Board of Directors Nominees
The WRC Board of Directors is required to annually nominate three individuals to serve a three-year term as directors. The directors whose terms expire at the 2020 Annual Shareholders Meeting to be held on Wednesday, April 29, 2020, are Jeff Dusek, Scott Kelley and Tony Wilke.
Jeff Dusek is the Secretary-Treasurer and Manager of River Falls Mutual Insurance Company of River Falls, Wisconsin. Jeff received his bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. His insurance career began in 1997 when he was elected to the Board of Directors of River Falls Mutual. He assumed the manager’s role of the company in 1999. Jeff has served as a Director of the Wisconsin Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (WAMIC) and was Chairman of WAMIC in 2010.
River Falls Mutual is in Pierce County in western Wisconsin and writes business in six counties. The company writes approximately $1.3 million in premium a year. It has $4.5 million in policyholder surplus and serves 920 policyholders.
Jeff sees growth of the company from hobby farms and preferred homeowners business in his operating territory. He reports that the loss ratio on these classes of business has been good historically. One of the issues the company is facing is the rapid increase in policy size and sophistication of the farming operations that they insure. Farms represent about 60% of the business of the company.
Scott Kelley is the General Manager and Treasurer/Secretary for Laclede Mutual Insurance in Lebanon, Missouri. Laclede Mutual has 1,800 policies and $1.8 million in premium writings. Before coming to Laclede Mutual in June 2006, Scott was Vice President/Operations Officer at Commerce Bank in Lebanon where he managed three locations for 19 years.
Scott was elected to the Missouri Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (MAMIC) Board of Directors in 2008 and served as MAMIC Chairman in 2013. He was given the MAMIC Distinguished Service award in 2011 and continues to serve on various committees for the Missouri association. With NAMIC, Scott earned his Farm Mutual Director Certification in 2013 and given the Merit Award that same year. He earned his Professional Farm Mutual Manager (PFMM) designation from NAMIC in 2014.
Scott and his wife Pam have three sons and three grandchildren. Besides managing an insurance company, he enjoys spending time with his three grandkids, relaxing at his lake home, and as an Iowa native, rooting for his Iowa Hawkeyes.
Tony Wilke is the President and CEO of United Mutual Insurance Company in Medford, Wisconsin. Tony graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire in 1993 with a degree in Finance. He began his career with Little Black Mutual in 1994 as a claims representative. In 1999, his duties were expanded to include all the financial reporting and accounting for the company. Tony was promoted to President in January of 2004. He has earned his NAMIC Professional Farm Mutual Manager (PFMM) designation and is a member of the NAMIC Merit Society.
In 2018, Little Black Mutual merged with Farmington Mutual and named the combined operation, United Mutual Insurance Company. United Mutual is in Taylor County with a branch office in Polk County. United Mutual is a 611 domestic mutual and writes in the northern third of Wisconsin. United Mutual currently has 6,400 policies and writes approximately $6 million in premium a year.
https://www.unitedmutualinsurance.com/