For Immediate Release
SIAA Adds Another Master Agency to the California Marketplace

December 8, 2011 – Hampton, NH: SIAA, Inc. - the largest Alliance of Independent Property & Casualty Insurance Agencies in the country – recently announced that Master Agency partner CoVerica Agency Alliance (formerly called SIG Agency Alliance) has expanded into the State of California. CoVerica’s territory in California will include the northern Los Angeles and Sacramento areas.

“We welcome CoVerica of California as our 52nd Master Agency,” announced SIAA CEO Jim Masiello. “The experience and expertise that CoVerica can provide in these new territories is significant given their 10 years of membership with SIAA.” Masiello went on to say, “With the current economic climate and hardening of the insurance marketplace, CoVerica will enable local independent agents to weather the storm by following the SIAA model. It’s true, we make agencies instantly big! Our model has worked since 1983 through soft and hard markets, economic downturns, and extreme competition – virtually all conditions. And that is good news for the local independent agents in CoVerica’s California territories who qualify to become members.”

CoVerica in California will be managed locally by Bill Kinney, President and CEO of Kinney and Company of Pasadena, CA. Mr. Kinney has established a reputation for serving a multi-cultural and ethnically diverse customer base, which in turn has helped him build a substantial insurance agency. He has served on a number of advisory boards for insurance carriers over his 33 year career and purchased the Corinth Agency after working there for more than twenty years.

Mike Sterlacci, President and CEO of CoVerica, started the Master Agency in Dallas, TX in 2001 and has grown it to include 48 active member agencies. His experience in building a successful organization in partnership with SIAA will enable the California operation to “hit the ground running”. Mr. Sterlacci commented, “I’m excited at the prospect of bringing the SIAA model to our California territories and look forward to creating a win-win situation for independent agents there.” For more information on CoVerica Agency Alliance (SIG Agency Alliance), visit www.sigagencyalliance.com.

SIAA (Strategic Insurance Agency Alliance) is a national alliance of over 3,900 independent insurance agencies. SIAA utilizes its stability and strength through traditional and alternative market channels for the purpose of providing insurance consumers with competitive choices in addition to providing significant profit and equity appreciation opportunities for SIAA Member Agencies. For more information on SIAA, visit www.siaa.net.

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