Eric Swanson is a Crop Underwriting Manager at Country Financial and one of the charter members of the Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau’s Emerging Leaders Program. The program, currently in its first year, is helping to build the next generation in the field of crop insurance through a better understanding of the way government and the private sector work together in the program.
According to Swanson, the program is excelling in that goal. As a participant he has had many experiences meeting with the many people who influence the world of crop insurance, like Congressmen and Senators, people at the USDA and Risk Management personnel. It’s eye opening, he says, to see the faces and meet the people who make it all run. And it wasn’t as intimidating as he expected.
“I think it’s broadened my perspective tremendously. Just understanding the breadth of what’s involved to make this program run. We can sometimes get caught in the day-to-day. Part of what my job is, is to pay attention to the day-to-day and can sometimes get lost in the weeds. So to come up for breath a little bit and take a much broader view of what’s involved to make this program successful, that I’ll take of the rest of my career.”
Swanson strongly urges others to participate in the program as well. He praises the staff, saying they created more than activities, but provided the group with meaningful events.
Hear more about the program here: Interview with Eric Swanson, CIRB Emerging Leaders Program