation and commitment to the independent agency channel have defined Matt’s insurance career. Creator of the PartnerPlan®, Matt constantly pushes Iroquois to find new ways to reward highly partnered Member Agencies.

Phone: 804-370-2862

Iroquois insurance network's Lindy-Bane

Lindy Bane, CPCU, ARM, APA

Regional Manager: Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group

With over 40 years of P&C experience, including underwriting, marketing and management roles at Maryland Casualty and Zurich, Lindy is known as a Trusted Advisor throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. He takes advantage of all the Iroquois tools at his disposal to advance his members’ operations, forging deep, long-term partnerships that generate high returns for his members. Lindy is a certified instructor for Virginia Continuing Education. He works with members throughout Virginia and Maryland.

Phone: 804-557-2299

Team - Judy Fox

Judy Fox, CIC

Regional Manager: Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group

As an Iroquois Regional Manager, Judy brings both agency and carrier experience to her role. After starting her career on the agency side of the business, Judy held underwriting and marketing positions with Hanover, Chesapeake, and Royal. The combination of these roles position Judy to counsel members on a variety of agency issues including maximizing bonus opportunities, new business strategies, optimizing books of business, and more. She is responsible for serving current Iroquois member agencies from Roanoke to Virginia Beach.

Phone: 804-310-2400

Iroquois insurance network consultant Erin Marshall of Virginia

Erin Marshall, CPCU

Regional Manager: Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group

Erin draws on 20 years of experience as a carrier production underwriter, marketing representative, affinity specialist and sales manager to deliver insightful counsel and direction to her members. Erin specializes in market optimization and utilizing Iroquois’ strategies and resources to build agency revenue and value. Erin functions as a true trusted advisor to her members. She works with members in Northern Virginia, Washington, D.C. and Maryland.

Phone: 703-450-1782

Insurance network consultant Mike Fink

Mike Fink, CIC, CPIA

Regional Manager: Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group

As a Regional Manager, Mike supports agencies in northern and western Virginia. Mike started his carrier with Iroquois in 2016 as an Agency Manager. Since then Mike has made deeply forged relationships with his members which has allowed him to work with them as a trusted advisor. Mike utilizes Iroquois tools to assist his members to maximize their revenue potential in many productive ways. Mike lives in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley and is a graduate of Virginia Tech. He can be reached by phone at 540-333-0411.
Angela Bulan Iroquois Mid-Atlantic

Angela Bulan

Field Administrator: Iroquois Mid-Atlantic

Angela came to Iroquois in the summer of 2019 with a varied background in the insurance industry. Having compiled a solid sales background with Prudential Financial, Angela earned several management positions and was the owner of a Richmond, Va., P&C agency that she founded in 2004. She also built and developed a profitable P&C agency for a large financial firm in Richmond. Most recently she served as the underwriting manager for the Small Commercial Division for Richmond-based All Risks, Ltd., then on that company's operations team as sales support coordinator.
Iroquois insurance network consultant Andrew Trass

Andy Trass

Senior Business Analyst

As a Senior Business Analyst, Andy is responsible for addressing business process inefficiencies and implementing potential improvements, as well as overseeing reporting and analytics for Iroquois and its Member Agencies. Andy’s background in Finance along with his unique position of working with all departments of Iroquois helps in delivering Iroquois’ value proposition to its Members and Carrier-Partners.

Phone: 716-378-2953

Team - Chris Ward, AU

Chris Ward, AU

Agency Manager

Christopher Ward, AU joins Iroquois as an Agency Manager supporting our members in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia. He previously spent two years as a commercial underwriter for Frederick Mutual. A Virginia Tech grad, Chris lives in Arlington, Va.

Washington

Matt Ward, insurance consultant

Matt Ward

Managing Partner

Hired in 1985 as the first Iroquois Regional Manager, Matt has been instrumental in expanding Iroquois beyond its home state of New York. Matt’s unique position straddling the field and home office worlds makes him an invaluable resource to both. Matt serves as an Executive Officer as well as leading four regions - Iroquois Northeast, Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group, Iroquois Midwest and Iroquois South – as Managing Partner. Matt overseas Carrier-Partner relationships and field operations. Innovation and commitment to the independent agency channel have defined Matt’s insurance career. Creator of the PartnerPlan®, Matt constantly pushes Iroquois to find new ways to reward highly partnered Member Agencies.

Phone: 804-370-2862

Team - Ken Koehler

Ken Koehler

Regional Vice President

Ken’s leadership positions in underwriting and sales with Nationwide, Fireman’s Fund, Liberty Mutual, and Encompass were perfect preparation for his new role as Regional Vice President supporting our members and carrier partners in Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan. In addition, he will develop the Northwest states for Iroquois, with an initial focus on Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and the Dakotas.
Team - Bob Hoogendam

Bob Hoogendam

Regional Manager

Bob Hoogendam, CPCU, has joined Iroquois as a regional manager in the Pacific Northwest. He will be responsible for growing the agency network’s membership in Washington and Montana. In 2019, Hoogendam was named Industry Person of the Year by the IIABW (Big I Washington) and Carrier Person of the Year by the IIAMT (Big I Montana). Before joining Iroquois, Hoogendam was a sales executive for Travelers Select Insurance. In that role, he managed agency relationships for commercial insurance in Washington and Idaho. Prior to his role at Travelers, Hoogendam spent time at Imperial Premium Finance Services, where he managed third-party relationships as a financial consultant for agents in Washington, Alaska, Idaho and Montana. He has also held roles as a senior territory marketing manager for Zurich Small Business and Foremost Insurance.

West Virginia

Matt Ward, insurance consultant

Matt Ward

Managing Partner

Hired in 1985 as the first Iroquois Regional Manager, Matt has been instrumental in expanding Iroquois beyond its home state of New York. Matt’s unique position straddling the field and home office worlds makes him an invaluable resource to both. Matt serves as an Executive Officer as well as leading four regions - Iroquois Northeast, Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group, Iroquois Midwest and Iroquois South – as Managing Partner. Matt overseas Carrier-Partner relationships and field operations. Innovation and commitment to the independent agency channel have defined Matt’s insurance career. Creator of the PartnerPlan®, Matt constantly pushes Iroquois to find new ways to reward highly partnered Member Agencies.

Phone: 804-370-2862

Team - Kurt Keller New

Kurt Keller, CIC

Regional Director: Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group

As a Regional Manager serving members in Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia, Kurt has had great success in helping members grow organically while maximizing their revenue and agency value. As a result, he has recently been given the added responsibility of overseeing Iroquois’ further expansion in Ohio and Kentucky.
Iroquois insurance network consultant Andrew Trass

Andy Trass

Senior Business Analyst

As a Senior Business Analyst, Andy is responsible for addressing business process inefficiencies and implementing potential improvements, as well as overseeing reporting and analytics for Iroquois and its Member Agencies. Andy’s background in Finance along with his unique position of working with all departments of Iroquois helps in delivering Iroquois’ value proposition to its Members and Carrier-Partners.

Phone: 716-378-2953

Angela Bulan Iroquois Mid-Atlantic

Angela Bulan

Field Administrator: Iroquois Mid-Atlantic

Angela came to Iroquois in the summer of 2019 with a varied background in the insurance industry. Having compiled a solid sales background with Prudential Financial, Angela earned several management positions and was the owner of a Richmond, Va., P&C agency that she founded in 2004. She also built and developed a profitable P&C agency for a large financial firm in Richmond. Most recently she served as the underwriting manager for the Small Commercial Division for Richmond-based All Risks, Ltd., then on that company's operations team as sales support coordinator.
Team - Kelsey Branch

Kelsey Branch

Agency Manager

Kelsey Branch joined Iroquois Group in 2018 as the Digital Marketing Director handling the social media for the network as well as producing The Trusted Advisor Podcast. Prior to joining Iroquois, Kelsey worked for Travelers handling auto claims in their Pittsburgh office. With the retirement of one of our Ohio regional managers, Kelsey moved into an agency manager position at Iroquois Group to help some of our longtime members in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Wisconsin

Matt Ward, insurance consultant

Matt Ward

Managing Partner

Hired in 1985 as the first Iroquois Regional Manager, Matt has been instrumental in expanding Iroquois beyond its home state of New York. Matt’s unique position straddling the field and home office worlds makes him an invaluable resource to both. Matt serves as an Executive Officer as well as leading four regions - Iroquois Northeast, Iroquois Mid-Atlantic Group, Iroquois Midwest and Iroquois South – as Managing Partner. Matt overseas Carrier-Partner relationships and field operations. Innovation and commitment to the independent agency channel have defined Matt’s insurance career. Creator of the PartnerPlan®, Matt constantly pushes Iroquois to find new ways to reward highly partnered Member Agencies.

Phone: 804-370-2862

Christian Rebello, regional manager and insurance consultant

Christian Rebello

Regional Manager: Iroquois Midwest

Christian came to Iroquois from a top 20 independent agency in the Chicago area where he was an Assistant Vice President and producer. Prior to becoming an AVP, Christian focused on marketing and account management Christian uses his skills and experience to help agencies optimize their carrier appointments and maximize agency revenues. Christian handles Illinois and Wisconsin in his Regional Manager role.

Phone: 630-200-8523

Team - Ken Koehler

Ken Koehler

Regional Vice President

Ken’s leadership positions in underwriting and sales with Nationwide, Fireman’s Fund, Liberty Mutual, and Encompass were perfect preparation for his new role as Regional Vice President supporting our members and carrier partners in Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan. In addition, he will develop the Northwest states for Iroquois, with an initial focus on Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and the Dakotas.

Wyoming

Team - Ken Koehler

Ken Koehler

Regional Vice President

Ken’s leadership positions in underwriting and sales with Nationwide, Fireman’s Fund, Liberty Mutual, and Encompass were perfect preparation for his new role as Regional Vice President supporting our members and carrier partners in Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana, Illinois and Michigan. In addition, he will develop the Northwest states for Iroquois, with an initial focus on Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and the Dakotas.