
Executive Leadership
Thomas True, CEO
Tom is the CEO, President and founder of True & Associates. After graduating Villanova with a B.S. in Business Administration, Tom spent six years on the insurance carrier side of the industry underwriting contract surety, middle market property and casualty and national account insurance programs. He held positions from underwriter to regional manager. One year was spent in Marsh & McLennan’s National Accounts Division as an Executive Risk Planner.
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In 1984 True & Associates opened its doors employing four people and $600,000 in premiums. Today the agency employs forty five insurance professionals and writes in excess of $60 million in premiums. Tom’s broad experience and skill sets are reflected in the values and technical capabilities of True & Associates, the agency’s personnel, its structure and their valued clientele.
Tom is a past Board of Director of the Professional Insurance Agents. He held a seat on the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance Commissioners Advisory Board and the New Jersey Workers Compensation Bureau’s Advisory Board. He has chaired numerous Insurance Carrier Advisory Boards.
Currently, Tom is on the Board of Trustees of a Montessori School and on the National Board of a minor league Baseball Franchise.
Frank Purdue
Bio Pending
Marc Michalewsky, Senior Vice President – Surety
Marc is currently the Senior Vice President of the Surety Division of True & Associates and manages the agency’s over 130 clients. Prior to joining the firm, Marc was an underwriting supervisor at a division of Kemper Insurance Co. and was responsible for handling the New York and New Jersey territory. Marc’s team of six underwriters dealt with over 40 agents, supported over 200 construction companies ranging from heavy highway contractors to general contractors and specialty trade contractors which generated $20,000,000 in premium revenue.
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Right out of college Marc spent five years working for a medium sized public accounting firm where he gained extensive experience in preparing corporate financial statements, corporate tax returns, personal tax returns and field auditing experience. This unique financial insight gives True & Associates’ clients a huge advantage when dealing with CPA firms and surety carriers.
Marc maintains a close pulse of the construction industry by participating in a number of construction trade associations such as UTCA, CFMA, BCA, & NJSA. Marc’s education includes a BS degree in both accounting and finance from LaSalle University.
Vinny Smith, Vice President, CIC
Vinny Marie Smith is a Vice President and Commercial Lines Manager at True & Associates. In addition to managing teams in both Westfield and Clinton, she personally handles a large book of Commercial Lines accounts and acts as a liaison with brokers and carriers involved in the agency operations.
Twenty-five (25) of her forty (40) years in the industry have been spent with True & Associates, which only encouraged the continuation of her involvement in associations and education. This extends to several Insurance Company Agency Councils, the Society of Insurance Counselors Academy, the Professional Insurance Agents and Independent Insurance Agents of NJ. Educationally, Vinny has earned and held the prestigious designation of CIC, Certified Insurance Counselor, for over 20 years. In this ever-evolving industry continuing education remains an important element of her career.
Vinny recognizes client relationships are key to successful account handling. Listening to what “keeps a client up at night” is not taken lightly, and so meeting with clients during the year is an integral part of her responsibilities. These meetings allow her to review client operations and prepare and present an insurance program that will provide the necessary protection for their business(es).
“Being able to provide insurance coverage that will enable a client to maintain their operations and provide the financial security they need in event of a claim is one of the most rewarding things about this career.”
She credits her early career mentors who opened the door to education and provided direction in the industry. She appreciates the mentoring and opportunities of current agency responsibilities and management that have been provided by True & Associates.
Outside the office, Vinny enjoys time spent with close friends attending concerts (Bruce Springsteen!) and shows – her favorite being Wizard of Oz! The greatest love is of family and being close to her daughter, son in law and best of all her two grandchildren.
Mary D’Amato, Claims Manager
Mary D’Amato is the Claims Manager at True & Associates. She bridges communication between the client and carrier with an ability to dispute and settle claims that has satisfied clients for over thirty years. Her position provides a great advantage and proves to be a pertinent role to both insureds and the agency.
Mary started her insurance career in 1980 with Washington National Insurance Company as a file clerk during the summers. Upon graduation in 1982, she expanded her talents to United States Fidelity & Guaranty as a Claims Assistant. Only five years later Mary found her home at True & Associates working under Margaret True until her retirement in 1997. At this time Mary’s career escalated and she took the reigns as Claims Manager.
With a NJ Producer license for Personal Lines, Property & Casualty, and Accident & Health under her belt by 1991, Mary was certain to keep her educational background growing. She attended Seton Hall University to be certified for ARM 55 (Risk Assessment and Treatment) and AIC 36 (Liability Claims Practices). OSHA 10 (Workplace Safety Training) was later inducted to her pool of knowledge.
In her spare time, you can find Mary, mystery novel in hand, listening to anything from Mary J. Blige to The Eagles. If she’s not at the beach, you might catch her strolling through a museum or purchasing a new piece of art for her collection. But her one true love falls to Christian Louboutin’s red-bottom heels.
Wes Anderson, Vice President – Benefits
Wes Anderson manages True Group Benefits and Life LLC, the division of True & Associates that specializes in employee benefit plans and individual products.
After graduating from Lynchburg College with a degree in Business Administration, Wes began his career as a Group Account Executive with the New York Life Insurance Company. Following many years working within the corporate domain – Wes became an independent broker who specializes in the design, implementation and administration of employee benefit plans.
In October 2007 Wes joined True and Associates where he manages the daily activities of the group department while maintaining close contact with all of True and Associates valued group clients.
Wes has a passion for all sports (NY Rangers, Giants , and Yankees all the way!) and especially enjoys playing golf with friends and clients.
Logan True
Bio Pending
Agents
Frank Purdue
Executive Vice President
fjpurdue@trueassoc.com
Direct: (908) 379-2306
325 North Avenue East
Westfield, NJ 07090
Carissa Clements
Sales Associate
cclements@trueassoc.com
Direct: (908) 379-2325
325 North Avenue East
Westfield, NJ 07090
Doug Aronson
Sales Associate
daronson@trueassoc.com
Direct: (908) 379-2348
Cell: (862) 226-2832
325 North Avenue East
Westfield, NJ 07090
Suzanne Martino Casuscelli
Sales Associate
smartino@trueassoc.com
Direct: (908) 379-2351
Cell: (732) 239-8770
6 Leigh Street
Clinton, NJ 08809
Logan True
Sales Associate
ltrue@trueassoc.com
Direct: (908) 379-2334
325 North Avenue East
Westfield, NJ 07090
Evan Zak
Sales Associate, Marketing
ezak@trueassoc.com
Direct: (908) 379-2315
Cell: (908) 642-1553
325 North Avenue East
Westfield, NJ 07090
Erin True
Senior Vice President
etrue@trueassoc.com
Direct: (908) 379-2319
6 Leigh Street
Clinton, NJ 08809
David Grossbaum
Senior Vice President - New York
dwg@trueassoc.com
Direct: (212) 766-0933
Cell: (212) 937-2339
30 Wall Street 8th Floor
New York, NY 10005
James Ciotta
Sales Associate
jciotta@trueassoc.com
Direct: (908) 379-2303
Cell: (908) 419-0412
325 North Avenue East
Westfield, NJ 07090
William Dougherty
Sales Associate
wdougherty@trueassoc.com
Direct: (908) 379-2313
325 North Avenue East
Westfield, NJ 07090
Emily Williams
Sales Associate
ewilliams@trueassoc.com
Direct: (908) 379-2322
325 North Avenue East
Westfield, NJ 07090
Wes Anderson
Vice President - Benefits
wanderson@trueassoc.com
Direct: (908) 379-2327
325 North Avenue East
Westfield, NJ 07090
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