Interview with NI born Brian McDowell
Florida based Insurance Office of America (IOA), is a full-service agency that provides property and casualty, employee benefits, and personal lines insurance coverage and risk management solutions.
In September 2020 IOA announced it was setting up a 40-person technical development centre in Northern Ireland.
The IOA team in the new technology centre will be largely responsible for the development of its new quote-and-buy insurance platform, SimplyIOA, the first of its kind in the United States. It will also provide technical expertise and operational support across the IOA enterprise.
Brian McDowell, President of IOA Personal Lines and Small Business Unit, is a Northern Ireland native now based in Florida. He was formerly CEO of Hughes Insurance.
Speaking about the company’s decision to invest in Northern Ireland, Brian said: “For a project of such strategic importance, it was vital that the team responsible for development and implementation be of the highest calibre. Northern Ireland had a strong insurance sector, the technical skills and expertise, and the work ethic we needed to accomplish our goals.
Growing the Northern Ireland economy
The project will contribute nearly £1.8 million in wages to the NI economy. Invest NI has offered assistance of £445,762 towards the new jobs and skills development programme. IOA has already recruited half of the 40 new roles, with the remaining to be in place by 2022.
Interview with Brian McDowell on why IOA chose Northern Ireland
We spoke to Brian about why he advocated for Northern Ireland as the location for IOA’s technical development centre and why as a Diaspora his feels it’s important to give something back to this home country.
