Last week, Selective's College Competition kicked off across eight colleges throughout the country. The annual contest provides the opportunity for teams of students to gain valuable insurance career-building experience and networking opportunities with the guidance and mentorship of industry experts.

Selective's College Competition— first started by Invest in 2017 and later hosted in conjunction with the Big “I" Diversity Council—brings together teams of four to six college students who are risk management, insurance, business or finance majors and maintain a GPA of 3.0 or higher.

Using PriSim's Agency Challenge^TM computerized business solution, the teams each run a simulated agency and compete in weekly challenges that help build their insurance acumen about insurance carriers, customer service, staffing, sales and financial management. Each team is mentored by insurance professionals from local independent insurance agencies and Selective. The team with the best performance at the end of the competition is declared the winner.

"Selective's College Competition gives the next generation of insurance professionals the chance to experience and resolve real-world situations in a simulated learning environment," said Shadi Albert, executive vice president, insurance strategy and business development, Selective.

"With the support and assistance of insurance professionals from Selective and independent insurance agencies, the students have the opportunity to gain insights and perspectives that will help them in the competition and in their future careers," he said.

Teams of students from the following schools are participating in Selective's College Competition:

• Appalachian State University
• Ball State University
• Illinois State University
• Indiana State University
• Middle Tennessee State University
• St. Joseph's University
• Temple University
• University of North Carolina - Charlotte

The competition requires the students to leverage their education and experiences to make informed business decisions about building market share, developing products and services, growing profit, promoting their firm and contending with competitors.

The following independent insurance agents are guiding and mentoring teams of students in Selective's College Championship:

• Brian Blaston, agency principal, Hardenbergh Insurance Group
• Jeff Haney, president; Jessica Medlin, vice president; and Sam Thompson, retired agency principal; all from ECM Solutions
• Neil T. Annas, CFO, and Cameron Annas, CEO and visionary, both from Granite Insurance
• Michael Stansbury, managing partner, Elite Insurance Solutions
• Scott Johnson, director of purpose and passion, The Healy Group
• George Daly, president, personal insurance, and Tricia Pucek, CFO, both from The Horton Group
• Tim Latimer, agency manager, The Barclay Group

The annual competition was expanded this year to include two new schools and six new independent insurance agents. The competition will run through February.

Will Jones is IA editor-in-chief.