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Thomas Helbach Receives InsurPac’s Highest Award for Volunteers

WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 15, 2006) __ Thomas Helbach, president of Mosinee Insurance Agency, Inc, in Mosinee, Wisc., has been awarded the 2005 Bernard J. Burns Award by InsurPac, the Political Action Committee of the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America (IIABA). The Burns Award is the highest honor bestowed upon a volunteer by InsurPac.

Named after Bernard J. Burns, the founding father of InsurPac and a past president of IIABA, the award is conferred annually upon the agent or broker who has made the most significant impact on fund-raising efforts for InsurPac. Presentation of the award occurred during the 30th annual IIABA National Legislative Conference, which took place April 28 in Washington, D.C.

Upon presenting the award, Robb Dale, chairman of the board of directors for InsurPac, said, “Over the course of several years, [Tom Helbach] single-handedly took a state that raised a total of $875 in 2001 to a state that has routinely reached its $18,000 goal. Over the past 4 years, this individual has traveled the state on his own dime, speaking to local boards and agent groups; all the while doing InsurPac fundraising out of the basement of his home. He is truly deserving of the 2005 Barney Burns Award.”

In addition to his InsurPac duties, Helbach is currently secretary-treasurer of the Independent Insurance Agents of Wisconsin, his professional trade association. He was also selected Agent of the Year for 2005 by that organization.

InsurPac was established in 1975 to complement the legislative program of the IIABA and has since become the largest property-casualty insurance industry PAC in the country. It is one of the reasons that the IIABA is routinely rated among the most successful lobbying groups in Washington, DC.

Founded in 1896, the IIABA is the nation’s oldest and largest national association of independent insurance agents and brokers, representing a network of more than 300,000 agents, brokers and their employees nationally. Its members are businesses that offer customers a choice of policies from a variety of insurance companies. Independent agents and brokers offer all lines of insurance—property, casualty, life, and health—as well as employee benefit plans and retirement products. Web address: www.independentagent.com.

Founded in 1934, Mosinee Insurance Agency, Inc., is a family-owned business that serves the personal and business insurance needs of clients throughout central Wisconsin. Mosinee Insurance is the only Certified WorkComp Advisor agency in the state of Wisconsin as designated by the Institute of WorkComp Professionals. The agency is annually recognized for its customer service excellence. Mosinee Insurance Agency, Inc., can be contacted at 715-693-2100 and can be found on the Web at www.mosineeins.com.

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