Dick Steph, Director
Dick began his career with Farmers Insurance in 1985 as an Auto Underwriter in the then existent Portland Regional Office. After several promotions to positions of greater authority within Underwriting and Sales/Marketing, in 1991 he accepted a promotion to our Home Office located in Los Angeles, California. After working on several national projects involving the training, development and management of the Agency Force, he again accepted a transfer offer to our Phoenix Regional Office. In his new capacity, he worked directly with our Agents in Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada implementing profitable growth strategies within their Agencies. In 1996, Dick was then asked to relocate to Las Vegas, Nevada where he was instrumental in implementing and stress testing our Company’s new long term growth strategies envisioned for each state. This project was a success and the business model which was tested is now implemented in every state we currently operate. In 1999, Dick relocated back to the Pacific Northwest where he was again involved in several national projects including the grand opening of the Northwest ServicePoint. This is Farmers personal lines call center where the Policyholder needs are fulfilled in the states of Oregon, Washington, California, Idaho and Montana. Dick then joined the Cleveland AgencyPoint in April 2010 as the AgencyPoint Manager. In October 2010, he assumed the position of Director – AgencyPoint Cleveland.
Tammy Toth, Executive Assistant
Tammy is from Beachwood, Ohio. She attended Kent State University and currently
resides in Mayfield.
Tammy has ten years of experience in the insurance industry with Marsh Risk Consulting.
She serves as Dick’s Executive Assistant. She is also responsible for the financial
management of AgencyPoint Cleveland.
She is active in her local PTA, and has worked for countless other volunteer and
outreach organizations. She enjoys camping, boating and vacationing in her spare
time.
Brad Nicholls, AgencyPoint Manager
Brad was born in California, made his way to the Midwest and began his career with
Farmers Insurance in 1998 as a Property Claims Representative. Over the years, he
has worked in many different positions including Catastrophe Claims in Kansas, Missouri,
Montana and Utah; a Claims Supervisor in Oklahoma City; a Personal Lines Growth
Consultant in the Oklahoma State Office and the Heartland State Office as an Agency
Development Manager. Brad brings many years of experience to the AgencyPoint - Cleveland
team.
Michael Ficzner, Commercial Wholesaler
In his role as Commercial Wholesaler, Mike leads AgencyPoint Cleveland in commercial
marketing and sales functions and is responsible for developing Gross Written Premium.
Mike brings over twenty-six years of persuasive business acumen as a proven sales
executive with multidisciplinary experience in insurance product distribution.
Mike served as a commercial property consultant and the Midwest Regional Sales manager
of CIBA, a risk purchasing group. His extensive background in the insurance industry
includes executive leadership positions at numerous insurance carriers. He was the
state IA manager with Allstate and also worked with Continental Ins., Crum and Forster,
Providence Washington Ins.
Eric Langenfeld, Personal Lines Trainer
Eric was born in Akron, Ohio and has lived there all his life. He attended Marietta College, where he majored in Business Management and Minored in Leadership Studies. He also served as the President of Delta Tau Delta Fraternity and rowed for the Marietta College Crew Team.
Eric has more than eight years of sales experience in the greater Cleveland metropolitan area. He also has two years of experience as a store manager for Target. Eric serves AgencyPoint Cleveland as the Personal Lines Trainer.
Eric is a member of the Chippewa Lake Water Ski Show team in the summers, and has served as a board member for the Akron Jaycees. He enjoys spending his free time cooking, reading and playing with his three-year-old daughter, Avery.
Theresa Ross, Life Specialist
Theresa graduated with honors from Rockford College in Rockford, Illinois with a
double major in Economics and Spanish and a minor in History. She relocated to the
Cleveland area about 7 years ago from the Chicago area. Throughout her time with
Farmers, Theresa has held various positions including the Illinois State Marketing
Specialist, Regional Education Manager, Division Marketing Manager and the Life
and Financial Services Specialist. She has a strong background in life training
and sales, including variable products. She has earned numerous industry and company
sales achievement awards and has her CLU, ChFC designations. She is currently pursuing
the LUTCF designation as well.
Theresa enjoys spending time with her family, the outdoors and baking.
Theodore Schlipp, Sales Manager
Ted is originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan, but has lived in many different places. He has a Bachelor's degree from Kent State University. His first love was hockey, and he has coached several different high school, junior and college teams.
Recently, he worked for Champion Staffing Company as a salesman and recruiter. Ted is now a Sales Manager at AgencyPoint Cleveland, coaching individuals throughout their agent career.
Ted enjoys spending time with his wife, Jennifer, and his son, Owen. He works with the Cleveland Heights Hockey Association, staying involved in hockey by consulting and coaching.
LaMont Hess, Sales Manager
LaMont has over 24 years experience in the insurance industry including 5 years
in Underwriting and Commercial Marketing, and 17 years of owning his own Farmers
Insurance agency in Nevada. LaMont is a past Championship agent and multiple Topper
Club and Commercial Masters achievement club winner. Kookie, his 26 year old cockatoo,
has been his sidekick in building his insurance business. You may also catch him
driving around town and in parades in his 1914 Ford Model T touring car. He is happily
married to Kimberly and his other interests include their animals, horses, skiing,
and golf.
Leeanne Divis, Sales Manager
Leeanne is from Parma, Ohio, and currently resides in nearby Brunswick. She is a graduate of the University of Dayton, where she earned her Bachelor of Science in Marketing and a Minor in Finance.
Leeanne has been in sales and management for over 5 years. She most recently comes to us from Enterprise Rent-A-Car, where she was a branch manager in Beachwood, OH. She began her career with Farmers in 2009 as a Recruiting Specialist in our recruiting department. Currently, Leeanne is an Agency Trainer, where she enjoys assisting the agents begin their new career opportunity, and directly impacting them on a daily basis.
Leeanne is involved with the Solon Chamber of Commerce. She enjoys playing volleyball and softball, as well as running and taking hikes with her dogs Carter and Brady. In her spare time she likes traveling, and spending time with her family and friends.
Gary Jun, Agency Trainer
Gary Jun is a 32 year veteran of the insurance industry. He started with the Frank
B. Hall Co. in 1978 as a personal lines customer service representative and within
8 years, he was vice president in charge of personal lines. In 1986, Gary joined
Prudential Insurance where he was Property Casualty Operations Manager and held
that position until 1994. Later that year, he founded his own independent insurance
agency and later sold the business in 1999. Following Gary’s independent agency,
he joined Hondros College as a full-time instructor in the Financial Services division
where he facilitated Property/Casualty pre-licensing classes and created on-line
insurance classes for continuing education.
Rich Bucceri, Recruiting Manager
Rich attended the U.S. Naval Accounting School, where he graduated with honors.
Rich, who currently lives in Medina, has many years of experience with recruiting,
specifically in the areas of management and accounting. Rich has worked for Robert
Half International as the Accounting Division Manager and as a Corporate Recruiter
at Equity Consultants before joining Farmers. Rich currently leads AgencyPoint Cleveland's
Recruiting Department.
Rich is the proud father of his daughter Ariana and son Giovanni. In his free time,
Rich enjoys playing golf and spending time with his daughter and son. He is also
a supporter of Cleveland's professional sports teams.
Kevin Davis, Recruiting Specialist
Originally from Ashland, OH, Kevin has lived in the greater Cleveland area for almost
nine years and is currently residing in Hinckley. Kevin graduated from Heidelberg
College, with a finance degree and was also a member of the basketball team. Kevin’s
background includes six years as a financial advisor and franchise owner with American
Express and five years in the sales/recruiting field. In his spare time, he enjoys
following Cleveland sports teams, playing basketball and golf and running with his
dog Bailey.
Ryan Gould, Recruiting Specialist
Ryan was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. He is a proud Alumnus of Ohio University where he received his Bachelors Degree. Ryan's first passion was sports as he worked for a short time as an Account Executive for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Before coming to Farmers, Ryan worked for a local recruiting firm where he was responsible for talent acquisition of professional level people within the finance and accounting industry. Ryan is now a Recruiting Specialist with Agency Point Cleveland where he will be responsible for finding new agents to develop within Farmers. He enjoys spending time with family, Cleveland Professional Sports and is involved with the Cleveland Professional 20/30 club.
Shanna Saggese, Recruiting Specialist
Shanna was born and raised in Central Pennsylvania. She attended Clarion University
of Pennsylvania where she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Communication. She relocated
to Cleveland, OH in 2006 where she discovered her interest in the recruiting industry.
Shanna started off as a Staffing Coordinator at Champion Staffing and is now a Recruiting
Specialist at Farmers. She is excited about being part of the team at Farmers where
she can introduce individuals to the exciting opportunities that they offer.
Shanna enjoys spending time with her friends and visiting her family who still reside
in PA.
Sam Scruggs, Recruiting Specialist
Sam Scruggs joins the Farmers AgencyPoint Cleveland team with an extensive background
in Human Resources and Recruiting. He has led employment teams and executive recruiting
in financial services firms and has also ran the field Human Resources and Recruiting
organization for Taco Bell USA while based in Chicago, IL. Sam is a graduate of
the University of Cincinnati and currently resides in Woodmere.
Charles George, Business Operations Manager
Charles is originally from Texas and received his degree in Marketing from the University
of North Texas. In his spare time, he likes to watch sports and movies.
Charles has been with Farmers since September 2006. His background includes Underwriting,
Billing and Systems. He joins AgencyPoint Cleveland as the Business Operations Manager.
Talana Patterson, Customer Service Representative
Talana was born in Grand Rapids, MI, where she most recently worked for Foremost
Insurance (nine years). She recently relocated to the Ohio area and is currently
working towards her Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management. She enjoys traveling
and especially spending time with her daughters TaLia and Tynia.
Andrea Wasinski, Customer Service Representative
Andrea Wasinski, born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio currently resides in Parma with
her husband and two sons. She attended the University of Toledo, where she majored
in Elementary Education. Andrea started her insurance career with another insurance
company as a Sales Representative and started her career with Farmers at a local
agent's office where she served as a Customer Service Representative.
Currently, Andrea is a Customer Service Representative at the AgencyPoint Cleveland,
providing service and support to the agents in our office.
In her free time, Andrea is involved in her church community, is active in the Women's
Renewal Group and serves on the board of the PTU of her children's school. Andrea
enjoys spending time outside with her two young boys.
LaSandra Williams, Customer Service Representative
LaSandra was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, where she currently resides with
her two children, LaCara and JaCori. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business
Administration.
She joined the Farmers Insurance in July 2007. Before joining Farmers, she spent
a number of years in the banking/finance industry. She serves as a Customer Service
Representative. She has an extensive background in customer service, and her time
spent at AgencyPoint - Cleveland has been dedicated to helping our agents succeed.
Barb Wilson, Customer Service Representative
Barb is from North Olmsted, Ohio where she lives with Joe, her husband of 31 years.
She has two great children, Rachel & Ryan and two fun cats (Gatsby & Boggie).
She has been in the insurance field for over fifteen years with both Property &
Casualty and Life experience and comes to us with an extensive customer service
background.
Barb enjoys hiking, biking and traveling and recently returned from a cross country
driving trip with her family. She has volunteered extensively throughout the years
and most recently at St. Brendan Church with their Uganda Mission Team in support
of the CALM Mission in Uganda.
Mark Zimmerer, Customer Service Representative
Mark has been in the insurance industry for 18 years and previously worked at a
carrier’s home office as well as several independent agencies. In the past, he has
also marketed Property and Casualty insurance, Life and Health insurance, and Medicare
Supplement plans. He has been with Farmers AgencyPoint - Cleveland since it opened,
as a Customer Service Representative.
Mark was an officiating crew member during the 2004 International Childrens Games
for Volleyball. He also works with the American Heart Association for their Heart
Walks.
Brian Bercian, Agency Contact Representative
Brian was born and raised in Lakewood, Ohio. He has over 10 years of Customer Service
and Banking experience in the Cleveland area. Brian currently is an Agency Contact
Representative for Agency Point-Cleveland.
In his free time, Brian enjoys spending time with family and friends, playing basketball
and football, and loves to travel.
LaTrice Hayes, Agency Contact Representative
La’Trice was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. She graduated from Shaker Heights
High School and attended Kent State University for two years. La’Trice has several
years of experience in customer service and satisfaction.
She attends Unity Faith Missionary Baptist Church where she works in the church
office, with the children’s ministry, serves on the adult usher board and attends
meetings and programs regularly.
She enjoys reading, Bible Study, the outdoors, and spending time with family.
Esther Wills, Agency Contact Representative
Esther was born, raised and resides in Cleveland Heights, Ohio. Currently
attending the University of Phoenix, Esther is nearing the completion of her
Bachelor of Science degree in Information Technology with academic honors.
Esther has acquired a wealth of business knowledge and experience
working in the collections and insurance industries for over five years.
Esther participates as a mentor in the Parenting Club at the University
of Phoenix, enjoys exercising and fashion design.
Charles Crossley, Recruiting Specialist
Charles was born and raised in Coshocton, OH. He received his degree in Business Management from Walsh University. His enjoyment's are watching NCAA and NFL football, playing golf, and watching movies with the family. Charles comes here from Bridgestone/Firestone where he was the Manager of Tire Sales. He joins AgencyPoint Cleveland as a Recruiting Specialist.
Nicole Furnia, Recruiting Specialist
Nicole is originally from Syracuse, NY. She received her Bachelors degree from Clarion University of Pennsylvania, where she played softball for four years. She then went on to receive Masters degree from Syracuse University. In her spare time, Nicole enjoys watching sports and cooking. Go Browns!
Most of Nicole's career has been spent in Recruiting. She joined Farmers in April 2009 as a Recruiter and focuses on introducing potential candidates to the Farmers Agency Opportunity with AgencyPoint Cleveland.