Merchants Insurance Group

Stay safe this deer season! 🦌

While a collision with a deer could happen at any time, there is more movement among the deer population from early October through December, making it the peak season for vehicle/deer accidents.

Here are ten things to remember when driving this fall:

Safe Driving Tips for Deer Season | Merchants Insurance Group In this blog, Merchants Insurance Group provides tips on how you can stay safe while driving this deer season (October - December!).

Merchants was proud to be a Strategic Partner Carrier attendee at the SAN Group, Inc. Principal-Carrier Mixer for Eastern New York. The event was held at Tree House Brewing Company in Saratoga Springs, NY, and brought together SAN agents and carriers for an incredible event. Merchants colleagues in attendance and pictured: April Noe, Underwriter II; Michele Dodd, Sr. Territory Manager; Frank Simpson, Regional Vice President.

Merchants' Merri Martin, April Noe, and Courtney Lynn attended the Buffalo Professional Firefighters 136th Annual Ball on Saturday, October 3rd. Our Corporate Sales Specialist Courtney Lynn, who also serves on the Board of BIG I WNY, had the honor of presenting the Independent Insurance Agents Association of WNY Award for Bravery to Lt. Tory Mustarella.

We at Merchants honor and thank all the brave firefighters throughout our territories and beyond. Your bravery is commended, appreciated, and never unnoticed.

We were thrilled to attend the Empire Spectrum Annual Carrier Appreciation Event on Thursday, October 1st at Anyela’s Vineyards in Skaneateles, NY. Thank you as always, Empire Spectrum! 🤝

We're hiring! View and apply for open positions at www.merchantsgroup.com/careers

Merchants is proud to have been named the Fiercely Independent: Regional Carrier of the year by Indium at Indium’s recent Fall Fest event on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Indium’s Fall Fest award winners were selected by agencies and the Indium team. Read more:

Merchants Awarded the Fiercely Independent: Regional Carrier of the Year Designation by Indium - Merchants Insurance Group Merchants Insurance Group is proud to have been named the Fiercely Independent: Regional Carrier of the year by Indium at Indium's recent Fall Fest event on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Indium's Fall Fest award winners were selected by agencies and the Indium team. In

On September 29th members of Merchants' Leadership Development Program participated in a workshop about managing conflict and difficult conversations—one of the multiple workshops offered to our program members through Consultant and Coach Jessica Schimert.

The Leadership Development Program (LDP), which began in 2023, was created to hone leadership skills of Merchants colleagues and further develop participants for their own growth, as well as the continued success and stability of the company.

The current class of the two-year program began in May 2025, following the graduation of the first-ever LDP class in April 2025. Merchants is proud to support our colleagues' growth and leadership journeys!

We are proud to have been a gold sponsor of BIG I WNY's 2026 Installation of Officers & Directors Dinner on Tuesday, September 28th. Courtney Lynn, Merchants Corporate Sales Specialist serves on the Big I WNY Board of Directors. She was joined at the Installation Dinner by Merchants' Frank Simpson, Regional Vice President; Nancy Biller, Sr. Territory Manager; and Bob Perno, Director of Sales & Marketing.

At the Installation Dinner, Big I WNY welcomed new Board members as well as their new President, Kristine McNally. Congratulations to all.

In Courtney Lynn's words, "One of the things I love most about being involved with Big I is that it's about so much more than networking. Big I New York represents more than 1,450 independent insurance agencies and 13,000 agency employees across the state, bringing our industry together through education, advocacy, professional development, and a strong sense of community. I'm proud to be a small part of that work here in Western New York and even more excited about what this board will accomplish in the year ahead."