Andrew Belcher

Prior to joining our team, Andrew worked through high school and college at his family’s trophy business. Under the guidance of his father and grandmother, he “cut his teeth” on business 101, but decided in the end to pursue a career in insurance and build his own name. Upon receiving his Bachelor’s Degree in Finance and Risk Management from Virginia Commonwealth University, Andrew joined Continental Underwriters, Inc. as an Assistant Underwriter. Andrew has quickly become one of the best underwriters out there and has been promoted several times, now holding a role as Production Underwriting Team Leader. Andrew sees an insured’s risk and their exposures as more than what is submitted on a piece of paper. He sees how a company runs, how it grows, and what it needs to be properly protected. He learns each business and works hard to build an insurance program around the specific needs of that business and those it employs. Andrew brings a young, fresh mind to our underwriting team and an eagerness to win that we all feed off of on a daily basis! He challenges us all to work harder and smarter to ensure we are the best in the industry. Andrew is currently pursuing his Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation, and continues to learn hands-on as every day and every account we see is unique!

In his spare time, Andrew lives for anything to do with sports, competition, being outdoors, and traveling with his wife and young daughter.

Melissa Berry

Melissa grew up in Rockingham County, VA and moved to Richmond, VA with $20 in her pocket and a dream of success. In 2007, she started her insurance career at a local insurance agency where she held the roles of Technical Assistant and Assistant Underwriter. As most in the industry know, when the Insurance bug bites, it doesn’t let go! In 2011, she received the offer of a lifetime – a chance to work for a company with an amazing culture and mentors to help guide her to achieve that dream she moved to the big city for! Melissa’s new role ended up transitioning away from underwriting and toward an administrative and support role, which she came to realize was her area of excellence. She continued this role through the creation of Continental Underwriters, Inc. in early 2013. Melissa was, and continues to be, a cheerleader for every member of the Continental Underwriters team. She is passionate about what we do and the industry we serve, and has played an integral role in the growth and success of Continental Underwriters over the years. With the growth of the company, new opportunities have emerged and Melissa has taken over a new role of Marketing Coordinator. Her passion, caring, strong work ethic, and constant desire to improve make her the perfect fit for the role of leading our marketing, social media, events and design. Afterall, who better to promote our business than someone who jokes that she bleeds Continental green?!

Melissa now resides in Mechanicsville, Virginia, with her husband and daughter. Her daughter loves to visit the office from time to time to say hi and make everyone smile with the electric personality she gets from her mom. In their free time, Melissa and her family often visit her family in Harrisonburg, and cheer on their local college team, the James Madison University Dukes! Go Dukes!

Corey Bounds

Corey grew up working in his family farm supply business where he learned that hard work is a way of life. He graduated from Mississippi State University in 2002 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management, and started his career in the insurance industry. Since then, the entirety of Corey’s experience has been dedicated to risk assessment and loss prevention specific to the forest products industry, starting at Lumbermen’s Underwriting Alliance in 2002 where he was a Loss Prevention Representative. Five years later, Corey was promoted to Loss Prevention Manager and four years after that to Regional Loss Prevention Manager for the Eastern United States. Corey’s fast rise is a reflection of his strong work ethic, his desire for success, and his dedication to his team and his customers. Corey has visited hundreds of mills across the United States since starting his career, and has seen first-hand the risks inherently present in the forest products industry. He has developed a natural ability to analyze and understand risk and risk exposures for small milling operations all the way up to large, complex milling facilities. Not only does Corey work with and assist our insureds to help them run a safe and profitable business, but he also trains and educates our underwriters to ensure they understand the unique aspects of each operation we work with. Corey is indispensable to both the Continental Underwriters team and to our customers!

Corey resides in Mississippi with his wife and three children, where they enjoy spending time together camping, canoeing, playing baseball and softball, and showing livestock. Corey is also actively involved in his community and church.

Olivia Guthrow

Olivia recently graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) with a degree in Risk Management and Insurance. She served as President of the VCU chapter of Gamma Iota Sigma, the International Risk Management, Insurance, and Actuarial Science fraternity. She joined the Continental Underwriters team in September 2016 as a Risk Assessment Assistant. Olivia immediately impressed us with her desire to learn, her strong work ethic, and her attention to detail. Upon graduation, she joined the CU team full-time as an Underwriting Analyst. We work hard to keep up with her appetite to learn and her desire to expand her knowledge of the insurance industry! She is up for any task and always works hard to get it done quickly and accurately. In her free time, Olivia is an active hiker and kayaker, and enjoys being outdoors. Olivia’s opportunities within the industry and at Continental Underwriters are endless. She will be a force to be reckoned with in the coming years!

Cathy Henley

Cathy graduated from the College of William and Mary in 1984 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting. From there, she started her career as a Certified Public Accountant and now has over 30 years of experience assisting clients with their audit, accounting, and tax needs, including 15 of those years as a public accounting firm shareholder. Cathy joined the Continental Underwriters team in 2015 as our Financial Director and has been managing our dollars and cents ever since! She is meticulous and thorough, always striving for perfection in her numbers. She is also a great resource for our underwriters and even our customers; always happy to share her knowledge.

Cathy has lived in the Richmond area most of her life, and currently lives in Hanover with her husband and teenage son. In her free time, Cathy enjoys reading, gardening, and spending time with friends and family on the water!

Amanda Huang

The entirety of Amanda Huang’s experience in the insurance industry has been spent serving the forest products niche. After graduating from James Madison University in 2005 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology, Amanda started her insurance career at a Managing General Agency and Wholesaler specializing in the forest products industry. Amanda held various positions starting as a front desk assistant, moving to underwriting, and eventually taking on a dual underwriting and operations role. With the formation of Continental Underwriters, Inc. in early 2013, Amanda’s career continued to shift toward operations. Since that time, Amanda has worked tirelessly to build a strong foundation for the company to grow. From building agency management systems, to developing our internal goals and initiatives, to assembling a dream team of individuals to make it all work, Amanda’s main focus is on the achievement of Continental Underwriters’ short and long-term growth strategies. Even with that broad focus, you can still find Amanda involved in much of the day to day underwriting. Her experience and attention to detail make her a key resource for all of our underwriters, and staying involved in the day-to-day underwriting helps her to make informed decisions for the company as a whole.

When away from the office, you can find Amanda spending time with her husband and chasing around her young son and daughter. In her free time, Amanda enjoys reading, watching movies, cooking, and traveling with her family. Nothing beats cheering on her James Madison University Dukes, though. Go Dukes!

C. Preston Herrington, III

Preston has over 25 years of experience in the insurance industry and over 20 years specific to the forest products insurance segment. By building and maintaining relationships with industry leaders and mentoring future leaders, Preston has enjoyed a successful career.

The cornerstone of his success, competitive nature and ability to get the job done, regardless of the circumstances, comes from the 5 years he spent in the Navy, 3 of which as a U.S. Navy SEAL. After defending his country, Preston worked for various insurance companies in an underwriting capacity. In 1996, he decided to leave the large company arena and join a small agency where he spent 17 years as a Managing General Agent and Wholesaler specializing in forest products insurance. In 2013, Preston and his team created Continental Underwriters, Inc. and as they say, the rest is history!

Preston’s experience in the forest products insurance industry and his focus on his employees and customers has created a winning team with passion and commitment to be “The National Solution to Your Local Risk.” While much of his time is now dedicated to the strategy and growth of Continental Underwriters, Inc., he still thrives on getting involved with underwriters, agents, and insureds to provide the best products and services possible. It is not uncommon to find him involved in the insurance placement of a complex risk, working with adjusters on a large claim, or even sitting at the desk with a young underwriter sharing his knowledge and expertise. Preston’s passion is helping people and solving problems, and that is exactly what he does every day!

As a native of Louisiana, Preston is interested in all things associated with the outdoors. When not at his second home on the Chesapeake Bay, or chasing around his three children and spending time with his wife of over 15 years, he can be found in a deer stand, duck blind, on a golf course, in a boat, or behind the wheel of an antique car. Preston also has a passion for cooking and is known to cook a mean pot of gumbo! Having lived in Richmond, Virginia for over 20 years, Preston is also active in various social and civic organizations, and enjoys staying connected to the local community.

E. Taylor Overton, III

Taylor has spent the last four years as a Remodeling Carpenter, using the very products we support. From kitchen remodels to additions, and everything in between, Taylor developed an eye for detail, and an appreciation for a hard day’s work. His love for the outdoors and working with his hands makes him an outstanding fit for Continental Underwriters Loss Control Department. In 2017, he returned to Virginia Commonwealth University to obtain his Bachelors of Finance: Risk Management and Insurance Degree. Taylor is training with Corey Bounds to develop his Risk Assessment skills, and build a platform of knowledge to be a strong advocate for our customers.

Taylor grew up in Tidewater, Virginia and is very familiar with the Blue Ridge Mountains, and the forests that make them so wonderful. He is an Eagle Scout, and enjoys traveling. As an adult, he has traded his backpack for a motorcycle, and travels the country each summer. His goal is to traverse the Trans Continental Trail by the age of 40. Taylor married his college sweetheart of 8 years in 2018. The two of them enjoy live music, cooking out, and spending time with family. They have two giant dogs, Slingshot and Layla.

Amanda Jessen

Amanda is the epitome of hard work and determination. She supported herself throughout her college career attending classes full-time and working nearly full-time. She graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in 2017 with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a minor in business. During her time at VCU, Amanda was an active member of Gamma Iota Sigma, the International Risk Management, Insurance, and Actuarial Science fraternity. As a reflection of her commitment to her community and helping others, during her last year at VCU, Amanda was elected to be Head of Community Service for Gamma. Amanda became a member of the Continental Underwriter’s team in March 2016 as an Administrative Assistant, and joined full-time in May 2017 as our Administrative Coordinator. Amanda works hard every day to make the Continental Underwriters experience as simple, efficient, and as rewarding as possible for her teammates and for our customers. Her service mentality comes through strong on a daily basis when you can find her jumping from desk to desk helping make everyone’s job easier!

Amanda has moved around most of her life and has been in Richmond, VA since 2013. She is active in her community, serving on the Board of Advisors for Sails Angels. After a long day, you can find her in the kitchen trying new recipes, from cooking soup from scratch to her “taking over the world” double chocolate chip cookies.

Carmen Justice

Carmen recently graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) with a degree in Risk Management and Insurance. While at VCU, Carmen was an active member of Gamma Iota Sigma, the International Risk Management, Insurance, and Actuarial Science Fraternity. In addition to a full course load and GIS activities, she worked full-time as a restaurant manager and interned at a local insurance agency that specialized in insurance for tow-truck operations. It’s easy to see why her peers describe her as being a highly motivated person who is determined to achieve her goals no matter what it takes! Carmen enjoyed learning about the transportation industry and the risks associated with it so when she joined the Transportation Team at Continental Underwriters, she felt right at home! We are lucky to have such a self-motivated and hard working person on our team!

Glen Allen, VA is home to Carmen as she has lived there all of her life. During her free time, you can catch her spending time with her family and friends. Carmen enjoys playing basketball, longboarding, drawing, and going to the beach when she is not working.

Bernie Kurtzweil

Bernie is a 30 year veteran of the Property/Casualty Insurance industry. He is a Chartered Property & Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) and has earned his Associate in Risk Management and Associate in Reinsurance designations, along with the Lean Six Sigma Greenbelt certification. Throughout his career, Bernie has worked at several top-notch insurance companies and managing general agencies. Bernie has experience underwriting diverse lines of coverage and even led the implementation and launch of the first ever Cyber Liability product! His insurance career brought him to forest products in the early 2000’s when he became the Program Manager for one of the leading providers of insurance for the forest products industry. Of course, Bernie’s hands-on experience in the industry came much earlier. Bernie’s first exposure to forest products came at age 7 when he began working with his father’s logging operation in Wisconsin. He continued this for 16 years until he earned degrees in Finance and Economics from the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse. Bernie’s combination of real world and insurance experience is rare and offers the foundation for bringing together practical solutions for complex problems. His perspective allows us to see the big picture and the smallest of details when creating comprehensive asset protection strategies for our customers. At Continental Underwriters, Bernie enjoys being able to share his knowledge and experience in finding new opportunities, solving challenges, and making the full circle back to the wood products industry that began for him over 46 years ago.

His wife of over 20 years and two daughters spend as much time outdoors as possible. If not at their mountain retreat, you can find them at home in Ashland, VA.

ANDREA MORRISON

Andrea came to Continental Underwriters, Inc. with over 9 years of experience in the insurance industry, most of which were spent handling claims. She joined our team in February of 2019 and has been a great addition already! She is passionate about helping others, eager to develop her career and expand her knowledge of our forest products niche, and excited to provide superior service to our clients, agents, and carrier partners.

Andrea recently relocated to Richmond, VA and in her spare time enjoys exploring all that the Richmond area has to offer. When she’s not at the office, you will find her spending time with her family, visiting local wineries, or traveling. She loves relaxing by the water and takes any opportunity she can to make a trip to the beach with her family and her silver Labrador Retriever, Beck.

Rebecca Perkins

Rebecca joined our team in June 2018. She is a December 2011 graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Risk and Insurance program. She began her insurance career in 2012 writing excess liability policies for an Excess and Surplus carrier. For a short time, Rebecca was also a personal lines agent near her hometown where she was able to expand her knowledge of homeowners, auto, and life insurance.  Rebecca joined Continental Underwriters, Inc. as an Underwriting Analyst after searching for a new and challenging niche in the commercial insurance space. She is currently pursuing her Charted Property and Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation through the President’s CPCU Scholarship and is excited to navigate her way through the wood products industry. Rebecca has already had a positive impact on the team, and we can’t wait to see what else is in store!

When Rebecca is not working, she enjoys spending time outdoors with her growing family. She was born, raised, and still resides in Dinwiddie, VA where she plans to raise her children with a deep appreciation for family and relaxed, country living.

Dale Schmincke

Dale graduated from Radford University in 1995 with a Business Degree in Operations Management. Shortly after graduation, he began his career in his hometown of Forest, Virginia working for a direct marketing company. Within a few years, Dale was eager to accept an opportunity to move to Richmond, and expand his career working for a young and exciting marketing agency. For the next 7 years, Dale worked with companies to grow their customer base through the successful development & implementation of direct marketing campaigns. In 2006, Dale helped start Venture Specialty Insurance (VSI), and used his marketing experience to target specialty niche markets within the insurance industry. Within a few years, VSI grew into a top retail agency in the commercial auto industry, and Dale came to love the insurance industry, the competitive nature involved in the development and selling of new products, and the joy of building partnerships he formed with insurance carriers. In 2014, a unique opportunity to create a Transportation division with a focus on the specialty niche of wood haulers and logging companies emerged. Dale joined the Continental Underwriters team and has managed the development and steady growth of these two product lines ever since. Dale knows the industry and, most importantly, knows the people within the industry. He knows and understands what business and agency owners are experiencing and makes it a priority to work with them and our carrier partners to put together comprehensive and competitive insurance programs for our customers. Dale will bend over backwards for our customers to make sure they get what they need each and every time in order to run a successful and profitable business.

When not at work, you will find Dale with his wife and daughter. Whether coaching soccer, visiting family and friends at Smith Mountain Lake during the summers, or skiing during the winters; the weekends are spent with his two favorite girls.

Kristie Smith

Kristie Smith graduated from Old Dominion University in 2012 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management. After beginning her insurance career in Worker’s Compensation claims, she decided to make a change and pursue a career in underwriting. Kristie joined Continental Underwriters as an Assistant Underwriter in 2014 and was quickly promoted to Underwriting Analyst Team Lead in 2016. Kristie is a quiet leader who showcases her skills in her work product and challenges her team to always provide superior service to their customers. Kristie is a master organizer and uses these skills to help her team stay on top of their daily tasks and long-term goals. Kristie takes every challenge head-on and will not stop until she finds the most comprehensive and competitive insurance solutions for her customers. Kristie continues to expand her knowledge and further her education by learning hands-on from her Continental Underwriter’s teammates, and by going back to the classroom to obtain insurance industry designations. Kristie is currently working toward her Associate in General Insurance (AINS) and Associate in Commercial Underwriting (AU) designations, and looks forward to continuing to sharpen her underwriting skills as her career progresses

In her spare time, Kristie enjoys going to the beach as much as possible, spending time with her Chihuahua Jaxon, and hanging out with friends and family.

Woody Stanchina

Woody graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in December 2016 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Risk Management and Insurance. During his time at VCU, Woody was involved in Gamma Iota Sigma, the International Risk Management, Insurance, and Actuarial Science fraternity, and was elected Vice President of the fraternity his senior year. Woody joined the Continental Underwriters team in 2015 as a Risk Assessment Intern while he was still a student at VCU. His strong work ethic and drive for success fit right in with our team and made it an easy decision for him to join the Forest Products/Manufacturing team as a Production Underwriter upon graduation. Woody continues to drive for success and push us all to be better every day. He is eager to learn and build relationships throughout the industry, and is always up for the next challenge! Woody is a great advocate for his customers and is always willing to take the time to get the job done right. He is a rising star at Continental Underwriters and within the insurance industry. We are lucky to have him on board and look forward to watching him achieve great success!

Woody has lived in Richmond, VA his entire life. When not at work, Woody loves sports and the outdoors. He can typically be found in the mountains fly-fishing or skiing, in a duck blind, on the golf course, or watching his beloved Alabama Crimson Tide on the football field. When it comes down to it, the most important things to him are spending time with his friends and family.

Christian Towler

Christian began his insurance career in 2010 working with customers to fulfill their personal insurance needs such as renters, personal auto, and homeowners coverage. In late 2011, he moved on to work for a local wholesale brokerage firm beginning in policy and endorsement issuance and was quickly promoted to Assistant Underwriter. In pursuit of a new challenge and a niche product he could really sink his teeth into, Christian joined Continental Underwriters in 2014 as an Assistant Underwriter and has since become an integral part of our Logging and Transportation Team. In a short time, Christian has helped grow his team to serve a large and diverse customer base. From the small, family owned logging business in rural Tennessee to the 150 unit trucking operation out of North Carolina. Christian works hard to place comprehensive coverage for unique and tough to underwrite risks, while building relationships with retail agents from across the United States. Christian is always looking for ways to offer a helping hand to his teammates and to his customers, and continues to pursue educational opportunities to expand his knowledge of insurance and business in general.

When Christian is not working, he spends as much time as possible with his growing family. When he has free time, you can guarantee he is on a boat somewhere, rain or shine. Christian is a very passionate outdoorsmen and strongly believes in introducing the younger generation to the outdoors.