Bios

Ben earned a Bachelor of Science in business administration degree from the University of Arkansas in 1971 before returning to the family businesses of insurance, banking and agriculture. He has served on the board of directors of Southern Pioneer Property & Casualty Insurance Company since its incorporation in 1981, and was named its president in 1984.

Hal obtained his business administration degree in 1977 from the University of Arkansas. In 1980 he received his master’s degree in business administration from Southern Methodist University. He has been involved in the management of Southern Pioneer and been a member of the board of directors since 1981.

Brian received a B.S.B.A. in accounting from the University of Arkansas in 1995, a J.D. from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 1998, and an LL.M. in taxation from New York University in 2004.  Brian has served in a management role as the secretary and treasurer and member of the board of directors of Southern Pioneer Property & Casualty Insurance Company since 2008.

Hunter graduated from Vanderbilt University in 2007 with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy. In 2009 Hunter graduated from The Guildhall at Southern Methodist University, and then worked as a producer at id Software for two years. Hunter has worked at Southern Pioneer since 2012. He currently manages the company's InsuranceNow implementation.

David earned his Bachelor’s of Business Administration degree in Risk Management and Insurance from Georgia State University. He then went on to obtain his Master’s of Business Administration degree with a concentration in Finance from Georgia State University. David is a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) candidate, and has over 20 years of insurance industry experience.

Rob is the Vice President of the Southern Pioneer claims department. In his role, he has oversight for all claim operations. Rob has 29 years of claims experience and held various claim leadership positions with The Hartford for 17 years before coming to Southern Pioneer. He graduated with a B.S. in business administration and holds several industry designations such as Senior Claims Law Associate (SCLA) and Associate in Claims (AIC). Rob is a member of the Claims & Litigation Management Alliance and participates in the Claims Committee for Property & Casualty Insurers Association of America.

Eric started his interest in computers, programming games for his own entertainment, in 9th grade on the Commodore-64. In 1994, he graduated with two degrees from Belhaven University in Computer Science and Psychology. After college, he started a 16 year career in software development for the insurance and banking industries. He was instrumental in development, team management and promotion of policy administration and claim adjudication systems for small to mid-range regional insurance carriers. In 2010, he moved into the business side of insurance to oversee the IT department for Southern Pioneer.

Anthony graduated in 1982 with a B.S.B.A. in marketing from Henderson State University. He has worked for Southern Pioneer since May of 1984. Anthony is currently the commercial lines product manager and oversees the financial institutions products division. He enjoys spending time outdoors and fly fishing on the White River in Northern Arkansas.

Chandra received her Bachelor's in Accounting in 2006 and her Master's in Accounting in 2007 from Arkansas State University. She obtained her CPA license in 2011 and has over 10 years of accounting experience in the insurance industry. She joined Southern Pioneer in 2021. 

Angie graduated from Middle Tennessee State University in 1993 with a Bachelor's degree in Marketing and currently holds CIC, AIS, and AINS designations. She has 30 years of experience in the insurance industry specializing in property and casualty sales management with an emphasis on growth and profit. Angie joined Southern Pioneer Insurance in November of 2022 as the Vice President of Marketing. She brings to our team her sales, marketing, and management expertise from a national insurance carrier and most recently a regional insurance company. In her free time Angie enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, reading, gardening, and boating on the Tennessee River.

In 1993, Marilyn started her insurance career in Nashville, Tennessee, handling all direct and agency-billed accounts, premium refunds, agency commissions and shareholder dividends, eventually progressing to a management position overseeing the company’s local branch. Marilyn came to Southern Pioneer in 2003 and played an important role in the development of the company’s personal lines division.  She currently serves as personal lines division manager and has oversight of the underwriting and policy service branch located in Lawrenceburg,Tennessee. Outside of the office, Marilyn enjoys spending time with her two children and four grandchildren.

Amy graduated from Arkansas State University in 1996 with a Bachelor's degree in Marketing. She joined Southern Pioneer and began working in the Garage Liability department that same year. During her 27 years with Southern Pioneer, she has worked in roles of increasing responsibility. She is currently the Commercial Lines Product Manager. In addition to overseeing the Garage Liability products, she also manages the Dealer Bond and Liquor Liability products. 

Janet obtained her business degree from Arkansas State University in 1999. She was a member of the FBLA-ΦßΛ and placed first in computer applications at the state leadership conference and advanced to compete at the national conference. Janet began her career with Southern Pioneer in January of 2000 as a staff representative in the collateral protection department. Over the next eight years, Janet took every opportunity to learn each task associated with the product, and she became manager of the department in 2008. Janet is very proud of the staff and the work they do for the company. Prior to joining Southern Pioneer, Janet was co-owner and manager of LDC, LLC from 1997 to 2015. 

Sharon obtained her accounting degree from Lyon College with honors in 1994. She began as a staff accountant with Southern Pioneer in 1995, and was named Controller in 2013. Sharon enjoys all art forms especially theatre and writing.

Suzann joined Southern Pioneer in 2011 as Director of Agency Development for the state of Arkansas and part of western Tennessee. In addition to her marketing responsibilities, in October 2013, she was given a new role as Special Projects Coordinator. Prior to joining Southern Pioneer, Suzann worked in independent insurance agencies in northeast and central Arkansas. Starting in industry in 1993 as a personal lines customer service rep, she moved to the position of Vice President of Agency Operations manager in 2002. Suzann became a Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) in 2001. In 2009 she was honored by the Independent Insurance Agents of Arkansas by being named “Insurance Woman of the Year”.

Tim began his sales career in 1986 after serving six years in the US Army. He joined Southern Pioneer in 2007 as a territory manager in Arkansas working with banks, independent insurance agents and automobile dealers. Tim enjoys travel and spending time with his family.

Ron graduated from Missouri State University with a degree in Business Administration. He is an Eagle Scout and attended two National Jamborees and Philmont Scout Ranch. Ron entered the Insurance industry in 1989 and has served as a P&C Field Claims Adjuster, Marketing Supervisor, Director of Sales, P&C/L&H Agent, Sr. Sales Manager, Commercial Field Underwriter, and currently as Territory Manager for Missouri. He has attained the CIC, CRM, CSRM, CPIA, and CLCS designations. Ron was named Company Representative of the Year by the Missouri Association of Insurance Agents (MAIA) in 1995 and again in 2010. The PIA of Arkansas named him Marketing Representative of the Year in 2013. He joined Southern Pioneer in 2017 as the Company’s first Sales Manager for Missouri. Ron and his wife Joan enjoy traveling and spending time with their grandchildren. He also enjoys camping, boating, snow skiing and playing basketball.

John graduated in 1985 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from The University of Tennessee. He has worked for Southern Pioneer for ten years and in the insurance industry for 30 years. John is currently the Territory Manager for the state of Tennessee. He enjoys spending time with family and playing a little golf.