| Congratulations to Kathleen Rapasadi, who was recently installed as the President of Big I Western New York. We look forward to working with her to further the goals of independent agents!
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| Here in the Education Department at Big I New York, we get a lot of questions about the value of pursuing ACSR and AAI designations. I've recorded a super short (1 minute) video message for you to explain why these courses are so important!
The Institute courses are a great way to go beyond your desk and gain a deeper understanding of coverages and agency operations. Find a course at our
Designations Page or give us a call at 800-962-7950. You can also email me at mbyrnes@BigINY.org or our Education Department at
edu@biginy.org.
If you've earned an ACSR, AAI or AINS designation after January 2018, CONGRATULATIONS! We'd love to hear about it and include it in our Education News.
Email us at
edu@biginy.org.
Upcoming ACSR Classes
ACSR 6 Commercial Property Insurance with Robin Federici The Upstate presentations of ACSR 6 Commercial Property Insurance are around the corner and will be taught by Robin Federici.
Buffalo, October 9th Rochester, October 10th Syracuse, October 11th
ACSR 2 Personal Auto Insurance with Jim Lombardo
Glens Falls, November 16th Syracuse, November 30th Rochester, December 4th Buffalo, December 5th
ACSR 7 Commercial Lines Liability with Mishell Magnusson Ronkonkoma, December 4th White Plains, December 5th Fishkill, December 6th
How about the AAI designation that looks at not only coverages at a high level, but also at the structure of the agency.
Coming soon will be AAI 83B The Insurance Production Environment with Jill Gidge This course will looks at the full scale relationship between the insurer and the agency, the agency and the public, the agency and wholesalers, and target marketing, market segments and how to grow the agency book of business.
Buffalo, October 16th Rochester, October 17th Syracuse, October 18th Plainview, November 28th White Plains, November 29th Albany, November 30th
Also coming is AAI 82B Other Commercial Insurance with Tim McNelly You'll take a deep look at Commercial Crime, the BOP, Equipment Breakdown, D&O, Employment Practices, Professional Coverages, Environmental and WC. What a great way to round out accounts and find out more about coverages that your insureds really need.
Plainview, October 23rd White Plains, October 24th Fishkill, October 25th Buffalo, November 6th Rochester, November 7th Syracuse, November 8th
Make Big I New York your first call for CE, licensing or technical questions!
Visit our education calendar to browse our extensive course listing and sign up for the classes you need.
by Mary Byrnes, AAI-M, AU, Director of Education
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Together
IS better! Last week we invited Big I New York local association leaders from across the state to join us for a Local Association Leaders Summit. We held it the day before our fall board meeting so the local and state leaders would have an opportunity to interact. Our goal was simple: to provide resources, ideas, tools and practical ways to give our locals support.
The local association leaders told us ahead of time what they wanted to discuss, and we facilitated. The leaders talked about their group's community service projects, popular events and innovative approaches they are using to promote the Independent Agent in their local communities. The Big I New York staff offered training on digital marketing, approaches to increase engagement with elected officials and showcased exciting member benefits.
The summit exceeded our expectations. Attendees learned from each other, shared ideas, talked about the issues independent insurance agents routinely face, and most importantly, connected with each other.
“Invaluable", “wonderful" and “dynamic" were words that our local leaders used to describe the event.
As I reflect on the energy, enthusiasm and conversations that took place last week, I keep coming back to one theme—together is better. The magic ingredient in last week's summit was the group—the community—the people. Big I New York and the local associations across the state are communities.
When agents engage in activities on the local, state, or national level, they quickly realize that they are not alone. They don't need to re-create the wheel. They don't need to know the answer to every question. They don't need to constantly watch their back. They learn from each other, help each other, make bigger impacts in their communities together and can lean on Big I New York for support and protection.
The Big I New York leadership on the state and local level is amazing. These individuals are bright, creative, passionate and dedicated. They are strong on their own, but better together!
By Lisa Lounsbury, President & CEO, Big I New York
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| Linda Bruno received the 2018 National InVEST Teacher of the Year Award on August 24th at the Big I National Leadership Conference in Springfield, MA. The day prior, Linda spoke to the National InVEST Board of Directors about why she's so passionate about InVEST and how the program is so successful at Dryden High School.
She believes whole heartedly in the InVEST program, it provides the pathway to what she envisioned, to bring the “real world" into the classroom to engage students in learning and developing work skills, professionalism, business etiquette, networking, public speaking, communication, leadership and more. She credits so many people with helping to bring this program to life. There are a host of wonderful volunteers that visit her classroom to speak about their careers in insurance, Dryden Mutual provides internships for InVEST students and are supportive of the program in so many ways, and InVEST students do job shadowing in the local insurance community. Linda's students think so highly of her and Big I New York seconds that! InVEST is fortunate to have such a forward thinking InVEST teacher, CONGRATULATIONS LINDA on this very well deserved National InVEST Teacher of the Year Award.
To find out more about INVEST, visit the INVEST website. If you know a teacher that might be interested in starting an InVEST class with free materials for the classroom, call Big I New York at 800-962-7950. |
| Kathy Lawler represented Big I NY at the IIABA Excellence in Education Awards luncheon at Big I Education Convocation in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Big I New York was recently awarded the IIABA Excellence in Education Award. Why? Simple. Big I New York offers everything an agency needs to develop their employees: - Training Tracks for common positions in an agency. Perfect for a new staff member or cross-training.
- Online, interactive New Hire Training. These courses offer the basics for Personal Lines, Commercial Lines, New Supervisors and Business Skills.
- Producer Training: Risk IQ
- Designation Programs
- Customized, in-house training. We work with members to bring them simple, single-class solutions through comprehensive and complete training programs.
To view our education offerings, visit our Education page.
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| IBHS Offers Resources for Independent Agents to Help Insureds Prepare for Tropical Cyclones and Severe Summer Storms
Subtropical storm Alberto, which impacted areas from the Gulf Coast through the Midwest in late May, is a strong reminder that now is the time for home and business owners to prepare for tropical storms, devastating hurricanes and other severe summer weather. Guidance on how personal lines and commercial lines insureds can strengthen their properties and prepare for fierce summer storms is available from the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) at disastersafety.org.
“Before the next storm strikes, personal and commercial insureds should take a walk around their property," said Roy Wright, CEO and president of the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety. “They should look for and arrange repairs to loose shingles, siding or fencing. Trim trees away from their home or business facility and clear gutters and drains of debris so rain water can move away. These and other simple steps will help prepare homes and businesses and will save insureds time, energy, aggravation and money after the storm passes."
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) forecast calls for 10 to 16 named storms, with five to nine hurricanes. NOAA's outlook indicated one to four hurricanes could become major (Category 3 or higher) with sustained winds in excess of 110 MPH. This follow's 2017 extremely active season, which resulted in more than $200 billion in property losses across the U.S.
IBHS offers numerous resources for independent agents to help their personal lines and commercial lines insureds prepare their properties for hurricanes, tropical storms and other severe summer storms.
For homeowners, IBHS resources include a hurricane preparedness checklist, reducing hurricane risk brochure (English and Spanish versions), reducing hurricane damages to your home guide and protecting your financial assets (infographic).
IBHS also provides numerous resources for business owners to prepare their facilities and operations for tropical cyclones and severe summer storms. This includes a reduce hurricane damages to businesses guide, business protection resources, business protection lessons learned, business continuity planning and tips for protecting financial assets (infographic).
“Preparedness is the key to mitigating risks for everyone in hurricane-prone areas," Wright added. “Insureds can protect their property through maintenance and monitoring, and with flood insurance if they live in an area prone to flooding. If they live or own property along any waterway, flood insurance is something they should strongly consider and talk to their independent agent to learn more about this important coverage."
Wright also emphasized there is a 30-day waiting period for new flood insurance policies to become effective for homeowners and business owners after the policy is bound by their independent agent.
About the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) IBHS' mission is to conduct objective, scientific research to identify and promote effective actions that strengthen homes, businesses and communities against natural disasters and other causes of loss. Learn more at disastersafety.org.
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