Member Spot Light Karen Buchanan

Tell me about how you became a risk manager? I was mentored by Barbara Goodwin, MBA, CPCU, ARM-E; Partner, Senior Vice President, Sales Executive, USI Insurance Services, starting in 2010, the year I joined PARMA. I was encouraged to pursue my ARM Professional Designation by my former boss Bill Stafford. I started on my Risk Management path by taking a 2-day Introduction to Risk Management seminar taught by Barbara Goodwin in August 2010. I then enrolled in the IEA’s 3-year ARM program and passed the exams for ARM 54, ARM 55 and ARM 56, receiving my certification in 2015. What are the rewards
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California Wildfire Innovation Fund Getting $25M Boost

A California fund to encourage wildfire innovation and lower the severity and frequency of catastrophic wildfire is getting a $25 million boost.

Walnut Creek, Calif.-based CSAA Insurance Group made a $25 million commitment to the California Wildfire Innovation Fund, a climate-solutions strategy to help reduce the severity and frequency of catastrophic wildfires by supporting forest restoration-related economic development.

Tackling Threat of Mudslides in Rain Soaked California

Relentless storms from a series of atmospheric rivers have saturated the steep mountains and bald hillsides scarred from wildfires along much of California’s long coastline, causing hundreds of landslides this month.

So far the debris has mostly blocked roads and highways and has not harmed communities as in 2018 when mudslides roared through Montecito, killing 23 people and wiping out 130 homes.

Strong Storms Put California Levees to The Test

With multiple powerful storms continuing to bear down on California, state officials have warned that rural areas are the most at risk of flooding because the levees that protect them aren’t built to the same standards as others that shield more populated cities.

These rural levees – many of which are owned and maintained by private land owners – mostly protect farmland from flooding and pose minimal risk to most homes. But failures can cause major thoroughfares to flood, as happened on New Year’s Eve when a major highway in Sacramento County flooded and one person was killed.

At Least 20 Apartments Confirmed Damaged in Latest California Quake

At least 20 apartments were damaged by the latest earthquake to rattle the region of Northern California where a stronger quake nearly two weeks ago killed two people and knocked homes off their foundations, authorities confirmed this week.

The magnitude-5.4 aftershock struck at 10:35 a.m. on New Year’s Day about 9 miles southeast of Rio Dell in Humboldt County, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Kyle Knopp, Rio Dell’s city manager, said inspectors on Monday red-tagged 20 residences at a single apartment complex. Knopp said inspections were ongoing and officials expected to find additional homes rendered uninhabitable by the latest quake.

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