First things first…

by Bill Kingsley

All ABATE of Wisconsin insurance coverage is still completely up to date. There should not be any additional insurance needs for remainder of the year and early 2022 – unless a special event is to occur.

 Business Agent Responsibilities Past Year Review – My how time flies… Thanks to all who have helped me in this “new to me” role as Business Agent. It has been a busy year, the learning curve was not insurmountable, and many good things were accomplished. I presented to our BOD last week at the State Meeting, a summary of the overall insurance status, the better insurance coverage that was implemented and the larger costs savings we discovered. Here is a summary of that summary and a few other things I worked on in the last 12 months.

Office and Administrative Specialist. I created and posted this position listing through a Black River Falls area local newspaper and online at indeed.com, review of all applicants, scheduled and conducted interviews of 90+ of candidates. Presented summaries of the most qualified candidates and recommendations to the hiring committee. The committee Selected Marie Furrer – Waukesha.

Insurance / Cost reductions / Better Suited Coverage. General Liability. Reduced costs $5,000+ over prior year. This was accomplished by increased deductible on property / buildings and per occurrences, lowered replacement costs of pavilions, reduced Inland Marine (Products) amounts. Prepared cost/coverage analysis for BOD review and direction. Please note these types of savings are not likely going to repeat in the future. However, I will be looking for better insurance coverage and costs on an ongoing basis. Obtained Business Property Ins. – previously not secured. Secured Summer Hummer Insurance / Permits with a savings over $700 over prior year and over $900 over prior year averages. Track Licensing and Permits. Promoted Use of ZOOM for Web Conferencing with access to all Members.

Thank you for allowing me to serve you this past year as your Business Agent.

Committee Chairs, District Directors and Regional Reps – Please be sure to plan for your appropriate raffle/event licensing – especially while you are preparing your 2022 budgets. If you are in doubt of an insurance of license requirement, please contact me. Also, please be aware that an Incident Report will need to be complete in the event of an injury or damage to property at an ABATE event in your region. Consult your Red Book for the form and details that need to be included. Please reach out to me for any questions on this.

 ZOOM Video & Chat Webcasting – ZOOM has great potential for ABATE. ZOOM can be used for smaller meetings (regional, committee, remote locations) to larger statewide meetings and events. Some of the benefits are; more member inclusion, no limits on any meeting you choose to attend, regional meetings can either be in-person, virtual or both, full interaction, the list is endless… Think about the possibility of attending the monthly BOD meeting from the comfort of your home or get with other ABATE Brothers and Sisters to tune in together. Regional Reps and District Directors are asked to start incorporating these ZOOM meeting into their regular meeting formats. We are going to start by crawling with Zoom before we try walk and run. Please check it out and stay open minded to how we can all benefit by using ZOOM. Please contact your ABATE rep or me for assistance. This is a great low cost, easy to use software program that will allow virtually any of us to attend any ABATE of WI meeting using our mobile or computing devices.

I will be posting pertinent information in my newsletters for the members (at all levels of participation) to use and become more knowledgeable of the behind the scenes details. You are welcome to submit a topic or article for use – this newsletter article is for us.

Sometimes there may not be much news to report, however, I will try to find something timely and of interest. Contact me if you have a topic you would like to see covered.

We are always looking to reduce our costs and spend our Members money wiser while maintaining necessary insurance and licensing coverage while serving our Membership. Suggestions are always welcome!

Should you have any questions regarding Insurance or Licensing (Raffles, fundraiser, etc.) please contact me. My info is listing towards the end of this newsletter. I may not have the answer, but I will get you the answer.

See you at the next Big One!

Bill