Q&A with Andrew Enders

Andrew Enders, Esq. is President & General Counsel of Enders, a full-service independent insurance agency headquartered in Linglestown, PA. In September, he began his two-year term as Chairman of IA&B Service Group.

Q. How did you get your start in the insurance industry?

A. It was meant to be. I was born into it – third generation. Our family business was started by my grandfather, Don Enders Sr. My father, Don Enders, Jr. came into the business, and by the time I was 12 years old, I was going to work with him on Saturdays.

Q. Tell us about your agency.

A. Our agency, Enders, is headquartered in Linglestown, PA. We service all of Central Pennsylvania and well beyond. We are very much generalists, but have developed meaningful expertise in specific coverage programs. We’re a team of 65, and we love to work with families, businesses, and everything that surrounds us.

Our business is rooted in a family tradition, but we’ve expanded and grown, and we’re now part of Unison Risk Advisors, which is a much larger organization that was founded in late 2020 by two firms – one out of Baltimore and another out of Cleveland. We are the fourth platform partner and are thrilled to be a part of a bigger organization delivering more services to our clients throughout our entire service territory.

Q. Describe the makeup and purpose of the IA&B Board.

A. The IA&B Board is really important to us as independent agents. It provides a resource to communicate and collaborate with independent agencies across our entire operating territory. It functions as the governing body, to provide direction to IA&B and to make sure that the organization is responding to the needs of its members.

I’ve been so proud to serve on the IA&B Board for a few years now, and I’ve made amazing relationships and connections with agents across Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Delaware. I’m really excited about the future of the organization and the way that Board is building out on what we’ve done well for so many years while expanding our reach into new agencies that continue to pop up throughout our territory.

Q. Who has influenced your leadership style?

A. There have been so many people in my life who have been mentors, absolutely my mom and dad. My dad worked in the business for so long, and my mom was a public school educator for 40 years. They impacted how I communicate, focus on transparency, and really care about the team that I’m leading.

My leadership was enhanced by my time at the District Attorney’s office where I worked under the Honorable Edward S. Marsico Jr. He was an incredible leader of that organization and really counseled and coached us as brand new deputy district attorneys to do our best work for our community.

But beyond that, I think it’s my team that really influences my day-to-day actions. I make sure that I’m responding to their needs and making sure that they have the tools and resources that they need to be successful.

Q. What do you consider the most pressing issue currently facing the insurance industry?

A. The biggest challenges facing independent insurance agencies are constantly evolving. They’re never the same.

One of the most important things that IA&B does is to help keep independent agencies aware of things that they should care about. And beyond that, educate them on the ways that we, as an industry, can collectively or individually respond to those issues. Whether it’s a change in tax regulation or to minimum limits in a jurisdiction, IA&B provides us with resources to help ensure the best outcome for not just the agencies, but also for our clients and communities.

Q. Why should agents collaborate and work together?

A. We can’t look at ourselves as competitors all the time. I think there is a healthy level of competition, but it’s so important that we look at one another as peers. If we have open lines of communication with other agents in our communities, that provides a stronger resource and a stronger product for our clients and our communities.

IA&B helps to facilitate that by making safe spaces – places once removed from day-to-day insurance operations – for agents to come together and find ways to establish real, meaningful relationships.

I have created really strong relationships with other agents, not just in my immediate community, but now across Maryland and Delaware as well. That has helped to infuse me with new knowledge, new information, and new ways of thinking.

Q. What advice would you give young agents entering the field?

A. First, listen and learn and read and take in information from everywhere – even people who you don’t agree with. This industry is so complicated, so complex, that the more information and knowledge you build early on, the more productive you are going to be for your clients and your community forever.

Second thing, take opportunities to teach others. Even if you’re new to the industry, when you teach and share information and knowledge, it will do two things. It will make you more confident in that information and understanding, and it will help somebody else to grow.

I find that a lot of people who are new to insurance, who have that heightened level of competition, are missing out on so many opportunities to really develop friendships with other folks who are experiencing many of the same struggles and challenges in the industry. And it’s just a lot more fun to have friends rather than competitors all the time.