7 minute read
Under the Hard Hat with UCANE’s Officers and Board Members
with UCANE’s Officers and Board Members
Can you give us some information on your background and tell us why you decided to get into the insurance business?
I graduated in 2010 from Western New England College where I majored in finance and economics and also played football for four years. My first job out of college was as a high school football coach and a part-time teacher in West Hartford.
In 2011, I began my insurance career as an entry level account manager at Traveler’s home office in Hartford. I worked in the Equipment Breakdown and Property Coverage Division. Travelers offered me an opportunity to enroll in their Underwriting Development Program, which was a two-year rotational program that involved both classroom and field training across all lines of business insurance. In 2014, I accepted Traveler’s offer to relocate to their Braintree Office, where I became an account executive concentrating on the Eastern New England construction market. Working for the underwriter, I began interfacing with area contractors, as well as our partner insurance agencies.
How long have you been with DeSanctis Insurance Agency, and what is your role there?
As their Traveler’s underwriter, I developed a great working relationship with the DeSanctis Agency and I recognized how solid the firm was and how well respected it was within the industry. In 2016, I joined Adam DeSanctis and his team. I work in a great team atmosphere where service to clients is our number one goal. I’m currently an Account Executive/Producer focusing on the Construction Market. In this role I interact closely with our heavy and utility contractor clients, many of whom are UCANE members.
UCANE Board Member Jordan Tirone DeSanctis Insurance Agency, Inc.
How long has your company been a member of UCANE and why did you decide to join the Board of Di-
rectors?
The DeSanctis Agency has been a member of UCANE going back to the 1970s when our founder Robert (Bob) DeSanctis was heavily involved in UCANE and also served on the Board at one time. His son Adam has followed his father’s tradition as a strong UCANE supporter and once I understood what UCANE was about, I wanted to be a part of it too. I attended some committee meetings and Board meetings for a couple of years and I was flattered when the UCANE officers asked me to become a member of the Board of Directors.
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In the December 2020 issue of Construction Outlook magazine, I submitted an article that highlighted some of the driving factors impacting the insurance industry as a whole, which unfortunately, are not limited to the pandemic. Feel free to pull it out of your archives or go to the UCANE website to view it. www. ucane.com/publications. But, if there is something that this past calendar year has taught us, it is that we all are a little – if not much more – resilient than we may have estimated and that makes me optimistic for the remainder of 2021 and beyond.
2020 saw our country and almost every industry suffer through a global pandemic. It is still impacting some operations well into 2021. How was your company and the overall insurance industry impacted by COVID-19 during 2020 and into 2021?
2020 was, needless to say, a bit of a roller coaster. Our number one goal is always to support our clients and 2020 was no exception. With so many unknowns, we were working around the clock to grasp how our industry (carriers and coverage in particular) would respond to and support the effects of the pandemic, as well as the regular day to day operations, that as an essential industry supporting another essential industry could not skip a beat.
Logistics, for everyone, were a challenge at times, but with technical procedures in place and overall working as a team, we were able to pivot rather seamlessly. The insurance industry as a whole was certainly impacted during the past year. Overall affects are still being evaluated, but some fallout can As we approach the half-way point of 2021, how would you rate the state of both the heavy construction industry and the insurance Industry as it relates to horizontal contractors up to this point, and do you think a Federal Infrastructure Bill will help both markets?
In a vacuum I personally think that we are in a much better place than if I were asked a year ago to predict where we would be continued on page 53
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mid 2021. Contractors are ready to “get back to normal” and normal (at least in recent years) is tower cranes lining the Boston skyline and the sound of heavy machinery on our local and state roads.
The rising price of materials and the shortage of skilled labor has become very concerning across many industries. These two issues seem to be evolving daily and many will say they are “keep you up at night” issues. We are continuing to monitor this from an insurance and surety perspective and to advise our clients to pay close attention to material and labor availability and inflation when preparing bids and looking at completion dates.
In regards to the Federal Infrastructure Bill, UCANE has done an outstanding job breaking down the details and allocation of funds that could benefit UCANE businesses. I recommend digging into these details to see how they might impact you individually. The intent of the bill is certainly encouraging from a construction perspective, but it goes without saying that there is a hefty price tag associated with the bill. I would say that overall, I am cautiously optimistic for both of our industries. Crushed Stone & State Specified Dense Graded Base
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What would you like our membership to know about being a Board Member?
Being a UCANE Board Member is incredibly rewarding. The UCANE staff (and government relations associates) do an outstanding job preparing and organizing the meetings on a monthly basis. With my focus in the construction insurance industry, I find it personally rewarding to participate in the monthly meetings, to be a resource for the Board, and to offer my perspectives on the latest insurance news that affects contractors (and associate members as well). Likewise, as a Board Member, I have the opportunity to hear firsthand the current issues/concerns that are happening “on the streets.” I can digest that information and bring it back to my “day to day” business in order to best serve and advise my clients within my capacity. n
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