All of Us Can Benefit from a Mentor   

As this is my last column for Pipeline as NASBP President, I want to first thank the Executive Committee and NASBP Staff in Washington, D.C. for all of their help this year and for all of their hard work in helping the industry and NASBP be the premier protector of the surety bond product. NASBP preserves, protects, and promotes the surety bond industry daily.

In February, we had a very successful trip to Hartford, Connecticut to visit The Hartford and Travelers Bond offices. Even though it was extremely cold due to the “polar vortex,” the executives of these two sureties made us feel at home. The Board and 5-15 Leadership Circle Committee members took time out of their schedules to meet with representatives from these two sureties at each surety company’s home office.

During these visits, the NASBP Board and the 5-15 Leadership Circle Committee members were given a unique opportunity to meet the top executives of a surety company and to obtain an inside look at a surety’s business model and structure and learn more about its business culture and history. Hartford and Travelers each had their executive teams spend a half a day with us. As an added bonus, Travelers happened to have its younger, future leaders in town for training, which provided NASBP representatives a chance to have dinner with Travelers’ leaders and future leaders. The evening presented a terrific networking opportunity for the 5-15 Leadership Circle Committee members. Thank you to Ross Fisher of The Hartford and his management team and to Tom Kunkle and Bob Raney of Travelers Bond and their management team for setting these meetings up and for taking time out of their busy schedules to mentor our Board and 5-15 Leadership Circle Committee members. NASBP started making annual visits to various sureties several years ago, and the Executive Committee sees value in making this an annual occurrence.

One of the most fulfilling things I have done during this year as President was travel to Boston with my close friend and fellow NASBP William J. Angell Surety School instructor, Tom Padilla (pictured, standing). We visited a good friend, Pam Curtin (pictured), whose husband was Past President Jack Curtin, now deceased. As I have said before, and anyone involved with the School will attest, Jack was a great teacher, mentor, and friend. Jack and his close friend, Bill Angell, were champions of the School.

During our visit, we also spoke with the Curtins’ son, Jeremy, who is an alumni of the NASBP School. Tom and I told Pam and Jeremy how Jack continues to be remembered as someone who had a passion for the surety industry and NASBP. Pam and Jeremy were delighted to learn that NASBP named the Level III School after Jack–the Angell-Curtin Advanced Surety School, Level III. We presented Pam a vase, shown in the picture, with an engraved plaque that commemorates Jack’s contributions to NASBP and the School.

Over dinner we shared many stories about Jack and his teachings at the School, including a famous joke Jack told every year to the students. On our way back to the airport, Tom and I concluded that our visit with Pam and Jeremy was “good theater,” a phrase Jack used to describe what he believed instructors for the School should strive to provide to all students.

In closing, the NASBP Annual Meeting & Expo is two weeks away, and my time as President has gone by quickly. Heather and I look forward to seeing you at the Meeting. We feel the agenda is a full one with great content and supports my theme: Mentoring is the Future!

See you in San Antonio!

Lawrence F. McMahon is Executive Vice President/Surety Manager of Alliant Insurance Services, Inc. in San Diego, CA. He can be reached at lmcmahon@alliantinsurance.com.