Who We Are
We have been providing pre-licensing training and continuing education classes to insurance professionals in many states for over 25 years.
About Educational Concepts Unlimited, Inc.
Educational Concepts Unlimited, Inc. is an Illinois-based company, and a leader in providing continuing education courses for insurance professionals and other professionals including funeral directors, and those involved in banking and securities. In addition, we offer insurance pre-licensing and webinars for Sexual Harassment Prevention that is required for businesses in the State of Illinois. On-site training is available, tailored to meet the needs of an agency or company.
We have been providing pre-licensing training and continuing education classes to insurance professionals in many states for over 35 years. Our mission is to provide quality instruction, materials and study aids for those using our services. Our qualified staff will assist you with your needs for training at our location or yours. We can tailor the training to fit your needs.
Our Founders were insurance and educational professionals who understood the principles of insurance and sound training. From the beginning, we’ve provided pre-licensing education to insurance industry candidates, thus allowing them to meet Illinois state requirements. In addition, we provide continuing education courses as well as classroom instruction. Our most poplar course is ethics.
Meet our Training Director, Thomas Ripperda
Tom entered the insurance industry in 1971. His designations include Charter Life Underwriter (CLU), Charter Financial Consultant (ChFC) from the American College and the Life Underwriter Training Council Fellow (LUTCF) designation.
Today, Tom conducts continuing education seminars for various professionals around the country. He authored books on Long Term Care, National Flood Insurance, Index Products, Life Insurance, Disability, Viatical Settlements, Annuity Suitability, Ethics and Affordable Care Act.
Tom is a past president of NAIFA- East Side in Illinois and is a past Member of the Board of Directors for NAIFA-Illinois. He serves on an Continuing Education Advisory Council for the Illinois Department of Insurance. His outside activities include Rotary where he has served as District 6510 Governor in 2012-13 and as Zone 31 Visioning Coordinator.
Meet Our Instructors
Shelley Romanik
Shelley came aboard in 2017 after serving her clients for over 5 years. She is our primary instructor for Life, Accident & Health classes. Shelley handles the Sexual Harassment Prevention webinars and our weekly Ethics seminars as well.
Carl Fuhrhop
Carl is our primary instructor for Property & Casualty Classes. Carl joined us in 2019 after completing 35 successful years as a multiple line producers.
art Newton
Art joined us in 2019. Art retired from being a property & casualty agent after 30-years of helping clients and teaches Property and Casualty Pre-Licensing as needed.
Our Administrative Staff
Patricia SturgiS
Patricia Sturgis joined ECU in April 2016 as a Customer Service Representative. She was promoted to Office Manager in August 2017. To schedule on-site training, give her a call and she will be happy to assist you.
Seth Combs
Seth joined us in June 2016 as a welcomed addition to our office staff. Seth can assist you with registrations for classes. He can also assist you in meeting your C.E. requirements.