BrickStreet's Marketing and Business Development office hosted a training conference at the end of February specifically for the support personnel of our appointed agencies. The conference was intended for agency staff members who maintain workers' compensation customer records and assist policyholders and prospects with questions and concerns.

More than 100 agency personnel registered to attend the day-and-a-half event. This inaugural conference provided in-depth training and discussion on the specific topics requested by the Specialist Advisory Council at their meeting in November 2007. Four concurrent sessions covered Underwriting, Technology/Agent Access/E-Comp, Premium Audit/Scopes, and Claims. Each attendee received a BrickStreet Agency Specialist certificate upon completion of all four sessions.

As we look forward to this summer and the open market, we strongly believe that we need to build a solid relationship with the individuals who are involved in servicing our policies on a daily basis. While our relationship with the agency owner/principal is important, the relationship between BrickStreet and the agency staff is equally important when placing and retaining business.