VIRGINIA LOGGERS ASSOCIATION: COLLABORATION BUILDS ON MUTUAL SUCCESS

Ron Jenkins, Executive Director, Virginia Loggers Association

Forestry Mutual Insurance and Virginia Loggers Association (fill in your favorite trade association) have and continue working together to create or achieve great safety and strong growth for loggers and wood products businesses.

You might question the idea of how a trade association and an insurance company could collaborate and create something great.

This short message will tell you exactlyhow it can be done.

We will lay out a scenario for your consideration to clearly and precisely show that collaboration between different types of organizations is all part of an important team effort and that collaboration builds on mutual success.

You see, it was not too many years ago, Virginia Loggers Association was a fledgling trade association created by and held together by a small band of dedicated loggers who wanted something better. They worked long hours while putting together a trade association that would one day help all loggers.

One day in the first years of VLA's development Forestry Mutual Insurance came along and took an interest in what loggers were trying to accomplish and said this is "good." Forestry Mutual Insurance looked even deeper to see loggers were not represented well by other trade associations and needed to become the masters of their own destiny.

Loggers wanted to have sound, sustainable businesses that were the safest in the industry. Forestry Mutual Insurance saw the loggers' commitment and shared with VLA that they wanted to serve and be the best. FMIC could provide great Workers' Compensation Insurance and a superior loss control program to help logging, and wood products businesses grow and build upon their achievements with a peace of mind if a disaster did occur.

Both were seeking to be great organizations with the goal of providing superior services. The collaboration began in the mid-2000s and continues today.

FMIC brought great Workers' Compensation Insurance to logging & wood products businesses. This would help them sustain during major calamities that can put companies out of business and create unimaginable pain and suffering.

Competitive industry best policies were backed with intense loss control with emphasis on details, training, and repetitive message reinforcement. Loss control agents, administrative, and management became friends with business owners, and deeper bonds were built.

Logging and forest products' companies could now work towards achieving their political and policy goals with the expansion of VLA as their Voice grew in legislative and regulatory matters. These businesses could now grow, expand, and new businesses would be created while the owners could know their deepest vulnerabilities would be protected and secured.

The two entities found that collaboration could build rapidly and securely on mutual success, and each is genuinely helping the other with important things. A strong, undeniable trust developed and remained deeply seated within many of the business owners.

FMIC and VLA grew over the years and achieved much independent success as well as mutual success. Over time the two became mutually dependent on each other, and each achieved much growth.

Lessons from the relationship between FMIC and VLA are many, but one of the most important is how two independent and different organizations can help each to grow and build on mutual success. During the good and bad times, the power of collaboration prevails without waiver, and VLA is proud to have this in their history and legacy.