Cyber Webinar Instructors
Brian McSherry
Brian McSherry is Vice President Agents Insurance Services, Inc. a subsidiary of the IIA of IL. He began his professional insurance career as a sole producer of new and renewal business for both commercial and personal lines. In 1981, he purchased Huxtable Insurance Agency, Inc. and held the position of President.
In 2004, McSherry was instrumental in the acquisition of two agencies that led to the formation of the McSherry Agency, Inc. This increased the service-area footprint and grew written premiums from $1M to its current premium volume of over $3M.
In 2005, as the founding Partner of Premier Ag Partners LLC, Brian managed a cluster arrangement of six agencies specializing in Crop Hail and Multi-Peril Crop insurance. Initial premium volume was approximately $9M and, over the course of seven years, the company grew to 26 member agencies generating $32M in premium volume.
​In 2012 McSherry was one of four founding partners of Premier Ag Farm Partners LLC, a wholesale agency specializing in processing Multi-Peril and Crop Hail insurance. In addition to offering processing services for crop insurance, the agency offers farm property, liability, commercial auto, workers’ compensation, and excess liability coverage to retail agencies. It currently processes crop insurance business for four agencies and provides farm insurance coverage for over 25 retail agencies generating over $400K in premiums.
​Throughout his career he has been active in insurance industry professional associations at the local, state, and national level. As past Chairman of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA) Crop Insurance Task Force, he met regularly with members of Congress, the Risk Management Administration, and the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation Board of Directors to discuss the role of and the issues affecting independent insurance agents in the delivery and service of the Multi-Peril Crop Insurance program. He has testified before the House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture and the Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities and Risk Management on the role of Independent Agents and the impact of commission caps on the delivery system.
Previously McSherry served as IIA of IL State National Director from 2007 to 2015.
Bill Larson
For more than 40 years, Bill Larson has provided cost effective programs to protect a business’s profits and its financial integrity. Larson is a partner in NetGen Data Security Consulting. NetGen assists businesses in developing Data Security Plans, Policies and Procedures necessary to Comply with the Data Security and Privacy Laws.
Larson is President of Profit Protection Risk Management Consulting – Specializing in Protecting Corporate Profits from the effects of the current Data Security and Privacy Laws, Chairman of the IIABA/ACT HIPAA Workgroup leading the study of compliance and liability exposures associated with Data Security and Privacy Laws for the Independent Insurance Agent and a leading member of the IIABA/ACT Security Issues Workgroup which developed, and continuously updates, the ACT Cyber Guide.
Bill is involved in continuous development of Data Security/Privacy Risk Management Programs endorsed by various local and state associations and is the co-author of several articles on Data Security/Privacy for various Insurance Publications.