Risk Services of Arkansas - October 2020

Risk Services of Arkansas - October 2020

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Are Not the End of the World THE MINOR THINGS WE MISS OUT ON

A t the time that I’m writing this, it hasn’t been too long since my wife and I dropped off our youngest daughter at the University of Arkansas to start her freshman year of college. I’ll admit, it took a little while for the impact of that occasion to sink in. Our daughter is the youngest of six, which means that we’ve had at least one kid in college (though for many years it was more than that) since 2008. After all that time, my wife and I are finally empty nesters. Praise the Lord!

called the COVID-19 pandemic. She went through rush week, and the entire, already complex process that the sororities put incoming freshmen through was even more convoluted than it normally is. We have another daughter who’s already gone through the process, so we know how brutal and stressful it can be for all the girls in a normal year. Despite the chaos, our daughter was fortunate to get her first choice, so all is right with the world, for a day! We will soon see what other changes and modifications are required. Over these past seven or eight months, we’ve all missed out on a lot of trips and special occasions because of the pandemic. My wife and I had a few trips planned, since we were going to be the only ones in the house for the first time in decades, but unfortunately we had to postpone or cancel those. Our youngest daughter missed out on prom, her normal high school graduation ceremony, and all the graduation parties that she and her friends would have had. The whole thing really sucks for her age group, and they’re not even the ones getting sick most of the time! And don’t even get me started on college football this year. At this point in time, the Big Ten and the Pac-12 have already canceled their seasons, but I’m very hopeful that the SEC sticks with their original plans and plays at least an inter- conference schedule. At her age, my daughter might feel like a lot of what’s happening, from the stress of rush week to the absence of football, is the end of the world. But the advice that I gave her was that she should major in majors, not in minors. Ultimately, our daughter isn’t in college to rush a sorority or to go to football games. She’s there to study, learn, grow, and mature, which are all things that she can and will do even in the midst of a pandemic. The minor things that we’re missing out on right now, whether they were planned vacations or a “normal” college experience, are not the end of the world. Maybe it’s a good reminder for anyone, whether you’re a college freshman or an empty nester … this too shall pass. Tomorrow will be better!

The three-hour drive back home from the University of Arkansas surprisingly wasn’t very emotional. Honestly, it was just exhausting. We had driven up there in the morning and helped our daughter get moved in and get her dorm room set up, all while it was raining and then steamy hot, and while wearing masks and trying our best to social distance … yeah, right. Then, we drove back on the same day. It was a lot.

As is the case with every other kid starting college this semester, our daughter’s freshman year will look a lot different than it has for previous students because of this little thing that I’m sure you’ve never heard of

Ultimately, our daughter isn’t in college to rush a sorority or to go to football games. She’s there to learn, study, and grow, which are all things that she can do even in the midst of a pandemic.”

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YOU’RE NOT ALONE Learn and GrowWith a Professional Association Business is competitive by nature. If competitors didn’t push our favorite brands to be better, they may not even exist. Our technology options would be limited without Apple’s ingenuity. Shipping options would be limited without UPS or FedEx. And access to our favorite athletic gear would be more limited if no one was pushing the top brands like Nike to innovate. Competition fuels our greatest inventions, but behind every great leader or business is a core network of like-minded people and innovators supporting them. Professional associations connect business leaders to fellow innovators in their industry without competition from local rivals. These organizations offer many benefits and little risk to business leaders looking to grow. If you haven’t yet joined a professional association, these three benefits just might get you to change your mind. Education and Resources Google is great for a quick answer, but when you need to learn something more nuanced, a simple internet search won’t cut it. Professional associations offer tailored, more in-depth help and resources like industry-specific training and webinars, how-to guides, and coaching. From peer advice and education to scholarly studies and reviews, associations act as a library of information for your industry. Networking and Mentorship Why reinvent the wheel when you can adapt it with a mentor? Associations connect you to leaders who have stood where you are standing and succeeded. You can learn a lot from their failures, wisdom, and guidance. You can also connect with peers in your position and bounce ideas off of them. You won’t have to worry about competitors “stealing” your processes, and you have an honest, go-to support team to help you refine A business is only as good as the leader managing it, and all business leaders have room for improvement. An association can give you the tools to get there. And as you continue to learn, you’ll discover personal and professional areas that can be further refined. This personal development only makes you and your business stronger. Are you still not convinced you should join an association? Think of it this way: Your competitors could be growing through their involvement in an association while you remain stagnant. Push forward and connect with your peers today. them before presenting them to your team. Personal Development and Growth

Highest Rate of Increase Since 2012

For the 11th straight quarter, the average price of commercial insurance worldwide increased. This quarter, prices went up 19% — the largest price increase since 2012 — and this was preceded by a 14% increase in the first quarter of 2020 and an 11% increase in the fourth quarter of 2019. The principal driver of this price increase is the concurrent increase in property insurance rates and financial and professional lines. Average property insurance costs worldwide were up 19% as well, and costs for financial and professional lines were up 37% on the same scale. No geographic region diverged from this trend, though there was fairly significant variation in the exact figures. The U.S. averaged an 18% increase in commercial insurance costs. While property insurance costs in the U.S. rose 22%, Europe averaged 15% and the U.K. and the Pacific region both averaged 31%. Underwriters are pushing for higher price increases for different types of insurance as a result of a few different factors. The combined effects of social inflation pressures, large underwriting losses, and consistently lower yields mean that many insurers don’t have the same inclination toward risk. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues with no end in sight, it’s not surprising that so many insurers are more risk averse. The total cost of the ongoing pandemic is still unknown. In a recent article from Insurance Journal, Dean Klisura, president of the global insurance broker Marsh Global Placement and Advisory Services, predicted that prices would continue to increase in future quarters, at least until the total cost of the pandemic becomes clear. While this might not be welcome news for anyone in the market for commercial insurance, property insurance, or many other types of insurance, it’s the kind of news that’s good to keep in mind as we all try to make our way through this turbulent economy together.

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No Beer Should Ever Go to Waste! HOW EXPIRED BEER IS BEING CONVERTED INTO RENEWABLE ENERGY

W hile some people are determined to never let a good beer go to waste, a local wastewater treatment plant outside Adelaide, Australia, wasn’t going to let bad beer go to waste either. Instead, they’re converting it into renewable energy at record levels. hen COVID-19 hit Down Under back in March, thousands of gallons of beer, which had been prepared for thirsty patrons of bars that later closed, went stale. However, instead of just dumping it, bars and restaurants donated the beer to the Glenelg Wastewater Treatment Plant to be converted into biogas, which could then be used as electricity to power the plant. Normally 80% of the plant’s electricity comes from local biogas sources generated from organic matter, but the stale beer has worked particularly well for the process because of its high calorie content. The plant’s “digesters,” large concrete tanks that process sewage sludge, heat the sludge

in an oxygen-free environment. This causes the sludge to safely decompose, producing methane-rich biogas. Beer’s high calorie count makes for much higher levels of heat production than the plant’s regular sources of biogas. The plant is now producing more energy than ever before. In fact, 150,000 liters of expired beer was enough to produce 355,200 cubic meters of biogas during the months of May and June this year. That’s enough energy to power over 1,200 houses for a month! In a world not ravaged by a pandemic, that beer would mostly likely have just been drunk by thousands and thousands of thirsty patrons at South Adelaide’s bars and restaurants. While it’s a shame that no one was around to drink it, leaving it to expire, this opportunity for innovation may never have happened otherwise.

Let’s hope there will be more stories of silver linings like this one as the world continues to weather this storm together.

Have a Laugh!

Easy way out on Pg. 4

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INSIDE This Issue The Minor Things We Miss Out on Aren’t the End of the World page 1 Join a Professional Association and See Your Business Grow Commercial Insurance Prices Increase Again During Q2 of 2020 page 2 How Expired Beer Is Being Converted Into Renewable Energy Take a Break page 3

What Really Happened the Night Martians Invaded New Jersey? page 4

THE NIGHT MARTIANS INVADED NEW JERSEY

Orson Welles Recounts ‘The War of the Worlds’

Higher-ups at the CBS radio studio where Welles delivered the live reading called and told him he needed to stop and remind listeners that this was a work of fiction. The panic, it seemed, was growing as the Martians “approached” New York. A little later that night, police showed up at the studio with the intent of shutting the whole thing down. The next day, the story broke across the country — newspapers reported on mass hysteria and stories poured out that the nation had erupted in panic. However, as we now know, the extent of the panic was exaggerated. In fact, the program didn’t even have very many listeners that night, and most who had tuned in were aware they were listening to a radio play rather than a news broadcast. American University media historian W. Joseph Campbell, who researched the broadcast in the 2000s, found that while there had been some panic, most listeners simply enjoyed the show. It turns out the person who was the most frightened was Welles himself who thought his career had come to an end.

On the evening of Oct. 30, 1938, an eloquent voice graced the airwaves in New Jersey:

“We now know in the early years of the 20th century, this world was being watched closely by intelligences greater than man’s, and yet as mortal as his own. We now know as human beings busied themselves about their various concerns, they were scrutinized and studied, perhaps almost as narrowly as a man with a microscope might scrutinize the transient creatures that swarm and multiply in a drop of water …” And so began Orson Welles’ classic radio broadcast, a retelling of H.G. Wells’ “The War of the Worlds.” Peppered in the retelling were fictional news bulletins informing the public of an alien invasion. Martians had arrived in New Jersey! Some listeners, who had missed the fact that this was a retelling of “The War of the Worlds,” assumed the news bulletins were the real thing. Frenzied, they called local police, newspapers, and radio stations hoping for more information about the invasion. What were they supposed to do?

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