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Local businessman Rick Elliott, owner and president of Elliott Insurance Group, recently took on a statewide role in the Kansas Association of Insurance Agents.
 Elliott was elected president at the group’s annual management and leadership conference in October.
As president of KAIA, Elliott oversees the direction of the staff board of directors, but the Louisburg businessman said he has specific goals for his term.
“Probably the biggest thing, because of the number of folks that are going to retire — the baby boomers — there will be a real shortage of trained talent for our industry both at the insurance company level and agency level,” Elliott said.
To help solve that situation, Elliott said KAIA is working with Johnson County Community College to get an insurance curriculum set up in their business college so students will have a place they can learn about the insurance industry.
“It will give the insurance agencies as well as companies a talent pool to hopefully replace a high number of people that are going to be retiring,” Elliott said.
Topeka-based KAIA is a trade association that represents the independent agencies across Kansas. There are more than 600 members active in the organization.
Elliott said he works closely with Executive Director Larry Magill on the association’s main goals in the state Legislature.
“We have two folks that work with the Legislature to make sure there isn’t a statute that’s passed that will have an adverse effect on our clients or insurance environments in the state, or the agencies,” Elliott said.
As president, Elliott will travel across the state and throughout the country to attend meetings and conferences, and one he is most excited about is the national Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America conference in Washington, D.C., which he also attended last year.
“I enjoyed getting to visit the nation’s capitol, as well as the work our national organization does in D.C.,” Elliott said. “I look forward to going and doing that again.”
Elliott first served in a leadership role in KAIA as the president of the young agents council in 1996-97. He also has served on the board of directors since 1998.
“I’m looking forward to working with Rick. He has a real ability to see issues clearly, and he has an entrepreneur’s approach to stuff, which I like,” said KAIA Executive Director Larry MaGill.
His appointment as president is special, Elliott said, because he is a second-generation president. Elliott’s father, Gene Elliott, served as president of KAIA in 1989.
“It’s kind of neat,” Elliott said. “Probably the reason I got involved in the organization was my dad. He always believed you needed to give something back to the community, back to your industry and to some degree, I followed his lead.”
Elliott works with clients in Louisburg and Paola. Elliott Insurance also has an office in Burlington, Kan.
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