Inside NAPAA
Inside NAPAA
President's Message
As president of your association, I try and find subjects to write about that reflect some positive events happening at Allstate which are beneficial to our members. But as you know, the news out of Northbrook these days has been less than optimistic as it relates to the future of the Allstate agency owner. Hundreds, if not thousands, of your fellow agents will receive 90 day termination letters in the months to come.
But today I bring you hope that your future can be brighter. This is because my own personal experience and the experiences of many other former Allstate agents have shown me that, yes; there is a great life after Allstate. Even in these harsh economic times, there are opportunities available.
Before you begin to look for greener pastures, I recommend that you stand back and look at what has happened, and continues to happen, to you and your fellow agents. You will see that agents are not the valued workers they once were and, in fact, are now deemed to be expendable liabilities by a misguided management team. This corporate disdain for the agent begs the question: "What kind of future can you look forward to as an Allstate agent?"
The calls I've received from agents lately have not been positive or uplifting. Many of them are from agents who have been told that they will receive, or have already received, a 90 day termination notice. NAPAA headquarters and I have been giving counsel to each of them. For many, they will be unable to sell their economic interest due to the dearth of available buyers, so they'll be force to accept the TPP.
Thankfully, I saw most of this coming and sold the economic interest in my book about three years ago. I retired, but it wasn't for me. So, in January of 2009, I became the Managing Director, Risk and Insurance Services at the United Nations Federal Credit Union, serving 85,000 members across the globe. You'll note that I found this job after the economy tanked. My point is that there are countless success stories of other Allstate agents that have made a positive transition to the real world where intimidation of workers is not the cornerstone of success. And if you're worried about your age... well, I just turned 68 and life is good.
Due to the unprecedented terminations and threats that Allstate agents are now facing, NAPAA will host its first annual "Job Fair" at this year's National EA Conference being held in Washington DC. In addition to our great line up of conference speakers, our Job Fair will include numerous career opportunities from leading insurance franchises, independent agency groups and individual carriers. This is a conference no agent should miss and we expect a record turnout. I hope you'll decide to join us.
Have a great holiday season.
Warm regards,
Bob Isacsen
NAPAA President
Always a cell phone away: 347-572-4698