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Our Staff
Corporate Officers |
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Thomas C. Via, Jr., CIC, President
Tommy was born and raised in the New River Valley area. He received his BS in Finance from the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech in 1979. Immediately following graduation, he began his career working for the agency. He is a graduate of the AETNA Home Office Insurance School and received his Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) designation in 1991. He is a Past President of Blacksburg Country Club and past board member of the Blacksburg Chamber of Commerce. Currently, he serves on the Board of the Independent Insurance Agents of Virginia, the Advisory Board of NRV Junior Achievement, President-elect of the Rotary Club of Montgomery County, and serves as President of the MBC Development Corporation of Montgomery County. |
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Steve Lester, Vice President
Steve joined the Agency in July 2005. He is a 1981 graduate of George Wythe High School in Wytheville and a 1985 graduate of the University of Richmond with a bachelor's degree in Economics. Steve was a standout defensive tackle for the Spiders. After graduation, he began his career in the insurance industry with USF&G Insurance in Richmond working in the underwriting and marketing departments. He returned to the Wytheville area in 1990 to join Ewald-Lester Insurance, Inc. Thereafter, he served as Senior Vice President for Bankers Insurance, LLC. Some of his civic accomplishments include serving as President of the Independent Insurance Agents of Virginia, President of United Way of Wythe County, President of Wytheville Golf Club, is a Paul Harris Fellow of the Wytheville Rotary Club, and attends Sonny Hills Community Church. He and his wife Lisa reside in Wytheville with their two sons, Drew and Hardy. |
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Christy Brown, Corporate Secretary, Personal and Commercial Lines Sales Agent
Christy, a native of Blacksburg, is a graduate of the Cincinnati Insurance Companies New Producer School and Commercial Lines School and a graduate of Virginia Tech. She enjoys getting to know her clients and feels this enables her to better protect their interests. Currently she is working towards her Certified Insurance Counselor designation. She volunteers at Northside Presbyterian Church, Gilbert Linkous Elementary School, the local United Way and with the Montgomery County Christmas Store. She is a member of the Rotary Club of Blacksburg, an Affiliate Member of the New River Valley Association of Realtors, and participates on the Advisory Committee of the New River Land Trust. |
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Harriet L. Albert, Treasurer, Senior Customer Service Agent
Harriet is a native of Blacksburg and a 1964 graduate of Blacksburg High School. She has been with the Agency since September, 1966. She is a Senior CSR and has her Personal Auto and Personal Residential Property CISR designations. She is a member of Shiloh Lutheran Church and a member of the Lutheran Church Womens Club on which she serves as Treasurer. She has served the past 6 years on the Shiloh Church Council and on the New River Parish Council. She held the office of Secretary for both councils during part of her terms. She enjoys spending time with her husband Jerry and their two married children, traveling, and loves working with her roses. |
Past Presidents |
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John L. Brown, CPCU, CLU
John began his insurance career in 1965 following a tour of active duty with the US Army. He is a business graduate of Virginia Tech and has the following insurance professional designations: CPCU (Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter) and CLU (Chartered Life Underwriter). John is involved in all types of commercial and personal accounts. His hobbies include basketball, fishing, and traveling. John has served on the United Way board, is a past president of the Blacksburg Rotary Club and the Blacksburg Chamber of Commerce, a graduate of the U. S. Army War College, a retired Colonel in the US Army Reserves, and a member of Northside Presbyterian Church. |
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T. Cooper Via
Cooper received his BS in Business from Virginia Tech in 1958 and is a graduate of the USF&G School of Insurance. Cooper has been active in the insurance industry and has served on the Board of the Independent Insurance Agents of Virginia (IIAV). He will continue to sell new business and assist in servicing accounts as he moves toward retirement. |
Claims |
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Norma L. Hill, Office Manager
Norma has over 55 years of insurance experience and has been active in industry affairs. A native of Blacksburg and 1953 graduate of Blacksburg High School, she was the first woman to serve on the Independent Insurance Agents of Virginia Board. She oversees the processing of applications, policies, changes, claims, accounting and sales, and strives to give each customer the best possible service. Norma is a member of Prices Fork United Methodist Church and Chairman of the Administrative Board and works on numerous committees. |
Sales Agents |
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Don Linkous, Personal and Commercial Lines Sales Agent
Don joined the Agency in 1975 and is a member of the Professional Insurance Agents of Virginia and Independent Insurance Agents of America. An avid sports enthusiast, Don worked as a College Football Official for 19 years and a Virginia High School Football Official for 30 years. He served on the Montgomery County Recreation Commission from 1979 until 2003; the Advisory Committee on Agriculture & Forestal Districts; the St. Michael Lutheran Church Council; and the Montgomery County-Blacksburg Kiwanis Club. He currently serves on the board of the New River Valley Home Builders Association. |
Commercial Lines Service |
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Nancy Via Linkous, Customer Service Agent
Nancy was born and raised in the New River Valley area. She graduated from Blacksburg High school in 2001 and then received her BS in Consumer Studies with a concentration in business management from Virginia Tech in 2005. She has grown up in the insurance business and is enthusiastic and eager about beginning her career at Brown Insurance. She enjoys spending time with her family and friends, spending time outside with her dogs, shopping, traveling and helping her husband, Taylor, with his family’s business, Linkous Auctioneers. |
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Robert Simmons, CISR, Customer Service Agent
Rob is one of the Agency's Commercial Customer Service Agents and manages commercial lines processing for the Agency. Formerly of Virginia Beach, he is a graduate of First Colonial High School (Virginia Beach) and attended Tidewater Community College for several years. In August 2000, he earned his Property and Casualty license and began working for Friedman Associates (an independent agency in Tidewater). Rob joined Brown Insurance in August 2002 and was recently nominated to The Hartford Small Commercial Agency Council and is currently pursuing his CIC professional designation. He resides in Blacksburg and spends his free time hiking the Appalachian Trail, watching Hokie Sports and serving as captain of his NRUSA Soccer Team.
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Robin Hurst, Customer Service Agent
Robin joined Brown Insurance in 2007 with over 17 years of experience in the insurance industry. She is a life long resident of Pulaski County and a graduate of Pulaski County High School and New River Community College. Service and customer satisfaction are very important to her and she enjoys working with her clients. Robin is currently pursuing her Accredited Customer Service Representative designation. She enjoys spending time with her family and friends, reading, the outdoors and fishing with her husband Bill. |
Personal Lines Service |
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Melissa Dickerson, Customer Service Agent
Melissa, native to the New River Valley, attended Auburn High and later graduated from Christiansburg High with a three-year drafting degree. She has over nineteen years of customer service experience and strives to assist clients in making informed decisions. Customer satisfaction is important to Melissa and visible in the attention and dedication she provides to policy holders. Her hobbies include spending time outside, drawing, painting, crochet, knitting, and reading. She loves spending time with her husband Byron, daughter Amanda, and getting out on Saturday and Sunday with her parents. |
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Shirley Randall, CPSR, Customer Service Agent
Shirley has been a resident of the New River Valley for over 40 years. She graduated from Nelson County High School and attended Radford College. She has over thirty-three years of customer service and sales experience.
Service and satisfaction are important to her which as been evident in the attention and dedication she has provided to her clients. She and her husband, Gene, reside in Radford and attend Central United Methodist Church.
She enjoys spending time with her family which includes two granddaughters.
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Receptionist |
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Marcie Bishop
Marcie, a native of the New River Valley, joined Brown Insurance in April 2007. She has over 27 years of local customer service experience. Marcie resides with her husband, Leonard, in the beautiful Mount Tabor area of Blacksburg. She enjoys spending time with her three children, three grandchildren and her two dogs, Lady and Koda. She and her husband attend Lucas Memorial Christian Church where she enjoys singing with her church Praise Team and fellowship with family and friends.
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Referring Agents |
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Brian Allen—Long Term Care and Medicare Supplement Insurance
Brian is a transplant from England, coming to the US in 1979. He has worked in this area since 1989 and became a US citizen in 1993. He has over 20 years experience with the 'over 50's' and earned the designation CSA (Certified Senior Advisor) to show his commitment to this market. Brian lives in Roanoke with his wife Margaret and 17 year old son, Brian. He enjoys biking and gardening as well as singing bass in two church choirs.
He serves as Treasurer for the Blacksburg Chapter of AARP and is on the board of St Francis House Food Pantry in Roanoke. |
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Kent Dodge—Life / Health / Benefits
Kent brings 25 years of insurance experience to clients seeking life, health, dental, disability and other benefit coverage. He graduated from Randolph Macon College in 1983 Cum Laude and has resided in the New River valley since 1989. Kent is married to Jane and has sons Stephen and Daniel, daughter Mary Katherine. He enjoys discipling college students as a volunteer campus director at Virginia Tech with Christian group "The Navigators". In his leisure time he enjoys sports, especially playing hockey, the Maine coast, scuba diving, and Hokie football. |
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Jeet Heda—Life / Health / Benefits
Jeet has had 6 years of experience in the insurance industry as Kent's assistant - helping clients with health, life, dental, disability, and other benefit coverage. He is currently pursuing being licensed to help clients with securities. He works with individuals, families, international students and scholars, and small groups. He is a 2001 graduate of Virginia Tech, and has called Blacksburg his home for 10 years. He is married to Katie and lives now in Christiansburg. He and his wife are involved in their church, Blacksburg Christian Fellowship and enjoy playing one on one basketball and watching college sports. |
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