Leadership change at IMA’s Carolinas operation
Rich Garner’s appointment puts a longtime IMA Carolinas executive in charge of the brokerage’s roughly 75 associates serving North and South Carolina. He became president effective immediately, succeeding Jeff Haney, who’ll remain as an executive adviser. The announcement describes a change in day-to-day leadership while keeping Haney connected to the business during the transition.
That distinction matters in a regional brokerage. A president typically has to connect local client work and employee needs with the priorities of a larger organization, though the precise scope of Garner’s authority isn’t described here. An executive adviser can provide continuity and institutional knowledge, but the title alone doesn’t show how involved Haney will be in decisions or client relationships. The practical handoff will depend on how responsibilities are divided after the appointment.
Garner is based in Charlotte and reports to Drew Pippin, president of IMA’s Southeast region. That reporting line places the Carolinas operation within a regional structure, with a leader above the local president. For associates, clients and business partners, the structure can clarify where local decisions sit and how regional priorities reach the brokerage. Here’s the thing: a title change can be straightforward on paper and still require careful communication inside the business.
Experience inside the business
Garner joined the Carolinas operation in 2012, when it was known as ECM Solutions. He most recently served as executive vice president of business operations, giving him experience in the organization before taking its top local role. That background may help with continuity because he’s familiar with the operation’s history and internal processes. It doesn’t, by itself, establish what changes he’ll make as president.
IMA acquired ECM in 2023. The sequence links Garner’s career at the Carolinas operation with a broader ownership transition, although the available information doesn’t describe how the acquisition changed staffing, client service, or the business’s reporting structure. In brokerage acquisitions generally, bringing a local firm into a larger organization can involve aligning systems, management practices and service models. Those efforts can take time, and their effect depends on the businesses involved. No specific integration plans are provided here.
Garner’s previous role in business operations is relevant because brokerage work depends on more than placing insurance coverage. Firms also need processes for coordinating client requests, supporting producers and service teams, and managing the work that follows a policy placement. Those functions can shape a client’s experience even when they’re less visible than sales activity. Still, the source doesn’t identify Garner’s responsibilities in detail, so it would be premature to infer which operational changes he’ll prioritize.
From brokerage ownership to a larger firm
Earlier, Garner owned The Garner Group brokerage, according to his LinkedIn profile. Ownership experience can give an executive a direct view of the pressures facing a brokerage, including the need to retain clients, maintain service quality and manage a business’s costs. That perspective may be useful in a leadership job serving a defined regional market. It doesn’t establish how Garner will balance local decision-making with IMA’s broader organization.
The move from owning a brokerage to leading part of a larger firm can involve a different set of responsibilities. An owner may have broad authority over a smaller business, while a regional president generally operates within reporting lines and company priorities. That’s a general distinction, not a description of Garner’s specific authority. The source provides no detail on the size or duration of his ownership role, or on what happened to The Garner Group.
For people working in this space, the useful point is the combination of local operating experience and time within the Carolinas business. That may support a smoother transition, especially if colleagues already know Garner’s approach. But familiarity isn’t a guarantee of continuity on every issue. Clients and employees will learn more from how responsibilities are handled than from the announcement alone.
What the ranking does—and doesn’t—say
Denver-based IMA ranks 17th among U.S. business insurance brokerages in the latest Business Insurance rankings. The ranking supplies scale context: IMA is among the larger brokerages in the United States. It doesn’t tell readers how the Carolinas operation performs, how much of the company’s business comes from the region, or whether Garner’s appointment reflects a change in strategy.
Brokerage rankings are useful shorthand, but they compress a large business into a single position. They don’t necessarily capture local service quality, client retention, employee experience or the strength of a particular regional office. Those measures matter to customers choosing a broker and to employees assessing how a leadership change could affect their work. The number offers context, not a verdict on the Carolinas operation.
That said, the scale of a parent company can affect a regional office’s access to shared resources and its place in a wider management structure. The relationship can bring advantages, but it can also make clear communication about local needs more important. The source doesn’t say how IMA allocates resources among its regions, so the ranking shouldn’t be treated as evidence of any particular benefit to Garner’s team.
Implications for the Carolinas operation
The appointment’s immediate significance is continuity under a new president. Garner has spent years in the Carolinas operation, advanced to a senior operations role, and now takes responsibility for roughly 75 associates across North and South Carolina. Haney’s continued presence as an executive adviser adds another point of continuity, though the extent of his ongoing role remains unspecified.
This is more significant than it looks if the change helps connect local knowledge with the demands of a larger brokerage. But the announcement doesn’t spell out a new growth plan, a shift in client focus or changes to staffing. Without those details, the soundest reading is narrow: IMA has promoted an experienced executive into the regional leadership role and retained his predecessor as an adviser.
And yet, leadership changes are often judged by what follows the announcement. Associates may look for clarity on decision-making and priorities; clients may pay attention to whether their points of contact and service arrangements remain steady. Those are ordinary questions during a management transition, not evidence that disruption is expected. The answers will depend on how the company carries out the handoff.
(And this is the part most people overlook: an adviser’s continued involvement can preserve knowledge, but it also makes clear lines of responsibility useful.) The title says Haney will remain available in an executive advisory capacity; it doesn’t say which matters he’ll handle or when Garner will take full ownership of decisions. A well-managed transition needs those roles to be understood internally. Fewer ambiguities. More time for the business itself.
For now, Garner’s appointment gives the Carolinas operation a president with experience inside the business and a reporting line to IMA’s Southeast leadership. What this means for you depends on your connection to the firm: employees may watch for operating priorities, while clients may focus on service continuity. The available facts support those questions, but not a prediction about the brokerage’s next moves.