|
Our Staff
Corporate Officers |
 |
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, Past President of the Rotary Club of Montgomery County and past board member of the Blacksburg Chamber of Commerce. Currently, he serves as Second Vice Chairman on the Board of the Independent Insurance Agents of Virginia, the Advisory Board of NRV Junior Achievement, and serves as President of the MBC Development Corporation of Montgomery County. |
 |
Steve Lester, CIC, 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. |
 |
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 (Animal Science/Crop Soil Environmental Science). 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 is a Paul Harris Fellow, Director and President Nominee 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. She loves spending time with her family and friends, being outside, horseback riding, hiking, floating down the New River, reading, gardening, VT Basketball, traveling and volunteering/supporting local non-profit organizations. |
 |
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 |
 |
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. |
 |
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 |
 |
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 |
 |
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 is a past board member of the New River Valley Home Builders Association and served on the Montgomery County Planning Commission (1996-2005). |
 |
Mike McCarthy, Personal and Commercial Lines Sales Agent
Mike joined the agency at the beginning of 2011 with ten years of sales experience in the HVAC industry and seven years management in the restaurant business. Mike is originally from the Adirondack region of upstate New York. Shortly after graduating from State University of New York, Mike and his wife relocated to the Roanoke area in 1997 in search of less severe weather after spending four years just south of the Canadian border. Mike is a member of the Roanoke Valley Home Builders Association, and enjoys coaching his two sons in baseball and basketball. |
Commercial Lines Service |
 |
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 began working at Brown Insurance in 2005. She received her Associate in Insurance Production designation in 2006 and received her Certified Insurance Service Representative designation in 2008. She is an active member in the Blacksburg Junior Women’s Club and serves on the Chambers Ambassadors Committee. She also enjoys spending time with her daughter and dog, Dakota, family and friends, doing outside activities, shopping, and traveling. |
 |
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 is currently pursuing his CIC professional designation. He has served on The Hartford Small Commercial Agency Council, the NRUSA Adult Soccer League for the past several years and is Secretary of the New River Valley Builders Association for 2010. 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. |
 |
Robin Hurst, ACSR, 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 received the Accredited Customer Service Representative designation in April 2009 from the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America. She enjoys spending time with her family and friends, reading, the outdoors and fishing with her husband Bill. |
 |
Dee Pierce, CISR, CPSR, ACSR Marketing Specialist
Dee moved to Southwest Virginia from Cape Charles at the tip of Virginia’s Eastern Shore. She graduated from Cape Charles High School and attended the Pan American Business School in Richmond, VA. Dee began her insurance career in 1977 and has worked in several areas within the independent agency system; including personal lines, life & health, accounting, marketing and claims. The past 17 years she has worked in Commercial Insurance. She specializes in finding the right product for her customers based on their needs. Dee’s hobbies are photography, scrapbooking, reading and YouTube. Dee is Prayer Team coordinator of the Roanoke and New River Valley for Operation Christmas Child, Samaritan Purses’ Shoebox Ministry. Dee represents Huffville Methodist Church on the Pastor Parish Relationship Board for Floyd Parish Charge UMC and also is the newsletter reporter for her church. She is a member of the American Business Women’s Association, NRV Express Chapter and the National Association of Insurance Women. Dee and her husband Graham live in the suburbs of Pilot in beautiful Floyd County. |
Personal Lines Service |
 |
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.
|
 |
Windle Watkins, Customer Service Agent
Windle has lived in the Blacksburg area since 1979 and joined the agency in December 2008. He is a 1983 and 1985 graduate of Virginia Tech, receiving his B.S. in Marketing Management in 1983 and his M.B.A. with a concentration in Marketing in 1985. After graduation, Windle began his insurance career with State Farm Insurance, developing extensive experience while working in the Blacksburg and Roanoke auto claims service centers. His hobbies include softball, bowling, traveling, fishing, basketball and watching/attending Virginia Tech sporting events. He is a member of the Virginia Tech Hokie Club and the Blacksburg Sports Club. |
 |
Melanie Eads, Customer Service Agent
Melanie joined the agency in May of 2011 with over 21 years experience in the insurance industry. Although her specialty is Personal Lines Insurance, Melanie also has her life and health license. She knows coverages and takes great detail in her work. She is a lifelong resident of Pulaski County and a graduate of Pulaski County High School. Melanie spends her free time reading, watching baseball and most importantly spending time with her family and friends. She also volunteers at the Roanoke Rescue Mission. Melanie treats her customers with respect and friendliness and enjoys helping them protect the things that are most important. |
Health, Life and Benefit Specialists |
 |
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. |
 |
Kent Dodge
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. |
 |
Jane Dodge
Jane recently joined Kent in the insurance business after 23 years at home raising their three children. Originally from Martinsville, she graduated from Randolph-Macon College with a BS in Math and a minor in French. She worked as a Systems Engineer for IBM in Richmond until she and Kent started having children. Jane is also on staff with the Navigators and leads Bible studies on the campus of Virginia Tech, specifically with the girls in the Corps of Cadets. After following her daughter, Mary Kate’s, sports teams, her hobbies include hiking, working out, playing guitar, baking bread and renovating houses. |
 |
Caleb Fleming, Assistant
Caleb joined the staff in mid-2011 immediately after graduating from Virginia Tech with a BA in Economics and a Statistics minor. He is excited to serve as Kent's assistant while preparing to become licensed in Life and Health insurance. Caleb resides in Blacksburg and enjoys spending his free time as a volunteer leader for Young Life, a Christian outreach ministry in area high schools. His hobbies include soccer, triathlons, and Hokie sports. |
Receptionist |
 |
Kara Olenick, Receptionist
Kara is a senior at Virginia Tech majoring in English Literature and minoring in Music and Creative Writing. Her military family hails from Chesapeake, Virginia, where her parents, four brothers, and two sisters have been happily stationed for the past six years. Kara devotes much of her free time on campus to the Newman Catholic Community at Virginia Tech, through which she led an Alternative Spring Break mission trip to Mound Bayou, Mississippi in March. She absolutely loves reading and is working as an intern with Virginia Tech's Newman Library with high hopes of attending UNC Chapel Hill and earning a Masters in Library and Information Sciences.
Kara enjoys singing, cooking with friends, picnics, and spending time outside--especially playing volleyball. |
| |
|
|
