Pub. 10 2020-2021 Issue 1

4 O V E R A C E N T U R Y : B U I L D I N G B E T T E R B A N K S — H E L P I N G C O L O R A D A N S R E A L I Z E D R E A M S www.coloradobankers.org BY JIM PERRY, VP REGIONAL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, GOLDEN EAGLE INSURANCE Managing Risk in an Uncertain Time L ess than four months into the 20s of the 21st century, uncertainty hit our world and our economy in ways that can aptly be described as unprecedented. Our country and our industry face challenges on a scale that would have been hard to imagine only a few short months ago. When I first sat down to write this article, I intended it to be an introduction to blanket lending insurance concepts and an announcement of our company’s desire to work with Colorado banks. While I still hope to accomplish those goals, I now believe it is inappropriate to attempt to do so without acknowledging the adversity that we’ve been facing and displaying sensitivity to the new financial and human context that the health crisis brings to our industry. The novel coronavirus that continues to spread throughout the world and our nation is harrowing. Doctors, nurses, caregivers, and local and national leaders are grappling with how best to face down this unseen adversary. Families have been forced into straightened circumstances andmake difficult choices daily. Employers must find ways to stay afloat while doing what they can for their employees. While there can be no doubt that this crisis will take a heavy toll upon our nation, I have confidence that we can band together as an American people and look back upon this trying time with pride in our efforts to weather this storm, as we have weathered so many others in the past. Community banks will have a vital role to play in that effort. The community banking industry touches almost every facet of American life and is intimately tied to our fortunes as a nation. From enabling families to purchase a home or automobile to powering small business and agriculture, community banks are a mainstay of our nation’s success and provide a personal touch and sense of community that vastly improves the experience of the customer. As they enable Americans to live out their dreams, community banks also take on much of the risk associated with unforeseen events. Bill Jones founded Golden Eagle Insurance in 1995 on the principle of helping banks manage that risk through innovative blanket solutions, and that remains our calling card to this day. Community banks have always wrestledwith onemain issue when it comes to tracking insurance on their loan collateral: staying properly protected at an affordable price. Since uninsured losses are rare, lenders rightfully try to minimize expenses and staff time spent on tracking insurance. However, the risk of a large uninsured loss and the regulations dictating that loans be properly tracked lead to costs that are higher than desired. Those high costs include: • Employee pay, taxes and benefits • Management time and expense • System costs of tracking • Postage and phone expense • Letterhead and envelope costs for notification letters • Training expense