VINCE PHILLIPS has been a registered lobbyist in Harrisburg, PA since 1989. He started PHILLIPS ASSOCIATES April 1,1999, after over twenty years in Federal and state government relations.
 
This builds on his track record of lobbying on behalf of insurance brokers in Harrisburg since 1989. He has represented three of the four major Pennsylvania insurance agents’ associations, PAHU (health and employee benefits), the Independent Insurance Agents of PA, or IIAP, (property/casualty insurance), and the former PA Assn. of Life Underwriters (PALU).
 
Selected issues on which he has lobbied include health insurance and employee benefits, passage of Workers’ Compensation reform, changes in the way insurance producers are licensed, successful repeal of the 2% annuity tax , business taxation, tort reform, highway safety, agriculture research funding, etc.
 
Prior to being recruited to Pennsylvania, Vince worked in Washington, D.C., where he served as Press Secretary to the National American Wholesale Grocers Association, now part of the Food Marketing Institute. He was a Reagan-Bush Administration political appointee in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (Office of the Secretary, Office of Public Liaison, Office of Rural Development Policy). His DC tenure also included work for a U.S. Congressman and service in the Office of the President-Elect (Transition Team) in 1980.
 
Community work includes volunteer service and grant writing for the YMCA and its aquatics program. He initiated a toy/clothing collection from PA to the Navaho Community in Sanastee, New Mexico, on behalf of a 200-family father/daughter YMCA group, which he headed in 1999-2000. He is a lifetime member of the Conodoguinett Creek Watershed Association (conservation), Sayre, PA Historical Society, East Pennsboro Historical Society, and is a member of the Susquehanna Icebreakers Toastmasters Club. He also has taught Catechism at Tree of Life Lutheran Church and serves as a high school’s debate coach.
 
He is certified by the PA Insurance Department as an instructor, and his firm is approved to offer over 72 Continuing Education Courses. From 1996-99, he held the prestigious Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation by the American Society of Association Executives. He is also a member of PASAE (formerly known as PA Society of Association Executives, having served as their government relations committee chairman and Board member. In 1999, he and lobbyist Fred McKillop teamed up to start Lobbyist Assistance Center to provide lobbyists training as to the tools of the trade.
 
Vince holds a Bachelor of Arts from Indiana University South Bend, a Master’s from the University of Notre Dame, and a Master’s in Public Administration from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University. He also has a Graduate Certificate in Public Policy granted by Indiana University’s School of Public and Environmental Affairs. He and York native Claudia Keiper Phillips and three daughters, Elizabeth, Adrienne, and Carolyn, reside in Mechanicsburg (in Cumberland County). Vince is also a non-published writer of science fiction and fantasy.

 
GWEN BOWER has close to 25 years of professional experience relating to government affairs, lobbying, and creating a positive public relations image. Her background includes employment by two state Senators, a gubnatorial appointment to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture within the Ridge/ Schweicker Administrations and a lobbyist to a statewide health care association. She has organized specific media-oriented events to communicate positive messages to the public and to the General Assembly. Gwen has a BA from East Stroudsburg University, hails from Perry County and lives in Enola, PA. She also graduated from the “Harrisburg School of Political Realities” where she has several pieces of legislation credited to her efforts.

CLAUDIA PHILLIPS holds a BA degree from Albright College in Reading, PA and an Master’s in Public Administration with a concentration in Judicial Administration from the American University in Washington, DC. A native of York, PA, she also has a year of law school and a paralegal certificate. She has point responsibility for several clients and handles the course filing compliance for insurance Continuing Education with the state regulators.
 
JOAN TROUTMAN serves as the registrar for PHILLIPS ASSOCIATES and administers membership data bases, etc. Before joining the firm, she served the former Independent Insurance agents of Pennsylvania as their registrar for over twenty-five years. She is a native of Enola, PA.
 
TYRONE M. WATFORD is the point person for a number of PHILLIPS ASSOCIATES’ clients based on his years of experience as a community organizer and congressional staff person.  His particular work involves fund-raising, association membership recruitment, and administration/logistics. He lives in Harrisburg and holds a Bachelor’s degree from George Williams College in Aurora, Illinois and a former member of the GWC Alumni Board. He is a church elder and advisor to his church’s Cub Scout Pack.
 
REBEKAH LYNN interns for PHILLIPS ASSOCIATES. She is a senior at Cumberland Valley high School in Mechanicsburg, PA where she is third-ranked in a class of 700 and is Captain of the school’s Debate team.