Meeting Information

Sharon Koches, owner/consultant of Managing Performance, LLC is an Insurance Educator, consultant and industry resource. She is also a consultant for Agency Management Resource Group and serves on the National CPCU Society Leadership Council.

Sharon was Vice President of Insurance Operations & Technical Affairs at the Independent Insurance Agents of North Carolina (IIANC). A member of the Senior Management Team, responsibilities included technical affairs, management of IIANC’s Errors & Omissions Program, Group Insurance Program, Market Access Program and the insurance operations for the North Carolina Association of Insurance Agents (NCAIA), an affiliated corporation of IIANC which is responsible for placing the insurance coverage for the State of North Carolina, including state agencies, departments and universities. In addition, she was responsible for special projects, creating and instructing educational courses and symposiums, and consulting on agency procedures and technical issues.

Prior to that, Sharon was with The Institutes (previously the American Institute for CPCU/ and the Insurance Institute of America) serving as a sales executive in the Southern Region, as well as liaison to the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America (IIABA).

Sharon was an account manager, a field underwriting/production position, for Selective Insurance Company’s Alternative Market/Large Accounts Department (SRM). Her other positions at Selective included specialty lines account manager and agency management specialist (small/middle market field underwriting/production). She also handled Casualty Facultative Reinsurance.

Sharon’s background on the agency side includes serving as director of Membership & Member Services and assistant director of E&O for the Independent Insurance Agents of New Jersey (IIANJ). She also held the position of vice president of The Harjes Agency, an independent insurance agency in Flemington, NJ, specializing in Commercial Lines and Professional Liability. While at The Harjes Agency, she was a member of the IIANJ’s Board of Directors and served as vice chairman of the Education Committee. She was also Project InVEST state chair.

In 2006, Sharon was elected to the Board of Directors of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of New York (IIABNY) where she served as a member-at-large. Additionally, she served on the Council for Best Practices of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (the Big “I”) and is the past Education Chair for the Eastern North Carolina CPCU Chapter.

Sharon holds the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU®), Registered Professional Liability Underwriter (RPLU), Accredited Adviser in Insurance (AAI®), Associate in Commercial Underwriting (AU), and Insurance Training Professional (ITP) designations. She has taught numerous Institute and other insurance courses. She is a member of the Eastern North Carolina Chapter of the CPCU Society, the Professional Liability Underwriting Society and the Society of Insurance Trainers and Educators. In 2007, Koches was presented with IIABNY’s highest honor, the 2007 Distinguished Service Award, which recognized her “unselfish sacrifice” of time and effort to better the insurance community. In 2006, Sharon received the inaugural Spirit of Education award from the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America (IIABA) in recognition of her efforts with the Accredited Customer Service Representative (ACSR) designation program. In 2014, she was presented with the Society of Insurance Trainers and Educators (SITE) Henry C. Drewes Loyalty Award.

Formerly from New Jersey, Sharon lives in Wilmington, NC.

sakoches@outlook.com

Millicent W. Workman is Director of Training and Education for International Risk Management Institute, the premier publisher of property-casualty insurance references. She directs all IRMI's training and education programs, which include its webinars, seminars, insurance CE programs, certifications, and conferences. She also has primary editorial responsibility for Practical Risk Management.

Ms. Workman has an extensive background in risk management and the insurance industry. In addition to consulting on risk management issues, she has served as Director of Risk Financing for Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation, one of the largest not-for-profit health care systems in the nation, and as Director of Risk Management for Mueller Industries, Inc., a leading fabricator of copper, brass, aluminum, and plastic products. She was also formerly Director of Corporate Risk Management for Belz Enterprises, a real estate development and hotel company based in Memphis, Tennessee.

Ms. Workman graduated magna cum laude, first in class, from Union University, with a B.S. in biology. She received her Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation in 1975, the Associate in Underwriting designation in 1979, and has completed two parts of the Associate in Risk Management (ARM) designation. She holds the Construction Risk and Insurance Specialist (CRIS), the Agribusiness and Farm Insurance Specialist (AFIS), the Management Liability Insurance Specialist (MLIS), the Energy Risk and Insurance Specialist (ERIS), and the Transportation Risk and Insurance Professional (TRIP) certifications.

Ms. Workman is active in the CPCU Society. She served as national President of the CPCU Society in 2005 - 2006 and is a past president and treasurer of the Society's Memphis Chapter. She also served as chair of the CPCU-Loman Education Foundation Advisory Committee and the chair of the CPCU-Loman Education Foundation, She is active with RIMS, where she served as president of the Memphis Chapter; and Ole Miss Insurance Advisory Board, where she served as the first non-alum chair of the Board and was named Outstanding Supporter of the Insurance and Risk Management Program in 2006. She serves on the Board and Executive Committee for Gamma Iota Sigma insurance fraternity.

Business Insurance magazine named Ms. Workman "Risk Manager of the Year" in 1992, one of the "100 Leading Women in the Insurance Industry" in 2000, and one of 80 "Women to Watch" in 2006. She was inducted into The Robert E. Musto Tennessee Insurance Hall of Fame in August 2002.

millie.w@irmi.com