Atti Elected Big I New York Chair of the Board
Top elected officer chosen at group’s Annual Business Meeting
Insurance producer trade organization Big I New York elected Louis Atti, CPCU, as its chair of the board for the 2018-19 term. Atti was sworn in during a ceremony following Big I New York’s Annual Business Meeting, held at The Westin Buffalo. Atti is vice-president of The Evans Agency, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Evans Bancorp with nine locations throughout Erie County, New York.
A member of the Big I New York board of directors since 2012, Atti has chaired the group’s audit and finance committees and served as chair of the board of IAAC, the group’s member services division. He is past president of the Independent Insurance Agents Association of Western New York. Atti is a former mayor and trustee of the Village of Angola and currently serves on the village’s Planning Commission. He has volunteered for local youth sports leagues, Habitat for Humanity and the Food Bank of Western New York. He and his wife Kathleen have two children.
In his remarks, Atti laid out Big I New York’s priorities for the coming year, including recruitment of new talent into the insurance industry; advocating for insurance agencies and brokerages with state lawmakers and regulators; assisting local agents’ associations; and helping agencies adapt to advances in technology.
John Cofini of BNC Insurance Agency in Rye Brook was elected to a one-year term as vice-chair and secretary-treasurer.
Big I New York members also elected and re-elected the following regional directors:
• James Bastian of Advantage Partners, Inc. in Great Neck, to a two-year term representing the New York City metro-suburban areas
• Jessica Belleville Whitman of Belleville Associates in Tupper Lake, to a two-year term representing the state’s Capitol District and areas north
• David Bodenstein of Mike Preis, Inc. in Callicoon, to a one-year term also representing the Capitol District north region
• David MacLachlan, of Dominick Falcone Agency, Inc. and Falcone Associates, Inc. in Syracuse,
to a two-year term representing the central and western areas
of the state
• Maureen Tompkins of Rose & Kiernan, Inc. in East Greenbush, to a two-year term also representing the Capitol District north region
• Michael Vanderwerker of Assured SKCG, Inc. in White Plains, to a two-year term also representing the New York City metro-suburban region
Christopher Brassard, CIC of Ten Eyck Group in Albany won a two-year term as member representative on the Nominating Committee, which evaluates candidates for leadership positions and makes recommendations to the membership. Brassard is a past chair of the Big I New York board.
Earlier in the day, the board re-elected Jeanne Salvatore of JMS Consulting to a two-year term as a director-at-large.
