The annual conference of the Vermont Captive Insurance Association (VCIA) will take place next month in Burlington — and I, for one, am very much looking forward to it.
NRRA has exhibited at the conference every year for more than two decades, and with good reason. For starters, VCIA and other captive insurance associations are vital to the wellbeing of our industry. We want to support them.
Also, many RRGs are domiciled in Vermont and hold one board meeting each year in the state, coinciding with the VCIA conference. That makes the conference an excellent opportunity to meet with key RRG players and update them on developments in the industry from NRRA’s perspective.
Finally, many sponsors of the VCIA conference are also sponsors of NRRA’s annual conference. VCIA gives us a chance to show our support for these companies, which we highly value and greatly appreciate.
Bringing CRISP to VCIA
This year, NRRA is doing something new and innovative at VCIA: In addition to our own booth, we’re sponsoring a separate booth, next to ours, for our CRISP outreach effort. In addition to sponsoring the CRISP booth, NRRA and/or its sponsors will be paying for the qualified students’ transportation costs, lodging expenses, registration fees, and more.
CRISP stands for Collegiate Research Initiative Shadow Program. It shows college students a side of RRG and captive insurance that is interesting, engaging, and challenging. CRISP endeavors to attract them to careers in our industry.
As I’ve said before, the future of the RRG industry lies in today’s young people. Once you get young people coming in, a great deal of technological innovation is likely to follow.
At VCIA, the CRISP participants will learn to network with each other and with industry leaders. They’ll be able to “shadow” a leader for an entire day. Since the CRISP booth will be right next to NRRA’s, you can bet I’ll keep an eye on the students and provide them with information and advice.
The CRISP attendees will bring what they learned at VCIA — as well as what they will learn at the 2019 NRRA conference in October — back to their fellow students at their colleges and universities.
I Want to Speak with You!
I encourage all VCIA attendees to come up to the NRRA and CRISP booths and chat. Additionally, if you see me elsewhere on the conference floor, don’t hesitate to say hello. I’m eager to engage with as many people as possible, because I know we can learn a great deal from one another.
Hope to see you in Burlington!
Warmest regards,
Joe Deems
[For more information about the VCIA conference, click here.]
Joe Deems has been the executive director of the National Risk Retention Association since 2011. An attorney, he earned his law degree from Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles. Joe lives in Tarzana, California, with his wife, Sharon; they’re now “empty-nesters” following the graduation of their two children, Evan and Marissa, from college.