Education

​​​​​​By Jim Lombardo, CPCU, AAI, AIM, MBA, AVP of Learning & Development​​​​​ Ahhh, Risk Management… isn't that the core of what we do for a living? We help people and businesses manage risk. Well, over the past number of weeks, we've all been participating in, witnessing, or have been affected by risk management. Here at Big I NY we've had several meetings, phone conversations and desktop chats about the coronavirus. Questions include “How do we handle things like upcoming events, regularly scheduled education classes and visits to our member agencies? I can tell you that the opinions are at polar opposites, from “oh my, I don't…

​​​​​By Jim Lombardo, CPCU, AAI, AIM, MBA, AVP of Learning & Development​ I want to share a bit about an event I was part of recently at SUNY Oswego. Working closely with their Career Services Department, we put on a "Careers in Insurance" workshop for some students in the college's Insurance and Risk Management major. I was fortunate enough be joined by one of our member agents as well as some staff people from Utica National and NYCM. I truly appreciate these professionals taking some time in their very busy schedules to help me with this event. Each presenter spent 15-20 minutes talking to the students about…

​​​​By Jim Lombardo, CPCU, AAI, AIM, MBA, AVP of Learning & Development​​ Today, let us focus a bit on education and training- specifically training. I read a quote somewhere from a CEO of a large company—I don't quite recall who it was but I certainly recall what he said. When asked, “Why do you spend so much time and money on training when those employees might leave?" His answer floored me. He said, “What if we didn't train them and they stayed??"  Brilliant answer!! Let's look at that a bit more closely… “An investment in knowledge pays the best interest"- Ben Franklin “Education costs money, but…