The holiday season will make the month of December speed by and my term as President complete. You may not know that I-Day is not just a one day event for a few of us. Ted Lussem, Kevin Seward and I had the opportunity to visit several companies on November 9th with Mike Koscielny, President Elect of the CPCU Society. We stopped at The IMT Group, EMC Insurance Companies, Grinnell Mutual, Nationwide, GuideOne and NCMIC and had to the chance to speak to new designees, members of the Iowa Chapter, future designees working towards their CPCU and executives of these companies to encourage participation in the Society and completion of the CPCU designation.
On November 10th we celebrated almost 50 of our new designees. You and our new designees are among 2% of the industry professionals with a CPCU. Congratulations to all. We hosted two speakers who talked to us about Personal Lines. Ray Thompson indicated that small companies can compete in this competitive market through local expertise, value added services and intelligent underwriting. Kim Hazelbaker encouraged us to review the top safety pick on the IIHS website to learn how safe your car is compared to others.
We also honored Kevin Seward with the Burkhalter Award at I-Day. Kevin has made outstanding contributions to our profession. He has worked for Farm Bureau for 30 years, holding several different positions and currently is the Claims Project Coordinator. He has also served our local and national chapters in the following roles: President of the Iowa Chapter in 2007, Diversity Committee member, Chapter Governor, and Board of Ethical Inquiry for the Institutes at the national level. Kevin was also presented with the Iowa CPCU Excellence Award in 2010. Congratulations Kevin.
We have one final event for 2016 at the Wakonda Club on December 15th at 3:00 p.m. Alison Cate from EMC Insurance Companies will be speaking to us about Generations in the Workplace.
The 2017 Annual Meeting package is now available. Once purchased, you are automatically registered for all of our 2017 chapter meetings and I-Day 2017. We are looking forward to a great year of learning about risk management, ethics, and career development from local companies and their leaders. We will also learn about diversity, compliance and regulation, wine making at the Jasper Winery, the Global Insurance Accelerator, 3D printing, and business continuity at I-Day next year.
I am ending my term as President with the thought I started with- volunteers. I could not have made it through this year without the help of the entire board. Thank you for your commitment to the Iowa Chapter. The success of our chapter is due solely to these volunteers. Volunteering as a board member is the #1 way to network in our organization and I have enjoyed the hours spent together with you. No matter which company you work for today or in the future, I will remember your commitment and how much time you spent in service to our Chapter. The year has been a great blessing and I have learned more about leadership without the risk of a salary impact or a performance review. If you would like to serve on our board and learn more about leadership, please contact Adam Haugerud or me to volunteer. I hope that you continue to stay engaged in the CPCU and become a lifelong learner.
Have a great holiday. I look forward to 2017 and seeing you at a meeting!
