Kevin Ownby

Owner

Ownby Insurance Service Inc.

Sevierville, Tennessee

Ownby has been a Big “I" member for as long as he's been an independent agent. However, it wasn't until the Affordable Care Act was proposed and ultimately passed into law that he became more aware of the importance of the association's government advocacy on a state and national level. 

When the ACA started affecting the benefits market, “I started getting involved a lot more at the legislative level," he says. “You had to know the ACA or you had to divest yourself of your benefits business—it simply was too big of an errors & omissions exposure." 

Starting out in association leadership as the Big “I" Young Agents chair for the Insurors of Tennessee, Ownby moved through different chair positions within the state association. He is currently on the Board of Directors and the Tennessee state chair for InsurPac. He also currently serves on the Big “I" Government Affairs Health Care Subcommittee.

Why is advocacy important?

When there's an insurance issue, legislators tend to gloss over it. They largely don't understand that our industry is an integral part of a healthy economy. If we're not advocating for what we do as an industry and educating legislators we don't have a seat at the table. And if we don't have a seat at the table that means that we're on the menu for dinner.

Impact of InsurPac?

On a state and federal level, we are a resource and a trusted voice for our industry. Legislators reach out to us to discuss how proposals will affect Main Street businesses. Contributions to InsurPac make sure that our voice and our expertise is valued.

Most important role of an independent agent?

My grandfather and father instilled in me that this is a relationship business. Whether we're doing benefits, commercial or personal lines, we tend to be working with an individual's largest assets and their livelihood. We're here to protect that.

Olivia Overman is IA content editor.