Sean Carroll says that one of the perks of running one of the state”™s largest independent property and casualty insurance agencies is that “my hours are flexible and that allows me time to volunteer.”
His agency ”“ Merit Insurance in Bridgeport ”“ was named 2006 Business of the Year by the Bridgeport Regional Business Council. And when it comes to volunteering, Carroll is no slouch, either. This weekend The Kennedy Center in Trumbull will honor him at its 43rd annual black-tie Four Seasons Ball for his volunteer efforts for the nonprofit.
But volunteering for The Kennedy Center”™s board and committees ”“ he and his wife, Maggie, contributed a $50,000 challenge grant to the center”™s recent capital campaign ”“ is only part of Carroll”™s volunteer efforts. He”™s on the boards of Hall-Brooke Behavior Health Services in Westport, the Housatonic Community College in Bridgeport and the Notre Dame Catholic High School in Fairfield. He”™s a coach for the Trumbull Little League and the Trumbull Recreation Basketball league. He”™s past president of the Fairfield County Chapter of the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters and the Greater Bridgeport Independent Insurance Association. And he”™s been grand marshal of the Barnum Festival Great Street Parade ”¦ twice ”“ once in 1999, again last year.
If that”™s not enough, the 39-year-old Carroll ”“ “I”™m stuck at 39,” he said, hopefully ”“ and a group of his buddies created a 501(c)(3) organization a few years back to raise money for local charities. Each September FOCUS ”“ For Our Children”™s Unlimited Success ”“ raises about $40,000 through a golf tournament in New Haven and other events throughout the year. “We”™ve raised close to $300,000 since 1999,” he said.
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Family trait
FOCUS came about after Carroll and five college friends and business associates began meeting once a month for dinner in 1999. “That lasted about three months, and we decided to do something a little more valuable with our time, and decided on a golf tournament” to raise money for local charities that focus on children, he said. The group of guys included a CPA and an attorney, so it wasn”™t long before the idea blossomed into a full-fledged 501(c)(3), complete with a mission statement and a Web site (www.focusct.org) in 2000.
“We are six individuals who are highly motivated and have a lot of contacts and friends who have seen this organization grow and look forward to making contributions each year,” he said. “We give all of it away. What comes in goes right back out, every penny. That”™s the purpose of nonprofits.”
Since its inception, FOCUS has each year given a portion of the money to the Hall-Brooke Behavioral Health Services in Westport and the Yale-New Haven Children”™s Hospital, along with “various others that receive grants and money from us after they request what they need the money for,” including the Evergreen Network in Bridgeport, an organization that helps families afflicted with AIDS, Carroll said.
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“When we formed this, we all had young children,” he said. “That was a common thread for each of us. It”™s ironic that one of the men in our group has needed the services of the Yale New Haven Children”™s Hospital. His daughter became very ill with childhood leukemia. She”™s doing much better and just turned 4.”
Carroll”™s intense focus on volunteering is a family trait. “I was always taught by my parents that you need to give back to the community in some way,” he said. His father and mother continue their volunteering in retirement, his father on the board of St. Vincent”™s Medical Center in Bridgeport, his mother with The Kennedy Center. His two brothers in Boston and Chicago also volunteer.
When Carroll was studying for his Bachelor of Arts degree at Fairfield University, he volunteered at a soup kitchen in Bridgeport, “and that gave me an insight that has stayed with me as I”™ve gotten older: that a lot of people are less fortunate than I am, and that we have an obligation to give back to others.”
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Count your blessings
Carroll fell into volunteering much the same way he fell into the insurance business ”“ family connections. “I”™ve always had an interest in it,” he said of the business. “My father was in the business and used to work here at Merit.” In fact, his father, William, was president of the firm, which he had joined in the early 1970s and from which he retired three years ago. “It was and still is a family business,” Carroll said. “I”™m the only family member in the business, but we have other principals and partners in the firm as well.”
After he graduated from Fairfield University in 1990, “I worked for a brief time with The Hartford insurance company in Hartford and, after six months, came to Merit as an insurance producer,” he said. He became a partner in 1994 and was named president in 2005. “One of the reasons I enjoy being in the insurance business is that it gives you the opportunity to interact with all types of people, everybody from a large-business owner to a mom-and-pop business owner to individual people who have personal, car and home-owner insurance needs.”
The other reason, of course, is that it gives him time to volunteer. “I”™ve been blessed with a wonderful family and children and a very good job, and there are people who need help,” he said. “I think I can offer services to people, whether it”™s sitting on a nonprofit board or coaching a Little League team.”
Carroll”™s wife, Maggie, has also been imbued with the volunteer spirit. “She volunteers at school, but she”™s a full-time mom with three young boys ”“ Patrick, 9; Sean, “Just like me,” 8; and Ryan, 4. “I started coaching Little League when my boys started to play,” he said.
As for Merit, the agency has a staff of 30 at its downtown Bridgeport offices. “I like it down here, and have no present plans to expand outside of Bridgeport,” Carroll said. “But in this business, you never say never,” an attitude that could probably be stretched to his volunteerism. “I was raised to appreciate what you are blessed with, and that you need to be aware of those out there who are less fortunate, and to do whatever you can in your own way to help those folks.”
The Kennedy Center”™s Four Seasons Ball is Saturday, Oct. 27, at the Rolling Hill Country Club in Wilton. Proceeds from the Ball will benefit the center”™s group residences.
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