About Us

Jamie A. Ferris  
Jamie A. Ferris, CIC, CRM CPIA, AAI, became president of The Wood Office in 2010. He had previously worked for the company as an account executive since 1992. Jamie is licensed for both Property & Casualty and Life & Health Insurance from New York State. He has earned the Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) and Certified Risk Manager (CRM) designations from the Risk & Insurance Education Alliance, the Certified Professional Insurance Agent (CPIA) designation from the AIMS Society and the Accredited Advisor in Insurance (AAI) from the Insurance Institute of America.

Jamie earned a bachelor's degree in marketing from State University of New York at Oswego. He is currently the Chair for the NYS 4H Foundation J. David Ferris Memorial 4-H Golf Open, Member of the Town of Lansing Board of Ethics, and an Active Past-President of the Professional Insurance Agents of NY. He has also served on the boards of The Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County as Chairman, the Corporate Development Committee of Lansing Central School District, the Youth Ministries Committee and SPRC of the Lansing United Methodist Church. Jamie, who lives in Lansing, enjoys spending his leisure time with his wife Melissa and their three daughters.

Jeffrey Dende  
Jeffrey Dende, Vice President - Commercial Lines, CIC, CPIA has been an Account Executive at The Wood Office since 2015. Dende is a licensed in NY for both Property & Casualty Insurance and Life, Accident & Health Insurance; focusing on both personal and commercial insurance. A graduate of Ithaca College with a degree in business administration, Jeff has also earned the Certified Insurance Counselor^® designation from the National Alliance for Insurance Education and Research in 2018 and the Certified Professional Insurance Agent designation from the American Insurance and Sales Society in 2019. A Groton resident, Jeffrey is the Fly Fishing Program Manager for the Strengthen Your Mind Initiative where he volunteers and manages fly fishing trips for first responders and military personnel as part of their PTSD and/or substance abuse therapy. In his free time he enjoys fly fishing, fly tying and woodworking.

Sara Rose  
Sara Rose, Vice President - Personal Lines, PLCS, CPIA, is a NY licensed account executive specializing in Personal Lines and has worked at The Wood Office since 2003. Sara studied at The Hartford School of Insurance, earning the Personal Lines Coverage Specialist certification. Additionally she has earned the Certified Professional Insurance Agent designation from the American Insurance and Sales Society and is currently working on completing the Certified Insurance Service Representative designation from the National Alliance for Insurance Education and Research. Sara lives on a small farm in Freeville with her husband and youngest son, volunteers with the Off-Track Thoroughbred Rescue. She enjoys horseback riding, recreational vehicles, hunting, and relaxing on the deck or around the camp fire with family and friends.

Rick Hartman  
Rick Hartman has been in the accounting department at The Wood Office since 2016.He is responsible for operational and administrative duties for the office. He is licensed for Property & Casualty Insurance from New York State. He graduated from the University of Scranton with a B.S. degree. He volunteers with a few local history organizations. A Cayuga Heights resident since 1996, Rick enjoys spending time with his family.

Erin Shoemaker  
Erin Shoemaker returned to the Wood Office in 2017 after moving back to New York State. Erin is the Contracts and Agreements Coordinator for large Commercial Accounts. She lives in Ithaca with her three children. In her leisure time, she enjoys movies, baking, and spending time with family and friends.