We would like to wish all of our clients, friends, family and associates a Happy New Year! Best wishes for health and happiness in 2015.
It is hard to believe that 2014 is already coming to a close. Is it just me, or does each year seem to go by faster than the last? I still very clearly remember the New Years of Y2K and that hardly seems like 15 years ago…
2014 was another busy year for us here at Costen & Associates. The year started off with our Team attending the Calgary Motorcycle Show. We found this year to be one of the busiest shows yet, and had great response to our booth and giveaways. We had ten separate draws for a motorcycle model and $50.00 gas card. We will be attending the show again next month, on January 9th, 10th, and 11th. Please stop by our booth to say hi and enter our draw!
Peter O’Sullivan and Andrew Shareski
Andrew and I attended the IBAA (Insurance Brokers Association of Alberta) Convention in May. This year it was held in beautiful Jasper, Alberta, so we took advantage and brought our families along. We attended some great seminars, enjoyed mingling with many of our Insurance Company representatives and fellow brokers, and the kids had a pretty fun time too!
The Costen Munckins!
We also attended the Alberta Ride for Sight Motorcycle Charity ride/weekend in June. We had a trade show booth set up, and Larry and Sheila took part in the motorcycle parade. If you haven’t heard of the Ride for Sight, we suggest you check them out, as they raise money for a great cause. We will be attending the ride/weekend again next year so look for us there.
Costen & Associates Vendor Booth
We added some wonderful new clients to the Costen & Associates Family this year. In May, we acquired the book of business from Dec Dunne Insurance Ltd. After many years in the industry and after much persuasion from his wife and two daughters, Dec decided it was finally time to retire. We are very fortunate to have met Dec and his family and are pleased that he selected Costen & Associates to take over the servicing of his valuable clients. It has been a smooth transition for all of us and we have enjoyed getting to know many of his clients. Larry and I recently had lunch with Dec and his daughters and he is doing well and enjoying the slower pace of retirement!
In July, we acquired a small book of business from Heritage Benefit Planners. They had decided to focus solely on providing Financial Services to their clients and were looking for someone to take over the servicing of their personal lines insurance clients. We have enjoyed getting to know their clients over the last couple of months and look forward to meeting more of them in the months ahead.
We added a new Team member again this year. Winnie Fong joined Costen & Associates in mid-September as a part-time Insurance Broker. Winnie brings with her experience in underwriting, claims and working as an Insurance Agent for a Direct Writer. She is currently working Mondays as well as covering the rest of the Team for vacations and time off. We are very pleased to have Winnie join the Costen & Associates Family.
Winnie Fong
We celebrated several anniversaries again this year. Peter O’Sullivan and Heather Howard both celebrated their 1 year anniversary, Karen Sandeman celebrated her 3 year anniversary, and Kristel Wilson and Lloyd Keating celebrated 4 years with Costen & Associates. Pammi celebrated her 5 year anniversary, Andrew Shareski and Nirmal Lombsar celebrated their 7 year anniversary, and yours truly celebrated my 16 year anniversary this past July. As of September, our business coach Trae Ashlie-Garen has also been part of the Costen & Associates family for 9 years!
Our Charity of the Year for 2014 was Bear Valley Rescue. We had a very successful year with a lot of referrals (Thank You!) so we look forward to sending them a large donation at the end of the year. In addition to donating, we sponsored one of their Permanent Residents, a beautiful horse named Eclipse. For more information on Bear Valley Rescue or how you can help, please visit their website.
Eclipse
We also had some AWESOME web commercials created by the super talented Chad Costen. If you haven’t already seen them, you can view them here:
Finally, we are excited about the launch of our brand new mobile app and desktop portal, #myCOSTEN! #myCOSTEN gives you the ability to print pink cards, view your policy documents, request a policy change, make a claim, and more all from the convenience of your mobile phone or laptop or desktop computer. To learn more, please visit us at www.costeninsurance.com or give us a call.
We hope that you have a wonderful holiday season and we at Costen & Associates look forward to continuing to provide you with excellent customer service and new and innovative products and services in the years ahead.
Welcome 2015!
The Costen & Associates Team
