10 May, 2013 17:45

Thank you for attending the May Accelerent Breakfast powered by Haas & Wilkerson Insurance. It was a treat to be able to hear Hank Haney speak about his professional coaching career and to learn that I am not the only one in the room with a glitch in my golf swing!

I also want to thank you for supporting the American Heart Association and their Heart Walk scheduled for May 18. If you haven’t had a chance to start or join a team, I invite you to join mine!

1) Click HERE to visit our team page.
2) Click the "Join our Team" button and follow the prompts to register.

Today you were introduced to the next Accelerent non-profit of focus, The First Tee of Greater Kansas City. The First Tee of Greater Kansas City is a youth development organization teaching young people positive values such as honesty, integrity, sportsmanship and confidence while using the game of golf as a tool. The First Tee lessons are taught at five area learning centers and through in-school programs. National independent research has proven that 78% of our participants are learning and using life skills such as goal-setting, interpersonal communication, self-management and resistance skills. Perhaps, most importantly, many of our participants are receiving college scholarships and employment opportunities because of their involvement with The First Tee. All money raised in Kansas City stays here to help local programs.

Today we ask that you consider helping them with their mission by:

• Generating teams for the 2013 Day for the Kids Golf Tournament
  • The 2013 "A Day for the Kids" golf tournament will be held on September 16th at Oakwood Country Club. For the 15th year, Tom Watson will host this limited-field shamble format golf tournament to benefit The First Tee of Greater Kansas City. Playing sponsorships are available for $1,000 and other sponsorship opportunities are available at $7,500 which includes a foursome.
• Generating individuals to attend the Beyond the Fairway Luncheon:
  • Help generate individuals to attend “Beyond the Fairway” luncheons this summer. Luncheons are exactly one hour and are an invitation for guests to see, feel and touch what The First Tee is doing in the greater Kansas City area. Guests will get to hear from Board Members, the Executive Director and active participants of the program. These luncheons are free, you can be assured you will not be asked for money, they just want to introduce you to The First Tee and see if it is an organization you might want to get further involved with.

Thank you for helping The First Tee of Greater Kansas City with their mission to impact the lives of young people in the Greater Kansas City area by providing learning opportunities and educational programs that promote character development and life-enhancing values through the game of golf. My team and I look forward to seeing you at a future Accelerent event.

12 April, 2013 21:19

With the Royals in first and baseball on everyone’s mind, it was a pleasure to hear a former Major League Baseball speak during today’s Accelerent Breakfast. It seems that Kansas City might never forget about the infamous trade for Ed Hearn, World Series Champion, but I hope guests of this morning’s breakfast will never forget his tale of perseverance and passion for thinking outside the self and making a difference for other people.

I would like to thank you for making a difference by helping Sleepyhead Beds. Your collective donations of bedding, beds, and cash have already made an impact on hundreds of children throughout Kansas City. Please keep Sleepyhead Beds in mind as you continue to clean out your closets and storage areas.

This morning, guests at breakfast were introduced to the next Accelerent non-profit of focus, the Kansas City chapter of the American Heart Association. With a mission to build healthier lives free of cardiovascular disease and stroke, the American Heart Association works to improve cardiovascular health of all Americans by 20% while reducing deaths from cardiovascular disease and stroke by 20% by the year 2020. There are many ways to support their cause, but we are asking that you participate in the 2013 Kansas City Heart Walk.

The Kansas City Heart Walk is a noncompetitive walking event that raises donations to fight heart disease and stroke. This year the Heart Walk takes place on Saturday, May 18 at Theis Park Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri. Dollars raised provide funds for cardiovascular research and local community education programs for adults and children – over 100 percent of all money raised goes directly to these initiatives in Kansas City. The 2013Heart Walk goal is to sign up more than 10,000 walkers and raise $1,000,000 from corporate donations and the general public.

Let’s help them meet their goal.

• To get inspired, watch a short video highlighting the Heart Walk, visit

• To volunteer or join a Heart Walk team, call the American Heart Association at (913) 652-1913 or visit www.kcheartwalk.org.

“Accelerent, go out and make a difference.” Ed Hearn

Thank you for helping the American Heart Association and participating in the 2013 Heart Walk.

8 March, 2013 22:07

The keynote speaker at today’s Accelerent Breakfast, Commander Kirk Lippold, wove his tale of the USS Cole in with his Five Pillars of Leadership in a way that made it clear that if you give your staff the tools they need , they can in turn do great things for you. It was powerful and inspiring.

I would also like to thank my staff and Accelerent Partners for helping Harvester’s Community Food Network. Just today I received an email from the Food and Fund Drive Coordinator letting me know how much they appreciated the exposure as well as the donations. Haas & Wilkerson Insurance gathered a total of 584 pounds of food which equals 449 meals for our community. Harvester’s is still in the process of collecting donations from multiple locations, but I know my staff and my Accelerent partners made a powerful impact on their organization.

Today I would like to introduce you to the next Accelerent non-profit of focus, Sleepyhead Beds. A local children’s charity, Sleepyhead Beds believes every child deserves a bed. Their mission is simple: they take new or gently-used beds and bedding and redistribute it to the hundreds of Kansas City-area kids who either don’t have a bed, sleep on the floor or sofa, or share a bed with two or more siblings. Their services not only benefit the community, but also the environment by keeping hundreds of large , bulky mattresses and box springs out of area landfills.

Some statistics:

• In the greater Kansas City metropolitan area, 1 in 42 children will go to sleep without a bed.
• In 2012 Sleepyhead Beds diverted 1,500 mattresses from landfills to a needy child.
• A $10 gift provides a bedding packet that includes a new pillow, gently used or new sheets and a blanket to be distributed along with every bed.
• A $40 gift pays for the agency to pick up a donated bed, sterilize, sanitize, and redeliver to a needy area child.
• A $100 gift covers the cost of a new crib, gently used mattress, and bedding packet to be given to an area baby in need of a safe place to sleep.
• A $250 gift covers the cost of an entire month of fuel needed by Sleepyhead Beds to pick up and deliver beds.

There are multiple things you can do THIS WEEKEND to help Monica and Sleepyhead Beds get beds to kids in need:

1. Download the Lantern App and Sleepyhead Beds earns a quick $1 donation per download between March 8-10. If you need a link, click here.
2. Clean your closets of all the bed linens and blankets you never use and drop them off at any of the 8 local SleepOne stores (find your nearest location here).
3. Learn about volunteering and donation information at www.sleepyheadbeds.org.
4. LIKE Sleepyhead Beds on Facebook here and share it and the information above with your friends and network.

Thank you for helping Sleepyhead Beds get children off the floor and into a bed.

Social Awareness: Harvesters Community Food Network

Today’s Accelerent Breakfast keynote speaker, Kyle Maynard, was inspirational. I enjoyed the way he described his personal challenges and how he lives his life by overcoming difficulties with No Excuses. It is quite a message and one that I feel can be taken back to the workplace and applied during difficult times.

I would like to thank my staff and my Accelerent partners for helping Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Kansas City exceed their January goal of generating nearly 80 new Bigs for their program. It is clear that as a collective group we can make an impact and I am excited to shift our attention to Harvester’s Community Food Network.

Harvesters’ mission is to feed hungry people today and work to end hunger tomorrow. As this area’s only food bank, Harvesters is a clearing house for the collection and distribution of food and related household products to more than 620 nonprofit agencies throughout a 26 county area of northwestern Missouri and northeastern Kansas. Providing assistance to as many as 66,000 different people each week, Harvesters needs our help. You can help by giving time, giving money, or giving food.

Many people checked out collection bins at this morning’s breakfast. Some people noted that they wished to contact Harvesters at a later date to discuss ways they and their organization can help. If you are interested in hosting a food drive at your place of business, please contact the Harvesters food drive team at 816.929.3055 or email fooddrive@harvesters.org.

Social Awareness: Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Kansas City

Over the years, we, the staff of H&W, have eagerly and actively participated in a wide variety of fundraising opportunities in an effort to give back to our community. Together, we have made an impact. Going forward, I would like to invite you to be a part of Accelerent Kansas City’s new social awareness program.

Accelerent Kansas City is comprised of 50+ business in and around the KC Metro. At last week’s Accelerent breakfast, Ryan led a call to action asking all the Accelerent partners and their guests (nearly 400 in attendance) to support the local nonprofit organization, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Kansas City.

There are over 500 kids who are waiting for a Big Brother, Big Sister or Big Couple, and our goal is to recruit 30 new Bigs through our Accelerant contacts. Please take a few minutes over the next few days and think about those that you know that would make a good Big. If you find someone who is interested pass this link along to them – http://www.bbbskc.org/beabig. After filling out this short form someone from Big Brothers Big Sisters will contact them to walk them through the program. If you prefer you are invited to attend Big Brothers Big Sisters Big Picture Lunch on Wednesday, January 30 from Noon-1:00 at the BBBS Office located at 3908 Washington Street.

At next month’s Accelerent breakfast Ryan will announce to the partners another nonprofit in need of support. I will in turn invite you to be a part of the social awareness program.

Thanks for helping Big Brothers Big Sisters create life-changing friendships.

Haas & Wilkerson powers Accelerent Kansas City

What a crazy and historic last few weeks. First, a massive hurricane hits the heavily populated east coast of the United States devastating many communities. Insurance loss estimates are currently in the $20 billion range. Sandy is currently the 3rd largest insured hurricane loss on record, trailing only Katrina and Andrew. The insurance industry has plenty of capital to handle the huge volume of claims that are coming, but these losses may exacerbate an already firming insurance marketplace. Rates will likely rise for both homeowners and business owners. Expect to pay a little more for your insurance at your next renewal as we all kick in to offset insurance company losses.

Then in more recent news, Barack Obama was re-elected president after a challenging campaign. Hopefully the president and congress can work together to continue and accelerate needed financial recovery. Obama’s re-election will hasten the enactment of “The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” ; commonly known as “Obamacare”. This legislation will impact every person in America. Make sure that you are knowledgeable about your health insurance options and are prepared for the enactment of Obamacare.

Not nearly as historical as a hurricane or a presidential election, but just as important to me, is becoming the title sponsor of the Kansas City Accelerent Chapter. We are thrilled to join this community of great companies and look forward to learning the power of Accelerent from all of its current members.

As I consider the membership, I realize we are a community of business leaders who are joined together to leverage the network. Over the last few weeks, I have been thinking about how we can expand that network: to harness the power of Accelerent and the spirit of our collective organizations.

Kansas City is a tremendous place. One of the great things about KC is the caring spirit of the people. I believe that we can use the Accelerent platform as a powerful tool to make contributions to the city, both philanthropically and civically. This outreach will not only be great for the city, but will benefit our companies and coworkers as well. It is a great way to grow Accelerent brand awareness and create new relationships that will hopefully lead to more sales. Our contribution to the greater Kansas City community will grow as we grow. I hope that you will join me and Accelerent in these efforts as it will surely benefit us all.

My team at Haas & Wilkerson couldn’t be more excited about Accelerent. We are a 3rd generation family owned Kansas City business that was founded by my grandfather Ralph Wilkerson and his partner Al Haas in 1939. Throughout our many years in business one thing has remained a constant at Haas & Wilkerson: our customers come first. Their success is our success. We pride ourselves in providing industry leading consultative risk management services to all of our clients. Among our areas of strength is our commercial insurance division, where we insure local and regional business of all sizes. Our personal lines department which insures homes, autos, boats and other toys and trinkets. We also have a great Surety department to assist our clients with their bonding needs. And through our affiliation with McInnes group we can provide a complete portfolio of health insurance products for individuals and companies. We truly believe we can provide our clients with a one stop risk management shop.

Again, we are very grateful for the opportunity to join the members of Accelerant and we look forward to working with them to grow the Accelerent community.

Ryan Wilkerson

Adapted from a speech given during the November 9, 2012 Accelerent Breakfast

Entrepreneurial Story: Centric

Over the last few weeks we have been fortunate to add several new clients to the H&W family. I want to highlight one as I am personally enthralled with their entrepreneurial story. Centric Projects is a new construction firm founded by three highly accomplished young construction professionals. After learning their craft at some of the best commercial contracting firms in the Kansas City area, they decided now was the time to go out and form their own company. They see the opportunity of a recovering economy and are taking the entrepreneurial risk to get out there and build a company from the ground up. You can learn more of the Centric story on their website at http://www.centricprojects.com.

Haas & Wilkerson Insurance was formed by two great entrepreneurs, Al Haas & Ralph Wilkerson, back in 1937. Together they turned a start up insurance agency into one with national prominence. It is an honor to follow their footsteps and to continue to promote the values that they used when building this business. Many may look at the national economy and get concerned. I for one look at it and believe we are here to help our customers prosper in difficult times. There is opportunity to be had out there, just ask the team at Centric.

Best wishes to all of our customers and friends. I hope the summer proves to be prosperous and safe.

Sincerely,

Ryan Wilkerson