President & CEO, Encova Insurance
By Brooke Brown
TJ Obrokta Jr., president and CEO of Encova Insurance, leads a multi-billion-dollar company that writes auto, home and business insurance across 27 states. Despite this, he is most proud of his home state of West Virginia.
Obrokta grew up in the suburbs of Huntington, WV, after moving there from Pittsburgh, PA. It was in that neighborhood where he grew up that he learned the values of hard work, discipline and teamwork from his parents, including his father who coached all his little league sports.
“He instilled in me the value of a team and the importance of disregarding individual accolades or accomplishments,” Obrokta says. “Equally, my mother required academic excellence throughout my childhood. She saw education as the most efficient pathway to success.”
Obrokta earned his undergraduate degree in economics from Columbia University in New York City in 1991 before returning home to West Virginia to attend law school at West Virginia University (WVU) College of Law, graduating in 1994. He recalls his time at WVU Law fondly, praising the quality of faculty, the camaraderie among students and the practical opportunities the college provided.
“I remember the challenges of trying to understand the complex principles surrounding the Rule Against Perpetuities, the patience of John Fisher as he taught it to us, the demanding workload and trying to find an empty conference room in Ruby Memorial Hospital to study with friends,” Obrokta says.
From there, his career in law wasn’t set in a straight line but instead was more purposeful. After graduating from WVU Law, he went to work at Jenkins Fenstermaker, PLLC in Huntington, where he had been an intern after his second year of law school. He practiced labor and employment law there and represented employers in their interactions with organized labor. He also defended employers in employment discrimination cases.
“I chose this area of practice because in helping employers with the challenges they were facing, I felt I was helping improve the economic environment in West Virginia,” Obrokta says.
Obrokta went on to become general counsel of the West Virginia Workers’ Compensation Commission. He recalls that the compensation system and rates in the state were the worst in the nation and became one of the biggest impediments to economic growth in West Virginia. He felt he needed to do something about it and help shape the future of the state.
“I wanted to make a contribution toward improving the economic environment in West Virginia, and helping fix workers’ compensation was, in my mind, the most valuable way to do that,” Obrokta says.
Working alongside state leaders, including Governor Bob Wise and Speaker of the House Bob Kiss, Obrokta helped draft and defend key legislation that restructured and ultimately privatized the state’s workers’ compensation system. Once the legislation was passed, Obrokta was able to defend many challenges to the new law at the West Virginia Supreme Court. Obrokta then worked with Governor Joe Manchin in 2004 to privatize the system.
“This meant closing the state-run system, creating BrickStreet Insurance to be the first private sector carrier to write workers’ compensation insurance in West Virginia and finding a mechanism to pay off the $3 billion of unfunded workers’ compensation claims liability left with the state,” Obrokta says.
This transformation was dramatic as West Virginia’s workers’ compensation rates, once among the highest in the country, dropped by over 70%.
Obrokta’s success at BrickStreet led him to the next steps in his career. In 2017, BrickStreet merged with Columbus, Ohio-based Motorists Mutual Insurance Group that has since rebranded as Encova Insurance. He wanted BrickStreet to be able to write other commercial lines of insurance beyond just workers’ compensation. Obrokta has been the president and CEO of the organization since 2017.
“The most rewarding part of my career has been to be a part of fixing the biggest problem in the West Virginia economy at the time: the workers’ compensation system,” Obrokta says. “Today, the most rewarding part of my job is leading the nearly 1,200 employees of a multi-billion-dollar insurance company. Our success can be contributed, in large part, due to a very supportive board of directors led by John Bishop as chair and Marty Becker as vice chair.”
Obrokta is active in his community, sitting on numerous boards and advisory groups and being an active participant in each. These include the board of advisors of the Columbus Partnership; board of directors of the Ohio Insurance Institute, American Property Casualty Insurance Association, National Council on Compensation Insurance and New Albany Community Foundation; and the board and executive committee of the Ohio Business Roundtable. Last year, Obrokta was inducted into the West Virginia Business Hall of Fame.
“This recognition helped reassure me that the goal I adopted in 1994 of trying to improve the economic development environment in West Virginia had fortunately come to fruition,” he says.
Obrokta now lives in Columbus, Ohio, with his family. Even though he no longer resides in West Virginia, he and his company, Encova, remain deeply connected to the state. There is a large office located in downtown Charleston that employs many West Virginians.
“West Virginia is now a great place to do business thanks to the hard work of the state government and local leaders like Steve Roberts who has run the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce skillfully for a number of years,” he says.
Looking ahead, Obrokta is focused on continuing to grow Encova. While facing many challenges throughout his career, he feels that running the company has been his biggest challenge. He hopes he has made a lasting impact on his home state while experiencing tremendous growth in his career.
“It is humbling but reassuring that perhaps I have meaningfully contributed to the state I love, West Virginia,” Obrokta says.
