About Us
Our company
We formed UPG because we think the traditional GA model is broken.
We believe that all broker partners are not created equal, so our level of services and tools are tiered based upon a broker's level of production and involvement with UPG.
Mission
Our mission is to revolutionize what brokers expect from a General Agency.
We provide our broker partners with more than just quotes and claims support. We're delivering concierge level support, along with the technology needed to keep up in a fast paced world.
Our Team
Innovating the General Agency model can't be done without a great team.
We pride ourselves most on our people. Our staff averages over ten years of experience in Group and Individual Benefits. We believe in providing specialized, personalized service and the best technical minds in the industry.
Our Team
Jason Newman
President
Jason started in the insurance business with a life insurance agency in Charlotte two weeks after graduating from Appalachian State with a degree in Finance. He excelled at employee benefits and quickly grew a block of business the old fashioned way – knocking on doors and dialing for dollars. After three and a half years, he took a job with a national general agency and moved to Charleston, SC to run its office there. Seventeen years later, he left the agency to form United Producers Group.
Jason is married to his wonderful (and very understanding) wife Kristen, and they have two children, Byers and Georgia Grace. In his spare time, Jason enjoys being on the water, coaching his kids’ sports teams, spending time at his family’s farm in NC, and serving on several insurance company advisory councils.
Lee Howard
Vice President of Sales
Lee began his insurance career in 1999 at a large national general agency. With over sixteen years of experience helping his clients, he left the agency in 2015 to become a founding member of United Producers Group.
Lee attended Georgia Southern University and now lives in Mount Pleasant, SC with his wife Katie and their sons, Trey and Graham. He helps coach his sons’ sports teams and hikes, golfs, and plays volleyball whenever he’s not in the office. Lee also participates in professional associations, serving as President of the Lowcountry Association of Health Underwriters and winning their Distinguished Service Award in 2005. He would later serve as the Treasurer for the South Carolina Association of Health Underwriters from 2014-2016.
Stephen Osborne
Vice President of Sales
Stephen is a proud graduate of College of Charleston. Days after commencement, a family friend introduced him to Jason and shortly after, Stephen began his career in the benefits industry. After a decade gaining experience at a national general agency, Stephen joined Jason and Lee to form United Producers Group.
Stephen is married to his wonderful wife Grace and the couple live in Mt. Pleasant with their golden retriever, Hadley. Stephen enjoys playing golf and watching most sporting events whenever he gets a chance.
McClain Goodwin
Vice President of Sales
McClain graduated Wofford College in 2004 and spent four years with Aetna Voluntary learning the voluntary business before meeting Jason. He spent the next three years with Jason, Stephen, and Lee before getting the opportunity to develop the Charlotte market for Allstate Benefits. McClain joined United Producers Group in April of 2017 and now enriches the team by sharing his decade of industry experience in account management, product development, and sales in the Limited Medical, Major Medical and Worksite worlds.
McClain resides in Charlotte, NC with his understanding wife, Talah, three beautiful and crazy girls, Addison, Charlotte, Ellie and his loyal springer spaniel, Bogey.
Jon Bailey
Vice President of Sales, Georgia
Jon graduated Vanderbilt University in 2006. He is an Atlanta native who began his insurance career in 2008 with Lincoln Financial Group in Atlanta covering 3 states. He developed a reputation for building strong relationships with his broker partners providing group insurance solutions with Lincoln’s suite of core ancillary and voluntary products. In 2016, he joined a large independent insurance agency as an employee benefits consultant. After a few years on the retail brokerage side, Jon met Jason and jumped at the opportunity to open an office for UPG in Atlanta. He has a deep understanding of group medical and ancillary insurance, underwriting, alternative funding strategies, benefit administration technology, and enrollment strategy. He has strong relationships on both the carrier and brokerage side and is excited to expand UPG’s presence in Georgia. Jon and his wife Rebecca live in Brookhaven, GA with their two sons James and Bennett.
Scott Neville
Director of Technology Applications
Scott graduated from Marist College in 2001 and spent years as a newspaper reporter, a promotion copywriter, and a book editor. His five years of experience at a Fortune 100 financial software company is helping the team to develop innovative technical solutions to improve each client’s experience. Originally from Connecticut, Scott and his wife, Caitlin, now live in Mount Pleasant with their son Grayson (and dog Fennec) and love to hit the beach and explore the Lowcountry.
Roger Garner
Director of Individual & Senior Markets
Roger began his insurance career in 2002 with BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina. During his 16 years with BCBS, he worked as a customer service representative, a COBRA administrator, and a retail sales manager and was a driving force behind opening the first BlueCross Retail Center in the state. Later, Roger became a regional marketing representative focused on Individual, Medical, and STH plans and responsible for sales, training, and compliance solutions for over 500 agents. Roger lives in the Charleston area with his fiancé Kristin and has three boys: Joseph, Nick, and Jacob. In his spare time, he enjoys cruising around in his Jeep, spending time in the Smoky Mountains, and golfing.
Tim Dasinger
Director of Individual & Senior Markets
Tim and his beautiful wife Jennifer reside in Summerville with their three wonderful daughters. He and his family enjoy boating, beaches, traveling, and soccer. Tim graduated from the University of South Carolina in 2003 and soon began a career in the insurance and financial services sector.
After discovering a passion for insurance products, he left his role as a Financial Advisor with a large firm to become an independent broker specializing in life, disability, and long-term care. In 2012 Tim took advantage of an opportunity with BlueChoice Health Plan as individual product sales rep and eventually as manager of Small Group and Individual Products. Most recently Tim served as the Director of Individual Products for the agency sales division at BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina. In this role Tim was responsible for developing the sales strategy for multiple individual products including ACA Under 65 Health, Medicare Supplement, Medicare Advantage, and short-term health plans. Tim is excited to be a part of the UPG team and is looking forward to expanding our individual product services and portfolio.
Stefan Alamia
Enrollment Specialist
Stefan graduated from St. Edward’s University in Austin, TX, in 2012 where he began his sales career in the in the IT and SaaS industry. He then relocated to Raleigh, NC as a field software executive overseeing the entire Southeast region. After spending many weekends on the beaches of Charleston, Stefan and his girlfriend decided to move there permanently where they later married. Stefan saw a great opportunity to utilize his customer service and sales abilities for United Producer’s Group, and joined the team in the fall of 2018. He lives in Mount Pleasant with his wife Coles and their Red Labrador, Samson.
Kassie Bennett
Account Executive
Kassie attended Queens College, where she majored in Elementary Education. She began her insurance career in 1997 and most recently worked at Allstate Benefits before joining United Producers Group. With over 20 years in the industry, Kassie has extensive product knowledge and understands the importance of providing excellent service to our clients.
Kassie and her husband Michael live in Charlotte, NC with their son Cole and two dogs Barkley and Zoey.
Melissa Forrester
RFP & Implementation Specialist
Melissa graduated from College of Charleston in 2008 with a degree in Business Administration. She met Jason in 2010 and she has since worked in the benefits industry; first for a large, national general agency and then for United Producers Group when it formed in 2015. Originally from Greenville, Melissa and her husband, Billy, now live in Simpsonville, SC with their two children, John and Evelyn. Melissa is a member of the Junior League of Greenville, is President-Elect of the upstate chapter of the College of Charleston Alumni Association, and volunteers for the Liturgical Arts Committee at Grace Covenant Presbyterian Church.
Brian Beattie
Sales Consultant
Brian grew up in South Florida and attended Florida State University, where he graduated in 2017 with a degree in Communication. After college, he moved to Atlanta and accepted a position at Aetna where he worked as a medical rep for 5 years. In those 5 years, Brian developed strong broker relationships and partnerships where he helped agents drive efficient, productive results and facilitated business growth. While working at Aetna, Brian noticed the positive impact UPG has had in Georgia and is excited to continue to build on an already well placed foundation. In 2022, Brian married his wife Emily and moved to Brookhaven, GA where they now live with their two dogs Beau and Louie.
Stacie Camp
Account Executive
Stacie has been in the insurance industry for over 20 years. Most of those years have been on the broker side and spent with a large national brokerage. She joined UPG in February 2022 to broaden her skills with a general agency. Her goal is to foster new opportunities by cultivating broker relationships and to ensure that our broker clients have the best experience possible.
Stacie is a graduate of the University of Georgia and lives for SEC football season. Outside of the office, she spends most of her free time making sure her daughter gets to and from dance classes six days a week.
Molly Dunn
Account Executive
Molly is a graduate of Meredith College with degrees in German and International Relations. After working in administration and graphic design, she found a new calling in employee benefits insurance. Assisting clients since 2017 has taught her that there is always something new to learn, and that there is rarely such thing as a dumb question.
Molly lives in Tryon, NC with her husband and sweet dog, Eli. She enjoys travel, gardening, collecting cookbooks, and all water activities – especially scuba diving and kayaking.
Daniel Cohn
Account Executive
Daniel was born and raised in Marietta, GA and graduated from the University of South Carolina with a degree in Marketing in 2022. He began his career in logistics before joining the UPG team in Charleston. Daniel will be in an account management role and is excited to grow in the employee benefits industry. Outside of the office, Daniel enjoys going to the beach, SEC football, and following Atlanta sports.
Christian Merrill
Sales Consultant
Christian, an Atlanta native, graduated from Georgia Southern University in 2020 with a degree in Finance. His insurance journey began in college working in personal line sales for State Farm on the P&C side. After meeting with Jason and Jon in 2021, he decided to make the switch to UPG and dive straight into the employee benefits industry. He is excited to grow the UPG presence throughout Georgia and continue to learn the ropes as a producer.
Christian currently lives in Vinings, where he enjoys playing golf, going to Braves games, and spending time with friends and family.
Bo Owens
Sales Consultant
Bo was born and raised in Charlotte, NC where he attended Myers Park High School. He started his degree at University of Alabama, then transferred and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a degree in Health Systems Management. Bo is an avid outdoorsman and enjoys hunting, fishing, and playing golf with his friends. You could catch Bo at a local live music event on the weekends.
Trey Goode
Account Executive
Trey is a native of the mountains in North Carolina and a graduate of UNC Charlotte. He began his career as a NASCAR pit crew member for various drivers, including Jeff Gordon. After completing his time in this industry, he felt called to move home where he would meet his wife, Katie. With a desire to raise children near the beach, this lead to them taking the opportunity to move to Charleston. Trey brings his background in Education and Account Management to the UPG team and is excited to continue growth in his career.
You’ll usually catch Trey running marathons, watching Georgia Bulldogs football, or grilling on his Big Green Egg.
Rebecca Duvall
Controller
Becca graduated in 2005 from College of Charleston with a degree in Business Administration. While attending College of Charleston and the MHA program at MUSC, she worked with Ameriprise Financial as an executive assistant. Upon receiving her MHA from MUSC, she began her career in 2007 at Benefitfocus Inc. working in the implementation department. During the winter of 2016, she joined United Producers Group. She is currently employed as the Controller and enjoys the detail-oriented work that the role requires. Outside of the office, Rebecca enjoys spending time with her husband and two beautiful girls.
Jaclyn Hargrove
Account Executive
Jaclyn is a graduate of the College of Charleston, where she majored in education. After spending time as an elementary school teacher, she moved on to become a buyer in the fashion industry before joining United Producers Group in 2015. As the leader of our account management team, Jaclyn is responsible for ensuring our clients receive timely and accurate responses to a variety of issues across the spectrum of our industry.
Jaclyn and her husband TAC live in Mt. Pleasant with their young daughter Sloane and English mastiff Mabel.
Kristina Galloway
Director of Client Services
Kristina was born and raised in Mount Pleasant, SC and loves all things Lowcountry—including fishing. Before joining United Producers Group, Kristina gained valuable experience as a worker’s compensation disability claims analyst for a firm located in Tampa, FL. In an effort to further her education and growth in our industry, Kristina has earned her life and health insurance license. Her diligence and customer service skills make her an important advocate for clients navigating an increasingly complex administrative environment.
Casey Hite
Benefits Technology Specialist
Casey has over six years of benefits administrative experience from running reports, to assisting escalated customers, to building platforms that employers can use for their benefit enrollments needs. Casey is flexible and willing to help anyone out. Before joining the UPG team, she worked as a Client Success Manager assisting in specialty clients.
When she’s not working, Casey resides in Summerville, SC with her three kids, fiancé, and two dogs.
Brooke Hugo
Client Advocate
Brooke graduated from Appalachian State University in 2021 with a degree in Healthcare Management and minor in Employee Benefits. After meeting Jason in 2021, she decided to make the move to Mount Pleasant to join UPG and learn the employee benefits industry from the ground up. Brooke currently lives on Daniel Island and enjoys going to the beach with her dog Phoebe and spending time with her family and friends.
Dory Ellerbe
Client Advocate
Dory was born and raised in Pawleys Island, SC. After getting certified in medical billing and coding, she worked in healthcare administration for four years before entering insurance with UPG in 2022. In her free time, she and her fiancé enjoy taking their two dogs on the boat in Murrells Inlet or to her hometown beach.
Jennifer Murray
Employee Benefits Senior Marketing Executive
Jennifer is the RFP and marketing specialist for UPG. As a graduate of UGA’s risk management and insurance program, she enjoyed working on the broker side before staying home to raise three daughters. During those busy years Jennifer became a proficient multi-tasker, adept at analyzing and adapting to ever-changing situations. She also created and chaired several community organizations and started a small business.
Now that her girls are (almost) grown, Jennifer couldn’t stay away from the insurance industry and was excited to join UPG in October 2021. Jennifer lives in Milton and loves to spend time with her husband and kids, garden, cook, and travel.
Anna Murray
Employee Benefits Marketing Executive
Anna graduated from Georgia College & State University in 2020 with a degree in psychology. After graduating, Anna moved to Nashville and worked in operations in the sports and entertainment industry, before joining the UPG team in August 2023. While Anna is new to insurance, she’s very excited to be a part of the team and have the opportunity to work alongside the awesome people in Atlanta.
In her free time, she enjoys spending time on the lake, going to Braves games, and traveling.
Lillie Anderson
Client Advocate
Lillie graduated from the University of South Carolina in 2020 with a degree in Criminal Justice, and currently resides in Greenville, SC. She has spent the last 4 years in the recruiting industry and looks forward to leveraging her experience in account management, business development, and using a client focused approach to make an impact at UPG. On the weekends, you can find her throwing the ball with her Golden Retriever, Walter, and spending time with friends.
Emily Porreca
Benefits Technology Specialist
Emily graduated from Georgia Southern University in 2012 with a degree in marketing. After graduating, Emily dove straight into the insurance industry. Before joining United Producers Group, Emily gained valuable experience as an account coordinator with a worksite carrier.
Emily and her husband, Andrew, currently reside in Woodstock, GA with their two young children, Wyatt and Lily. In Emily’s rare free time she enjoys crafting with cricut or sewing on her embroidery machine - because who doesn’t like a good monogram?!
Matt Feagin
Data Processing and Analytics
Matt studied at Clemson and College of Charleston, graduating with a Finance degree in 2016. After a short stint building his customer service skills as a courier and a professional chauffeur, Matt moved from the Myrtle Beach area to Mount Pleasant in December 2017 to join United Producers Group. When he is not updated clients’ information and improving their online experience, Matt enjoys running, watching sports, and visiting local breweries.
Ashlee Lavoie
Benefits Technology Specialist
Ashlee moved to Wilmington, NC in 2010. She originally planned for a career in medicine, attending Cape Fear Community College for Nursing and Miller-Motte College for Medical Coding and Business Administration. She took a career turn when she joined Verizon in 2014 in customer service. She spent seven years at Verizon, gaining customer service and technical skills, working in many different areas and taking on leadership roles. She joined United Producers Group in 2021.
Ashlee and her husband, David, have been together since 2009. They have two amazing daughters, Lillian and Jordyn. She loves spending time with her family and doing outings with their two American Staffordshire Terriers, Jax and Allie.
Jessica Horne-Manning
Lead Transmissions Consultant
Jessica graduated from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke in 2011, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education and minoring in psychology. She was offered an opportunity with Verizon Wireless in March of 2012 and has been working with the company as a customer service representative for the past 9.5 years. Throughout this time, Jessica trained in customer relations, employee engagement, and leadership roles while working with many advanced computer systems and technical support teams.
When Jessica is not working, she enjoys spending time with her husband TJ, and their 14-year-old son, Mack. They have lived in Wilmington, North Carolina since 2012.
Aaron Harrigan
Technology Specialist
Aaron attended Florida International University, majoring in Computer Engineering. To become more versatile in the workforce, he completed programming certificate courses utilizing JavaScript, SQL, along with other accompanying languages. In 2011, he took a break from the technology world to follow a passion in film and photography. To support his daughter who was born that same year, he decided to get back into the technology field, focusing mainly on Windows Server systems and networks. In 2016, his carrier took a slight turn, taking a role in technology with an insurance focus.
Aaron enjoys outings (especially miniature golf) with his daughter Liana and watching as much Football and Basketball his brain can absorb.
Anna Stringer
Data Processing and Analytics
Anna was raised in Garner NC just outside Raleigh. After high school, she moved to western NC to pursue a degree in photography. While pursuing her passion, Anna had an opportunity to become a customer service representative (and later a processing specialist and quality analyst) for several well-known carriers, helping clients understand their ACA and Medicare policies. Insurance is an area where she excelled and continues to enjoy helping others to understand how benefits work. She currently resides in Cary, NC with her spouse Shawn, and their daughter Addilyn. In her free time Anna likes to go to the park with the family or sit and watch a fun movie at home curled up with their cat, Sparkles.
Jeremy Brewster
Lead Transmissions Consultant
Jeremy graduated from The University of South Carolina in 2010 with a degree in Sport and Entertainment Management. After college he primarily worked in the banking and finance industry. He moved to Mount Pleasant in 2013 where he currently resides with his wife, Ali, and his son, Grady. Besides spending time with his family, he enjoys playing golf, going to breweries, and watching sports.
Amy Hodges
Data Processing and Analytics
Amy grew up in the Raleigh area, where she still resides today. Early in her career, she developed a passion for customer service and people development, spending the next 14 years managing successful restaurants and learning from and building an incredible team around her. After 14 years, she decided it was time for a change and brought her valuable skills to United Producers Group. When she is not working, she enjoys spending quality time with her three sons, who make her life an adventure every day.
Lindsey Suarez
Data Integration and Analytics
Lindsey began working for a Voluntary Insurance company in 2011 doing clerical work. She moved her way up from auditing, to billing, to account management, and finally became a Senior Account Manager. Throughout the years, she created and maintained excellent working relationships with brokers, human resource managers, and employees. After 10 years of working on the employee benefits side, she decided it was time for a career change and would put her diligence, attention to detail, problem solving, and communication skills to even better use by joining the UPG Team.
Lindsey resides in Miami, FL, with her Fiancée, three kids, and her cat, Hennessey and Australian Shephard, Whiskey.
Jason Jones
Data Integration and Analytics
Jason was born in Atlanta and raised in Augusta, GA. He initially majored in English at Augusta State University (now known as Augusta University) but gradually fell into a career in retail management instead. After growing disenchanted with the unpredictability of retail, he returned to school to pursue a degree in Information Systems, met his wife, and moved to Charleston.
Jason and his amazing wife Jacqueline now live in Summerville with their basset hound Zelda. He’s a devoted fan of UGA football and the Braves, and enjoys playing video games, reading, and traveling in his spare time.
Abby Schneider
Benefits Technology Specialist
Abby is a small-town Maryland native and Jill-of-all-trades. She got acquainted with the insurance industry by working as a support specialist with benefits administration platform Employee Navigator, where she learned to build company sites and troubleshoot complex software issues.
After three years in software support, she decided to explore a new challenge and brought her skills to United Producers Group. Outside of work she enjoys gardening, cooking, reading, and caring for her plants and animals. She currently lives in her hometown of Barnesville, Maryland with her family.
Tori Kaminski
Benefits Technology Specialist
Tori graduated from the College of Charleston in 2010 earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration. She initially worked as a Media Sales Account Executive, and eventually found her way into the benefits industry when she became a licensed Life Insurance Agent for a fortune 500 company. In 2015 she was presented with an opportunity to learn an entirely different side of employee benefits and started her career as an ERP Software Configuration Consultant.
When she’s not at work, Tori resides in Charleston with her brilliant husband Jason and her endlessly energetic kids, Harper & Avery. They are the proud owners of an opinionated Siamese cat named London and a rambunctious English Bulldog named Braddock.
Nick Evans
Benefits Technology Specialist
Nick graduated from Ferrum College in 2008. Working several different customer-facing positions led him to the benefits industry where he gained years of valuable experience as a data analyst before joining United Producers Group. Nick resides in Wilmington, NC with his beautiful wife Caroline, their son Tucker, two dogs, and a cat.
Katie Kirila
Account Executive
Katie was born and raised in Tappahannock, VA and moved to Sullivan's Island after finishing her undergraduate studies at Virginia Tech. She fell in love with the area and decided to stay indefinitely. After finishing graduate school at Charleston School of Law she began working in the health care field. She worked in health care administration for seven years before deciding on a career change. Katie is excited to be part of the UPG team.
Kenny Biddison
Benefits Technology Specialist
Kenny grew up in Towson, Maryland. After graduating in 2014 with a degree in Computer Information Systems, he competed in a local radio station’s search for the next Baltimore sportscaster, finishing third and earning an internship. This fueled his passion for sports talk and NFL news that continues today for his hometown teams, the Ravens and Orioles. In September 2017, Kenny moved to Charleston for a job in software. In his spare time, Kenny plays sports, tinkers with his self-built gaming computer, and enjoys the Lowcountry’s charm.
Tristan Fields
Data Processing and Analytics
Tristan was born and raised in the triad of North Carolina and decided to move to Wilmington soon after graduating high school to attend Cape Fear Community College. After obtaining her associates degree, she attended Strayer University, where she obtained her bachelor’s in business administration. While obtaining her bachelor’s, Tristan was gaining experience in customer service, leadership, technical, and computer literacy skills. In 2024 Tristan became part of United Producers Group.
During Tristan’s free time, she loves to read and play video games where she can explore new stories and worlds. She is passionate about rescuing animals and finding them loving homes, even if one of those homes is hers. Tristan also enjoys crafting and 3D printing, where she can add her own personal touch to each project.
Brandon Holt
Benefits Technology Specialist
Brandon grew up in Westminster, Maryland where he also graduated from McDaniel College in 2016 with a degree in English and a minor in writing. After spending several years honing his customer service skills, he became acquainted with the insurance industry through Employee Navigator where he worked as a benefits analyst. As an analyst, he would plan and build complex benefit structures within the system, as well as troubleshoot complex software issues. Three years later, he would continue his foray into the insurance industry by joining our team here at UPG. Brandon currently resides in Frederick, MD where he likes to spend his time outside of work playing Dungeons & Dragons, watching soccer, and drawing.