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On
Wednesday, August 16th, The Doubletree Hotel/O’Hare
Airport provided the backdrop for ARM National’s
2006 Long Range Strategic Planning Meeting. Attendees of
this one-day meeting in Chicago included ARM’s Board
of Directors as well as ARM’s State Executives.
The idea for such a meeting solely devoted to strategic
planning arose out of discussions at the Board of Directors’ and
State Executives’ meetings in San Francisco during
the national conference in May of this year. Both groups
had been asking themselves the same question, “What
do we want ARM to look like going forward?”
In preparation for the meeting, Board members and State
Executives were individually asked to do some homework
by brainstorming and listing those items they felt belonged
on a strategic planning agenda. No idea or thought was
off limits . . . all were encouraged to think with a very
open mind.
Larry Johnson, Chairman of ARM National, states: “As
the landscape of the insurance marketplace continues to
change at a rapid pace, ARM member agents are looking to
their own organization as a focal point for not only solving
problems, but also as a conduit for greater growth and
profit opportunities. The collective knowledge and skills
of the ARM Board members and State Executives was never
more evident than at this Strategic Planning Meeting. Many
excellent ideas were brought to the table, and it was evident
that the group is willing to work to transform many of
these ideas into reality in the future.”
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Tim Cunningham from the Chicago consulting firm Optis
Partners facilitated the meeting, allowing Board members
and State Executives to focus 100% of their attention to
the task at hand. After a morning of group discussions
and an afternoon of small group breakouts, three items
surfaced as key items ARM should focus on as the organization
looks into the future:
- Aggregation of Markets – with the potential
of master contracts on a national basis
- Group Buying – such
as Agency E&O, Training & Education,
Health Insurance
- Member Expansion – in existing
states and new states
The next step will be to take these three items off the
drawing board and put into motion. Some preliminary talks
and actions have already taken place at the Executive Committee
level, but the next significant “push” will
take place at the Fall Board of Directors meeting.
Johnson adds: “As the meeting came to a close, I
couldn’t help but think that ARM has many bright
days ahead. As always, our ability to communicate and articulate
our direction will be critical to our success.”
By Scott Spangler |
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