TIM BUREN
Founder/President
Tim Buren is a dynamic leader with a strong reputation within the insurance industry. He is an entrepreneur who has started two companies and is well-respected and well-connected among property, casualty, and life insurance carriers. Tim has a keen understanding of the relationship between insurance carriers and their independent agents.
He is known for his ability to grow companies and his strength in leading people. Tim has a reputation for effectiveness as a business operator and as an ambassador within the independent insurance agency industry. His functional expertise is in finance as well as B2B and B2C sales and marketing.
Tim is a respected member of a college board of directors and several insurance industry boards of advisors. In the boardroom, he is known for his collaborative decision-making style, his dedication to board work, his knowledge of the insurance industry, and his ability to ask thoughtful questions. He brings to boards an astute understanding of company risk management strategies and tactical implementation.
Tim is currently President and Chairman of the Board of Secured Advantage, Inc. – a company that he founded in 2014. Secured Advantage is a regional network of over eighty-five independent insurance agencies that collectively represent over $250 million of annual property-casualty premiums. Tim started and built this alliance that pools resources, expands the operating skills of independent member agencies, and improves relationships with insurance carriers.
Tim is also currently the Chairman of the Board of The Buren Insurance Group Inc, an independent property, casualty, life, and health insurance agency. He put a succession plan in place and then stepped down as president of Buren in 2014 to devote his energies to Secured Advantage. While serving as Buren’s president, Tim led the growth of the company from $6 million to over $25 million in fourteen years. He built a high-performing team, nurtured relationships with customers, staff, and insurance carriers, and created significant organic growth. He also led the acquisitions – and successful integrations - of twelve independent insurance agencies.
Tim presently sits on the Board of Trustees of Wilmington College in Wilmington, OH., and has earned the Professional Director certification from the American College of Corporate Directors – ACCD. Over time, he has been an active member of four different Advisory Boards of property, casualty, and life insurance companies – two of which have annual premiums of more than a billion dollars.
Tim earned a BA in Business Administration from Wilmington College. He is also a CIC, Certified Insurance Counselor, and holds a certificate from the College of Financial Planning. He lives with his family in Galena, Ohio.
- Phone:614-456-7623
- Email:Tim.buren@secured-advantage.com
JOE NJERU
Director of Business Development
Joe Njeru began his Insurance career as a Sales Specialist at American Family Insurance after graduating from Wilmington College with a BA in Business Administration in the spring of 2016. Joe hails from Nairobi, Kenya where he lived for 17 years before coming to Columbus. In Kenya he looked up to his uncle who is a successful businessman in the banking and insurance field, and Joe has tried to follow in his footsteps
In the sales specialist role, Joe enriched his skills of understanding his customer by listening to and evaluating their needs to suggest the right policies that fit their needs. Leveraging his degree from Wilmington, as well as the experience he picked up from several different organizations he was a part of, the transition into this position was seamless as he grew the agency's book of business as well as his network base
Joe worked for Fifth Third Bank as a banker where he relied on the resources made available by the bank to assist his customers achieve their goals. This was a role where Joe worked hand in hand with clients to gain a deeper understanding of a diverse client base and meet their needs. Prior to his 2 nd stent at Secured Advantage, Joe worked for one of our core carriers- Encova Insurance where he worked to lay the groundwork for a top initiative with the company.
Joe is developing the Insurance Risk and Management Academy (IRMA) at Ohio Dominican University. His main responsibility for the position is to build a healthy and sustaining perpetuation route for the independent insurance industry
Joe resides in Columbus, Ohio with his wife Ellen.
- Phone:614-456-7623
- Email:Joe.njeru@secured-advantage.com
MIKE MANNING
Service Center Manager
Mike began his career in 1982 with Motorists Mutual Insurance Company after graduating from Franklin University with a BA in Business Administration.
Over the past 38 years he has held positions as a claim's adjuster, personal lines underwriter and independent agent. While working for Motorists he attended the International Estimators Academy in Gettysburg PA obtaining a certificate in Auto Physical Damage estimating and the Celina Training Center for auto material damage and dwelling construction estimates.
Starting in 1988 he worked for the Jennings –Meredith-Tullis Insurance Agency in Westerville Ohio representing Motorists, Auto Owners, American States and Progressive Insurance companies.
In 1995 he returned to Motorists as a Personal Lines Underwriter handling the states of Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. In the past 12 years he developed a $1.4 million book of personal lines business while managing the Associate Insurance Program at Motorists Mutual and servicing the Home Office accounts with primary responsibilities of selling to and servicing Motorists associates, retirees and their board of directors. He continues to manage these accounts through Secure Advantage’s Encova Customer Care Center at Ohio Dominican University and is licensed to write business in five states including Ohio.
Mike resides in Columbus, Ohio with his wife Georgene
- Phone:614-225-8495 x2