The WorkComp Advisory Group Announces the First Recipients of Its PWCA Designation

The WorkComp Advisory Group Announces the First Recipients of Its PWCA Designation Steve Hall of East Coast Insurors in Ormond Beach and Darren Vermost of Vermost & Associates in Clearwater, Florida

PALM HARBOR, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The WorkComp Advisory Group has announced the first two recipients of its Professional Workers’ Compensation Advisors (PWCA) designation: Steve Hall, principal of East Coast Insurors and Darren Vermost, president of CompRx and Vermost & Associates, LLC.

“The PWCA means that the agency owner is committed to continuing education in workers’ compensation and to working with employers to address all of their risks and threats, especially those not covered by the placement of an insurance policy,” said Frank Pennachio, co-founder of The WorkComp Advisory Group.

Earning the designation involved 13 hours of classroom instruction, successfully completing a written test, and analyzing three case studies based on real-life employer incidents.

“I was able to immediately implement concepts I learned through the process,” said Steve Hall, whose agency serves small- and medium-sized businesses in Florida’s Volusia and Flagler counties. “Often, I’ll attend a seminar and come back all charged up, only to lose my enthusiasm in the day-to-day agency activities. Susan Toussaint showed us how to take the ‘big ideas’ and incorporate them into a process you can use immediately. Right now, I’m using the Medical Provider Selection Criteria from the manual to help find physicians that treat comp cases well.”

Darren Vermost has always been drawn to workers’ compensation and has developed a niche service, CompRx, a targeted process that Vermost and Associates uses to focus on strategies and techniques that assist businesses in reducing their overall workers’ compensation costs. “Comp is analytical and technical, all the things I love,” Vermost said. “Until The WorkComp Advisory Group was formed, I was unable to find an educational resource that delved into the nuts and bolts of a complete workers’ compensation program to protect employers. The policy doesn’t cover every risk an employer faces, and I want to show clients how to mitigate their uncovered risks, total cost of employee injuries, and the benefits of primary and secondary prevention. Unfortunately, insurance agents have trained clients to treat workers’ compensation as a simple mathematical calculation and this is a great disservice.”

About Steve Hall and East Coast Insurors

Hall is the principal of East Coast Insurors www.eastcoastinsurors.com, based in Ormond Beach, Fla. Established in 1975, the firm provides workers’ compensation, general liability, business auto, cyber protection, directors and officers, and business property insurance in addition to insurance for individuals. East Coast Insurors serves small- to mid-sized businesses, including contractors, manufacturers, and automobile dealerships, from two offices in Ormond Beach and Palm Coast, Fla. and can be reached at 386-677-4787.

About Darren Vermost and Vermost & Associates / CompRx

In addition to providing workers’ compensation programs through CompRx, Vermost’s agency provides a wide variety of personal and business lines, including group health, vehicle, and Surety and Fidelity bonds. Vermost & Associates and CompRx are located in Clearwater, Fla. and can be reached at www.vermost.com and www.flcompdoc.com 727-748-2886.

About The WorkComp Advisory Group

The WorkComp Advisory Group helps agents and agency owners revolutionize their businesses by implementing a sales strategy that leads with workers’ compensation. Multiple levels of engagements, including on-site training, are available. Additionally, the sales training and consulting organization helps back-office teams streamline their processes for greater efficiency. Its approach relies on a proprietary process involving analysis, aligning customer agreement, priority setting, execution of process improvements, and evaluation. The WorkComp Advisory Group was founded by Frank Pennachio, who is also the founder/president of WorkComp Partners www.workcomppartners.com in Bartow, Fla., and Susan S. Toussaint, president of Injury Management Partners www.injurymanagementpartners.com of Palm Harbor, Fla. Based in Palm Harbor, Fla., the WorkComp Advisory Group can be reached at 888-496-1117 or [email protected].

King Knight Communications

Helen Knight, APR, 813-837-1701

[email protected]

Source: The WorkComp Advisory Group

Copyright Business Wire 2009 The WorkComp Advisory Group has announced the first two recipients of its Professional Workers’ Compensation Advisors designation: Steve Hall, principal of East Coast Insurors and Darren Vermost, president of CompRx and Vermost & Associates, LLC.