4 minute read
From Your President
From Your President In the Blink of an Eye
We have a preacher at our church who has spoken often of how our world can be turned upside down in the blink of an eye. We all experienced this in March, and it mattered not how large or how small our agencies were or where we were located. COVID-19 has affected every person in this state and we’ve all been forced to adjust our ways of doing business and our lifestyles either by force or by choice. Independent Agents have once again demonstrated how resilient we are and our ability to adjust to ever changing circumstances never ceases to amaze me.
I have been on call after call and watched as agents have come together to help their fellow agents. They have shared their ideas and what they have learned with those that were struggling with how to implement change. While we all compete with each other for clients we also realize we are all better when each of us is the best we can be. That is what I have observed these last few weeks, agents helping their fellow agents be the best they can be. We all are striving to attain the same goal and that is the capability to serve our clients to the best of our ability.
Change Creates Opportunities
We’ve all had to learn to do things differently and this includes your Association. Most of the staff have been working remotely with Ashley and Daniel still coming into the office. Throw in a couple of severe weather events in the Nashville area and needless to say things have been somewhat challenging. With all that has gone on they have continued to keep us very well informed with timely information on the many different topics that are so critical to independent agents during this pandemic. We will all get through this and we will be stronger in having learned during the process.
One of the events impacted was the Agency Growth Conference. While we will not be meeting together in Nashville, your Insurors team has worked hard to deliver the same conference but in a virtual setting. This is an opportunity to involve more people from your agencies and see firsthand what a great event this is.
Help Support Our Efforts
If you have not been to the Big "I" website, at www.iiaba.net – I would encourage you do so. They are literally working around the clock to protect our interests on Capitol Hill as well as keep their members up-to-date on the latest developments. There are numerous links providing information on: how to handle BI claims, non-owned auto coverage, information on the do’s and don’ts of working remotely, and PPP loan information just to name a few. From an advocacy standpoint they are representing our concerns on overzealous legislation that would endanger the financial health and stability of the companies we all represent.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, your PAC contributions to both the state and national PACs are more important than ever. I have been in this business 37 years and have never seen times that are going to test our businesses and our way of life as they are today. Like it or not it takes money to effectively fight these fights and we desperately need your help. As a note of clarification, we support two different PACs, the first being InsurPAC National that is used at the Federal level and the second is InsurPACTN that is used in our legislative efforts here at home.
What Lies Ahead?
And as our hopes turn to returning to some type of "normal," it’s also time to start thinking about this year’s convention scheduled for October 10-13 at the JW Marriott in downtown Nashville. While there is no way to know what the status of large gatherings in Nashville will be in October it would be helpful to know what your comfort level would be in attending such a gathering. Please feel free to reach out to Ashley, Daniel or myself and let us know your thoughts.
In the meantime, let's all keep helping each other, which will in turn help our communities and our country. u
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