An Idea Ahead of Its Time

Forty years ago, visionary insurance agent Stephen R. Dach recognized the fact that the hunt for talent was one of the most important issues facing independent insurance agents. He believed that the ability to recruit, develop and retain the best people was the key to running the best insurance agencies in the future.

So he created a program to attract and train the next generation of insurance professionals. That program was called Project InVEST—Insurance Vocational Education Student Training. Dach believed that if you could show students the vast opportunities available in the insurance industry, they would be intrigued enough to consider a career in insurance.

In 1970, he approached the Los Angeles Unified School District and the first InVEST program started at Hollywood High School that year. Originally called Insurance Model Office, it was an immediate hit with educators and students alike for its unique interactive curriculum.

So successful was the program that other school districts wanted to incorporate it into their vocational or business curriculum. Within three years, InVEST had spread to Northern and Central California. The third program was offered at Fresno High School in 1973; I was a senior there that year. I had it set in my mind that I was college-bound, and therefore a vocational class would be of no benefit or interest to me. And come on…insurance? Who the heck wanted to do THAT for a living? But the instructor was very persuasive, so I eventually agreed to take his class. And the rest, as they say, is history.

InVEST involves forming insurance agencies with a partner, getting a loan to open the business, gaining appointments with insurance companies, selling policies to fellow students, handling claims and other service requests, making payroll and attempting to make a profit. In other words, the same issues facing independent insurance agencies each and every day. For a person with an entrepreneurial spirit, this was not only an opportunity, it was the ultimate challenge.

I’m not ashamed to say that the InVEST class was the beginning of my love affair with the insurance industry. However, I had a beautiful plan for my life that included a college education.

I applied to and was accepted at UCLA. I shared a one-bedroom apartment in Westwood and my bank account ran dry about six weeks into the first quarter. Not wanting to admit defeat and return home to Fresno, I thought perhaps it was time to get a job. The only problem was that my previous job experience was limited to working at the Woolworth candy counter at the mall in Fresno. What else could I do? Then it hit me…InVEST. Maybe I could get a job working at an insurance agency.

To this day I’m not sure how I knew to pick up the phone and call the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of Los Angeles, but that’s what I did. I talked to a woman there, explained that I was an InVEST graduate, and asked her if she knew of any agencies in Los Angeles where I could apply for a job. She replied that she knew “just the place,” and told me she’d call me back. When she did, I had an appointment for a job interview at an agency in Beverly Hills, a short drive from the UCLA campus.

To my surprise, the interview was relatively brief, and I was offered a job as the agency’s receptionist on the spot. I started my insurance career in that agency in 1975. It was only years later that I learned the main reason I had gotten that job so quickly was that the person who had interviewed me, Steve Dach, was the creator of InVEST. I worked my way through college in his agency, moving from receptionist to personal lines CSR and eventually to commercial lines account manager. Eventually I was fortunate enough to achieve my dream of agency ownership, and became a partner at a large, well-respected agency in Ventura County.

Although there are other industries that have created school-to-career programs, few can boast the success of Steve Dach’s InVEST program, which is still going strong now on its 40th birthday. In 2010, nearly $60,000 in scholarships were awarded to deserving InVEST students.

Decades later, as we all struggle with decreasing revenue, declining rates and eroding profits, Steve Dach’s vision for InVEST is as relevant as it has ever been. If you have an InVEST program in your state, get involved. If you don’t, contact the Big “I” to find out how you can set people on a path to a rewarding career that will benefit us as agents and our clients.

For more information, visit www.investprogram.org.

Cheryl L. Koch, CPCU, CIC, ARM, AAI, API, AAM, AIM, AIS, ARP, ACSR, AFIS, is president and CEO of the Agency Management Resource Group and managing director of the Insurance Skills Center at IBA West.