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 Alpha Associates, Inc. CLUSTER - A.M. Smith Group, Inc. is a member of Alpha Associates, Inc., which is a cluster of insurance agents located throughout Western New York. Marc is the only member of the association to serve two terms as its president. This group currently represents 16 office locations in Western New York with over $26,000,000 in premium volume. This cluster allows the member agents to negotiate better products and services for our clients. The total volume we represent also puts our members on par with the large insurance players in Western New York. Marc's job as President of Alpha Associates, Inc. has been to act as Chief negotiator with the insurance companies.
Other Insurance Affiliations - Marc is a member of the New York State Insurance Agents Association. He has previously served as a member of the Erie & Niagara Insurance company Agents Advisory Council
Community involvement - Eastern Niagara Chamber of Commerce - Marc served as a director of the Eastern Niagara Chamber of Commerce from 1996-2001. Marc has served in numerous capacities for the Eastern Niagara Chamber of Commerce including, member of the retention committee, member of the membership committee, chairman of the Government Affairs Committee, chairman of the Marketing Committee, Secretary, and Chairman of the Board of Directors. In 2000-2001 Marc served as the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce Consolidation Task Force. This group successfully completed the consolidation of the Eastern Niagara Chamber, Niagara Falls Area Chamber and the Niagara Business Alliance into one dynamic organization. The consolidation, which was suggested twenty years ago was now able to be successfully completed to create the areas third largest Chamber of Commerce.
Lockport Community Television: Government Committee - Marc has served as a member of the LCTV government committee from 1994 to 2002. This committee is charged with the duty to bring government activities across the local cable airways to keep our electorate informed. LCTV is one of the "gems" of our community. Only a small handful of communities across our great country have the facilities, and opportunities we have through this great organization. I urge anyone interested in local television to give LCTV a call at 716-434-1733. In January 2003 Marc was appointed to become the Chairman of the Lockport Cable Commission. This organization oversees the City and Town of Lockport Cable Franchise and has the primary responsibility to negotiate the franchise renewal with Adelphia Communication.
Lockport Business Association - In the spring of 2001 Marc was approached to lead the then Lockport City Business Association. With approximately 30 members and a growing community need to increase public events, Marc was charged with starting a free summer concert series. Together with the Association members this past summer Marc was able to finance and host three free summer concerts, three Jazz in the City Concerts, two Family Movie Nights, A Taste of Lockport Event, and the Light Up Lockport Festival. These family events turned out large crowds from across our region. In 2002 the organization changed its name to the Lockport Business Association and grew it membership ranks to 75. The Taste of Lockport was our premier event for 2002 with several thousand participants. Our vendors were overrun with gastronomical patrons, which then spilled out across the area to fill nearly all the local restaurants. What a wild ride!
In September 2002 the Lockport Business Association was told by our legal council that to become a 501c3 tax exempt organization we would need to pay council approximately $2000 to process the paperwork without guarantee of positive results in achieving this important Federal tax exempt status. Marc was able to successfully process the application without cost to the organization and in April 2003 the Lockport Business Association was approved for the 501c3 Federal tax exemption.
Grant Authoring - Over the past five years Marc has also become a successful grants writer in his own write. He was able to secure two separate grants on behalf of the Lockport Architectural and Historic Preservation Committee. He is most proud of the grant the group received to complete the Adaptive Reuse Study for the Richmond Avenue Project. Only through careful planning were we able to avoid the mistakes from our past. In the past two years Marc successfully authored several grants on behalf of the Lockport Business Associations for its scheduled events and for the Light Up Lockport Committee. Overall Marc has successfully secured over $30,000 in grants for the organizations he has supported.
Other Community Affiliations - He served as the Co-Chairman of the Lockport Architectural & Historic Preservation Committee from 1997-2000. He as been a member of the City of Lockport Bed Tax Committee since 1999. He served as the President of the Lockport Business Association in 2001-02. He has been a member of the Light Up Lockport Committee since 2001. He has been a member of the Monday Cruise Night Committee since 2001. He served as the treasurer of Cub Scout Pack #4 in 2001-02. He is currently an assistant troop master for Boy Scouts Troop #4 He is a member of the St. Johns Catholic Church Choir
Awards - Business First 40 under 40 award 1999 Eastern Niagara Chamber of Commerce Chairman's Award 2001 Lockport Business Association Business of the Year 2002 Niagara USA Chamber Business Person of the Year 2003 NYS Independent Insurance Agents Association Community Service Award 2003 City of Lockport Republican Committee - Republican of the Year 2003
Family - Marc and his wife Christina live in Lockport with their two sons Stephen and Ian. We love Lockport! The family attends St. Johns Church.
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