Sheri Bane kicked off the 2016 Crop Insurance and Reinsurance Bureau Annual Meeting with her opening remarks. When Chuck Zimmerman caught up with her later he was able to learn more about the organizations first year with the Emerging Leaders Program.
“We had company representatives nominate up and coming leaders within their organizations,” Bane explains. “Those six people began the program late last year. They came to Washington D.C., they visited with legislative offices. They have been in what we call the bowels of the RMA, the NCIS, all the places where they can really learn what makes crop insurance run and how the processes work and how the interaction between the government and the private companies play out.”
Like farmers, the demographics of the crop insurance business is nearing retirement. Members who have been navigating the politics since the inception of crop insurance are now focusing on passing along their knowledge to a new generation. The young, fresh energy is what CIRB is looking for, Bane says, to build the relationships with the people in the agriculture offices who will be moving around D.C. as their own careers grow. These connections will be valuable.
Bane encourages crop insurance companies to nominate new faces for the next round of the program. Participants take part in trips and meetings usually reserved for employees who have worked their way up in the company, but these opportunities allow the transfer of knowledge in a small industry.
You can hear more about the program in Chuck’s interview here: Interview with Sheri Bane, COUNTY Financial and CIRB Chair