AIA HONORS AGENTS<\/b><\/p>\n
by Brad A. Greenberg<\/b><\/p>\n
World War II was over and George Stahlman Sr. needed a job. Glasser Bros. hired him to sweep their Los Angeles bail bonds office, but he was unsatisfied with $25 weekly paycheck and wanted a piece of the action. So in 1947 he became an agent and five years later Stahlman opened his own office in Oceanside, Calif. He signed a contract with Associated Bond and hasn\u2019t looked back.<\/p>\n
Stahlman is 83 now and known in the bail industry as \u201cThe King.\u201d He owns six bail offices in San Diego County and still shows up for work six days a week, not quite ready to fully abdicate the throne to his son, George Jr.<\/p>\n
Allegheny Casualty, International Fidelity and Associated Bond (collectively known as AIA) honored Stahlman at the Western Region Agents Conference for 58 years of writing bail for the surety company. Thirty-three other bail agents and families were recognized at the two-day conference in Santa Monica, Calif., for being with AIA for 30 years or more.<\/p>\n
During the past six decades, Stahlman has written thousands of bond reports and worked well over 100,000 hours, posting bail for the likes of mobsters Bugsy Siegel and Mickey Cohen. So many years later, Stahlman has a simple answer to why he\u2019s written all that bail with AIA: \u201cThey\u2019re the best company there is.<\/p>\n
Marco LiMandri, owner of Big Marco Bail Bonds in San Diego, has always been happy with the service at AIA. And he knows the best agents are too. In the past other surety companies have approached him about being their general agent for a new California operation, but such an uphill battle doesn\u2019t interest LiMandri. \u201cAll the best agents in California have paper through AIA. I would have had to go for the secondary agents \u2013 and I didn\u2019t want to do that,\u201d LiMandri said.<\/p>\n
In 53 years with AIA, Dick Smith, owner of Dick Smith Bail Bonds in Fresno, Calif., has had an enduring relationship with AIA,\u201d Smith said of AIA. \u201cI\u2019ve never anticipated leaving this company. \u2026 They\u2019re good people, good people you can rely on, you can trust.\u201d<\/p>\n
AIA\u2019s legacy in the surety business began with the formation of International Fidelity in 1904. Allegheny Casualty and Associated Bond joined the scene in 1936, and in 2003 the three companies formed their alliance as industry leaders. Many clients have been with Allegheny, International or Associated for two or three generations. And AIA isn\u2019t a company that will take every bail agent. There is a high standard that needs to be met for an agent to call themselves an AIA-man or \u2013woman.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
World War II was over and George Stahlman Sr. needed a job. Glasser Bros. hired him to sweep their Los Angeles bail bonds office, but he was unsatisfied with $25 weekly paycheck and wanted a piece of the action.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[63],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n