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Executive Team

T. John Jerger, Jr. - President

T. John Jerger, Jr. - President

Mr. T. John Jerger, Jr., President of American Traditions Insurance Company, has over 22 years of Insurance experience in the Florida Homeowner and Manufactured Homeowner industry. Prior to co-founding these companies, he was instrumental in co-founding a company dedicated to servicing the needs of Florida property insurance companies. John continues the long Jerger history of being innovative yet maintaining an old fashion sense of fiscal responsibility for our policy holders. He leads the executive management team in every aspect of day to day operations.

Mr. Jerger is heavily involved in negotiating and securing our companies’ reinsurance in Bermuda and Europe, system controls, overall production, setting risk tolerance, underwriting prudence, and marketing the companies. He also works with the compliance and actuarial teams to develop annual rates and new programs. He further manages the overall profitability of these organizations and believes customer service and peace of mind must be paramount in the process.

Several organizations have been successfully launched due to Mr. Jerger’s leadership and influence.
One such company Mr. Jerger used his knowledge to design and build is an on-line quoting, rating, policy issuance and inquiry system through a web browser. The system utilizes “artificial intelligence” to prevent data entry errors and incompleteness on the electronic application. John provides experienced resources and integrated software solutions that provide the framework for our successful insurance companies.

The purpose driving the business model then, as it is now for American Traditions Insurance Company, remains the same; to provide the best capacity for Home and Manufactured home business and insurance agents as well as the best product for the Florida Home and Manufactured Homeowners.

Thomas J. Jerger – Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board

Thomas J. Jerger – Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board

Mr. Jerger has over forty four years of executive experience in property and casualty insurance specializing in homeowner and mobile homeowner’s products. Mr. Jerger is part of a family that has been involved in the Florida insurance business since 1946.

Tom Jerger currently serves, as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of American Traditions Insurance Company. This domestic insurance company protects over 100,000 homeowners in Florida. In this executive role, Mr. Jerger provides strategic vision and oversight to all functional disciplines and all members of management.

Mr. Jerger has great Florida property insurance institutional knowledge that he utilizes to guide the executive management team and the companies through the difficult Florida homeowner marketplace. He is well respected by Florida regulators, legislators and executives. Tom uses his knowledge of the Florida marketplace to advocate for long term solutions to Florida’s homeowner’s insurance problems and promotes long term answers that benefit future generations of Floridians rather than quick simple answers that just serve as temporary fixes at greater cost to Floridians in the future. Working with the Legislature and the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (“OIR”) has been a priority for Mr. Jerger. He worked vigorously to see that the citizens of Florida receive the statutory protection necessary to protect their policyholders.

Our companies have adhered to conservative, long term philosophies and business strategies since inception. The Jergers carefully underwrite all homeowner risks with a focus on long term growth rather than short term profits to ensure the company can sustain multiple catastrophic events per year. The Jergers personally spend the weeks leading up to hurricane season each year obtaining the necessary levels of reinsurance in both Bermuda and Europe. They have always understood the importance of private reinsurance, beyond the traditional Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (“FHCF”), to ensure both insurance companies and policyholders would be protected for years to come. Mr. Jerger has been quoted saying many times, “We want to make sure we are here after the storm.” He continues to educate both legislators and consumers that an insurance company must be judged on the adequacy of its reinsurance rather than the size of its surplus alone. This lack of understanding regarding the importance of reinsurance has negatively impacted numerous Florida domiciled companies.

Mr. Jerger has a Bachelor of Science degree in Insurance from the University of Florida.

Brian J. Adamski – Chief Financial Officer

Brian J. Adamski – Chief Financial Officer

Brian Adamski is the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of American Traditions Insurance Company. He has held these roles since the companies formed. In this capacity, he has helped the companies grow to in excess of $100MM in annual revenues.

Prior to joining American Traditions, Mr. Adamski held various roles in both public accounting and the insurance industry. Mr. Adamski spent eight years in public accounting at a national accounting firm where he served as a leader in the southeast area insurance practice. While in this role he worked directly with the Florida Residential Property and Casualty Joint Underwriting Association in the development of an audit process to ensure compliance with the various takeout programs used to depopulate the state pool of exposures.

Mr. Adamski also held several roles at Alexander & Alexander Inc., a global insurance broker. Most notably at Alexander & Alexander Inc., Mr. Adamski created the Business Analysis Group which conducted operational and financial reviews of field offices throughout North America.

Mr. Adamski currently serves on the Junior Achievement Regional Board of Directors. He was prior President and is current Treasurer of the Tampa Bay Chapter of Financial Executives International. He is a certified public accountant in Florida and Maryland and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting from Loyola College in Maryland.

Dan Hurley – Vice President

Dan Hurley – Vice President

Dan Hurley is the Vice President of Compliance for American Traditions Insurance Company in which he performs and manages rate, rule and forms filings to assist in the growth of these companies to over $100,000,000 in annual revenue. His involvement includes assisting to ensure profitability of existing programs through adequate rates and coverage modifications as well as creating new products to expand the growth within these companies. He also provides Statistical Data Reporting compliance management for West Point Underwriters.

His 25 years of insurance experience includes managing Product Development, Commercial Underwriting and Marketing Departments at the Vice President level with experience in Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina. He has also managed a $25 million flood book of business with a Write-Your-Own carrier for the National Flood Insurance Program and has experience in the Debit Life & Health Insurance Industry.

Dan currently is an active member of the Insurance Services Office (ISO) Personal Property Panel and Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCIAA) Property Committee. He has also served numerous positions within the Association of Insurance Compliance Professionals (AICP) organization at the Chapter level as Vice President, President and Past President. He also served on the national level as the AICP Gulf States Chapter’s Regional Director.

Mr. Hurley attended University of Tampa for Business Management and Central Insurance School – Professional in Insurance Account Management (PIAM)

Raymond M. Blacklidge - EVP, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary

Raymond M. Blacklidge – Executive Vice President, Corporate Secretary & General Counsel

Mr. Blacklidge has over thirty years of executive experience in representing the property and casualty insurance industry both in Florida and nationwide. He prepared the Florida Certificate of Authority application on behalf of, and represented before the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, American Traditions Insurance Company.

Mr. Blacklidge is Executive Vice President, General Counsel, Corporate Secretary, and Board Member of American Traditions Insurance Company. He works collaboratively with the board of directors, president, chief executive officer and executive management offering strategic direction, political, legislative, regulatory and legal advice.

Mr. Blacklidge has many years of experience serving in significant roles of public policy development, legislative drafting, advocacy, lobbying, regulatory compliance, litigation, public affairs, insurance transaction drafting and execution. He has served both in insurance trade associations as well as “on the line” in the law departments of insurance companies. Mr. Blacklidge has served as the head of the internal defense litigation team and in addition to managing outside counsel has litigated on behalf of the companies throughout all of Florida. He is very familiar with all property/casualty insurance lines, particularly homeowners, and for many years he has been a powerful advocate for the insurance industry.

Mr. Blacklidge represents American Traditions Insurance Company as a Member of: the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) Legal and Governmental Affairs Committee and PCI’s Governmental Affairs Committee, Florida Property & Casualty Association's Homeowners Division, Florida-Based Property Insurers CEO Group, Inc., Member of the Board of the Florida Insurance Council, Member of the Florida Insurance Council’s Property Committee and Vice Chair of the Public Affairs Committee. Ray also is a Member of the Society of Financial Service Professionals, the National Association of Fraternal Insurance Counsellors and a Member of the Fraternal Field Managers Association.

In addition, Mr. Blacklidge has been an active contributor to his community. In the past and presently, he has been involved as President of the Woodmen of the World Pinellas County Lodge, Member Knights of Columbus, both 3rd Degree Council and 4th Degree Assembly.

Mr. Blacklidge has a Bachelor of Arts from Southern Illinois University and a Juris Doctor from The John Marshall Law School in Chicago.

Justin Locke - Chief Risk Officer & Controller

Justin Locke - Chief Risk Officer and Controller

Justin Locke is the Controller for American Traditions Insurance Company. Working closely with Brian Adamski, CFO, Justin’s responsibilities include internal and external reporting, financial planning and analysis, accounting policy and procedures, internal controls, and supervision of the companies’ accounting team. He has served in this role since 2007, and has over 17 years of financial and accounting experience, with over 11 years as a financial executive.

Prior to joining American Traditions, Justin was the Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary for Coast Bank of Florida and Coast Financial Holdings, Inc., an $800 million NASDAQ listed community bank. During his tenure with Coast Bank, Justin was responsible for financial reporting, SEC and regulatory filings, Sarbanes Oxley compliance, financial planning and analysis, operational accounting and treasury. Justin also chaired the bank’s ALCO and SOX committees.

Justin graduated from the University of South Florida with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and is a certified management accountant. Justin is actively involved with the Tampa chapter of Financial Executives International and serves on FEI’s national Committee on Finance and Information Technology as co-chair for the SMB subcommittee. Justin also serves on the Connections Board for Junior Achievement of Tampa Bay.

Ted Jerger - Vice President of Claims

Ted Jerger - Vice President of Claims

Ted Jerger is the Vice President of Claims for American Traditions Insurance Company. He has over 20 years of experience in the insurance industry and has served in the role of Vice President of Claims with American Traditions since 2021. In this capacity, Mr. Jerger assists in overseeing the day-to-day claims management team. He is heavily involved in all aspects of litigation, from the handling of mediations to collaborating with counsel to ensure litigation costs are managed properly. He also works with counsel to verify the proper strategy is in place. Mr. Jerger manages the SIU team making certain the carrier is reporting all suspected fraud to the appropriate parties. He also works closely with the Compliance Department on new policy forms and endorsements. Lastly, He manages the subrogation vendor and assists in their effort to collect monies due to the carrier. Outside of the office, Mr. Jerger enjoys spending time with his wife Cori and children Lexie and EJ. He spends many weekends watching his son play football and Lacrosse. If not at one of his sons sporting events, you can find him boating with his family.

Ted Jerger joined American Traditions Insurance Company in August 2011. Prior to the title of Vice President of Claims, he worked for the company as a Claims Examiner, growing in experience to become the Claims Manager in 2013 and then Executive Director of Claims in 2020. Prior to joining American Traditions, Mr. Jerger worked as a Customer Service Manager for Crosslet Insurance Services Inc. located in Clearwater Florida. Prior to that, he worked for 4 years as a Marketing Representative for West Point Underwriters, LLC.

Ted Jerger also has had the opportunity to act as the Chairperson for the board of trustees and served as a member of Pasadena Community Church’s Finance Committee. He is a native of St. Petersburg, Florida and is currently an active member of the Florida Property and Casualty Insurance Task force.

 

Jennifer Sousa - Vice President of Marketing & Sales

Jennifer Sousa, AINS, CPCU – Vice President of Marketing & Sales

Jennifer Sousa is the Vice President of Marketing & Sales for American Traditions Insurance Company. She began her career in the insurance industry at the launch of American Traditions Insurance Company in January of 2006 in an entry level position. Mrs. Sousa quickly obtained her General Lines P&C (220) license to broaden her understanding of P&C products. She later obtained her All-Lines Adjuster (620) license in 2015 to further her knowledge related to property loss settlement and policy forms.

Throughout the course of her 16-years at American Traditions Insurance Company, Mrs. Sousa has served in many roles, and had the opportunity to be mentored by an impressive team of insurance executives with a wide range of industry expertise and knowledge. This advantage has allowed her to gain valuable insight of all facets of the property and casualty insurance mechanism including Underwriting, Marketing, Claims, Compliance, Product Development, IT and Accounting.

She leads her team of Territory Managers in planning, directing, and coordinating marketing opportunities and strategies amongst a vast network of agency partners to meet production goals. Marketing strategies include proper balancing of the several lines of business while maintaining the appropriate spread of risk geographically.

Mrs. Sousa received her Associate in General Insurance (AINS) in 2017 from The Institutes and went on to achieve her Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation in 2019. In 2020 she obtained her Surplus Lines (120) license. She attended St. Petersburg College and is a current Pinellas County School Volunteer. She is also a member in good standing of the CPCU Society.

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