Seattle’s Mark Balcos, of Balcos Insurance, inc. was named the 2010 Agent of the Year by the Professional Insurance Agents of Washington/Alaska (PIA) during their Annual Conference & Trade Show, June 6th - 8th, 2010.

About 200 people attended the PIA’s award ceremony luncheon held at Campbell’s Resort in Lake Chelan, Washington. The enthusiasm in the room toward, as one member said, an agent that “is always going in the right direction,” could be felt as Balcos accepted the award. Balcos had served the PIA in a variety of ways over the years, including serving on the board and holding the position of PIA President from 2008-2009, and was “deeply humbled and honored” by the Agent of the Year award.

Dave Babbitt, President of the PIA, gave this honor to Mark Balcos for 2010, introducing him to the audience as an “amazing person,” and a “great leader.” Additionally, Babbitt went on to say,

"The Agent of the Year Award is the PIA’s way of recognizing a special individual whose accomplishments exemplify the best qualities an independent insurance agent can possess: integrity, dedication and commitment to the members and goals of the PIA. Mark Balcos exemplifies all of those attributes and more. He served on our board of directors for a long time and served as president of the association. It is our hope that we can soon find other ways to use his amazing talents for the benefit of the independent insurance agents of Washington (Dave Babbitt, President of PIA Washington/Alaska)."

Though honored to have received the 2010 Agent of the Year Award, Balcos said he couldn’t take all the credit. Thanking his employees, he said, “I couldn’t have done it without you.”

The PIA Washington/Alaska is a trade association representing member insurance agents and their employees who sell and service all kinds of insurance, but specialize in coverage of automobiles, homes and businesses. PIA members are Local Agents Serving Main Street America.