Not many agents and brokers can say they work for the same agency that has insured their family’s personal and commercial risks for some 40 years.

But that’s the experience of Jeremy Norby, Big “I” young agent at Seitz Insurance in Sidney, Montana and recipient of this year’s Maurice Herndon Scholarship to attend the Big “I” Legislative Conference.

Norby’s grandfather started became a Seitz client in the early 1960s, and his father still insures his farm, ranch and trucking company with the agency. “That’s part of what drew me here—I knew long-lasting relationships were important to them,” Norby says.

After working as a pharmaceutical rep in Alaska for three years, Norby and his wife headed back to his hometown Sidney to raise their daughter. “I was farming and ranching back here, and it was not a great time to be in farming and ranching,” Norby remembers. “I was looking for another gig to do with it.”

After spotting an ad in the paper for an open position at Seitz, Norby went in to speak with the owners—and the rest is history. Now, he works for two brothers “who are very local and believe in a lot of the same stuff I do,” says Norby, who will celebrate his eighth anniversary with the agency this fall. “We’re very involved in our community, we’re more of a relationship-type place. And I still farm and ranch a little bit on the side.”

This time of year, Norby has his hands full with calving. “I go out early in the morning to take care of feeding and getting everything ready for the day,” he says. “I’ll be in the office by 9-10 ready to hit my day running.” But this week, he’ll take a break from double duty to attend the Big “I” Legislative Conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

Presented each year to one young agent who is a first-time attendee to the Big “I” Legislative Conference, the Maurice Herndon Scholarship allows the recipient to attend the conference free of charge. Its namesake refers to the former head of the 1949 Big “I” Washington, D.C. office, who built the association’s government affairs and grassroots operations.

For Norby, it’s an interest that began back in college when he held an internship with the Senate Finance Committee. “I’m very interested in knowing how much legislation affects our industry and to see how it works from the other side of the coin,” says Norby, who currently serves on the Legislative Board for the Independent Insurance Agents of Montana as well as his state’s Young Agents Committee. “Our city in Montana is very rural. Any time we get the opportunity to actually go where the action is, it’s definitely good in that respect.”

In particular, Norby is looking forward to gaining actionable insights for his business. “Whenever I go to something I try to take two or three good pieces of knowledge back to our agency and see if we can’t implement them,” he says. “I’m not going to discover the cure for cancer. But if somebody’s doing something that’s really awesome, I can go ‘Hey, why can’t we do that? What’s stopping us from rolling this out at our place?’”

In Norby’s home state, constituents are concerned with insurance issues like crop and health care. But beyond specific insurance issues, the conference presents “an opportunity to hear from people who are more dialed in than I am,” Norby says. “There are people who do this every day. I don’t—I sell insurance every day. So it’s nice to be able to look to them and say ‘OK, what’s going on? What’s important and why is it important? The information’s out there—where do I go to get it?’”

Jacquelyn Connelly is IA senior editor.