“Stanberry Insurance has shown tremendous growth and profitability through the last 3 years and we are pleased to include them in our 2010 group of Champions Club agencies. We will continue to work closely with Stanberry Insurance to provide benefits and support,” stated Brad Moock, Assistant Vice President of Business Development with Builders Mutual Insurance Company.

Headquartered in Raleigh, Builders Mutual is one of the Southeast’s leading writers of commercial insurance for the residential and commercial construction industries and is rated A (“Excellent”) by A.M. Best Company. Since its inception, Builders Mutual has broadened its territory beyond North Carolina to include the District of Columbia, Georgia, Maryland, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. The company provides coverage to more than 14,000 policyholders through more than 3,000 sales agents and employs more than 160 staff at its Raleigh headquarters.

Stanberry Insurance contributed $500.00 to the relief fund that ultimately was a donation to the American Red Cross in the amount of $234,782.00!

“We’re grateful for the generosity of community partners like Erie Insurance,” said Pam Masi, executive director of the Erie Chapter of the American Red Cross.  “With your help we’re making an immediate difference in Haiti.”

Photo by: Mark Haskett

Providing insurance may be the Stanberry family’s specialty, but the company’s owners have yet other forté — serving their community.
“We want to make it a better place in our own little way,” said Scott Stanberry, who co-owns the business with his brother Kevin.
The Stanberrys have found multiple avenues to staying involved in Jackson County, from coaching Little League baseball to collecting cans for food drives to consistently being a lead donor in local walks to end cancer.
Kevin and Scott say they are just eager to give back to the community they’ve called home for decades.
“We’re from here so we definitely stay involved and try to help out,” said Kevin.
The Stanberrys’ commitment to the community is evident to anyone who drives past their Sylva office. Instead of using the marquis outside for promotional purposes, the company opts instead to display community-focused messages.
Recently, the marquis invited passersby to drop off teddy bears for children in need. This free advertising helped build up a pile of teddy bears in a big cardboard box inside the Sylva office.
Every year, Stanberry Insurance employees take part in a charitable Christmas project, with the latest one involving collecting food to give away in backpacks to hungry children.
Stanberry Insurance also regularly contributes to local nonprofits and sponsors local sports teams. Athletes in elementary school all the way to those at Western Carolina University receive financial support from the company.
Having a commitment to the community while simultaneously operating a successful business is a skill Kevin and Scott learned while growing up. Their father would wake up each day at 5 a.m. to get work done and still have time to coach Little League baseball and make it to Kevin and Scott’s baseball and basketball games.
Kevin and Scott have learned well from their parents, expanding the business to two new locations in Waynesville and Highlands since taking over. When their father and mother opened Stanberry Insurance in 1980, they only had one other employee. Now, the number of employees has swollen to 30.
Though everybody at work isn’t a Stanberry, a family atmosphere still persists at the office.
“We have people who worked for our parents that still work for us,” said Kevin.
But it’s not just the employees that want to stick around.
“This is home,” said Kevin. “I don’t think of ever living anywhere else.”

Published in Our Town 2010 • Vol. 5

Distributed by the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce

With highly publicized debates regarding health care reform, one issue that has not been addressed is the government’s cuts to Medicare payments for cancer care. These cuts are by an overwhelming 25% since 2004.

Here are a few examples:

Starting 2010 through 2013 cuts will be made that will ultimately lead to a 20% reduction in payments for life-saving cancer drugs

Payment cuts for imaging tests such as PET and CT scans that are used to detect and manage cancer

A 21% cut in payments for all physicians’ services that goes into effect March 2010

When you take in to account that 84% of Americans with cancer are treated by local cancer centers; cuts in Medicare not only affect the longevity of those with cancer but can also lead to unemployment that could cripple small communities. About 50% of cancer treatment is paid by Medicare, so it is obvious that a reduction in payout by Medicare will increase a cancer centers expenses. When the operating costs are greater than the revenue, many of these clinics will be forced to reduce staff or even close all together. Joseph Verdirame, M.D. wrote in the Omaha World-Herald “Medicare currently reimburses us at less than our acquisition cost for nearly half of the cancer drugs we administer. If the difference is small, we are able to treat the patient in our office. But if the difference is large or the patient has no Medicare supplemental insurance, we are forced to refer him or her to the hospital for chemotherapy. Some of the rural hospitals we deal with also do not have the wherewithal to treat these patients. We are willing to give away our time, but we cannot afford to give away expensive cancer drugs forever. If we did, we would be out of business. Can we really afford to lose the source of 84% of America’s cancer treatment options?

From this information, you can easily see how this may affect you, your family, and your community. If you feel a call to action and want to help, we have a solution for you! Our only opportunity to stop this process is to contact your elected officials and make it known that you want to maintain the best survival rate and quality of life in the event that you have or are diagnosed with cancer. Here are two ways you can accomplish that:

Sign the Community Oncology Alliance “Petition to Stop Cancer Care Cuts” http://www.communityoncology.org/coa-petition/

Search Congress.org to find the contact information for your elected officials to email, call and write so they know where the people that put them in their position stand on this important issue. http://www.congress.org/congressorg/officials/congress/?lvl=C&azip=Your%20ZIP%20code%20here

If you need ideas on communicating with an elected official then use this link http://www.congress.org/communicate

This is not about crossing party lines or political statements. This is about the treatment of Americans that have and will get cancer and making sure that the fight to survive is not extinguished by bureaucracy.

References:

http://www.omaha.com/article/20091222/NEWS0802/712229979

http://www.communityoncology.org/coa-mission-statement/?section=aboutcoa

Relay For Life is a life-changing event that gives everyone in communities across the globe a chance to celebrate the lives of people who have battled cancer, remember loved ones lost, and fight back against the disease. At Relay, teams of people camp out at a local high school, park, or fairground and take turns walking or running around a track or path. Each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event. Because cancer never sleeps, Relays are overnight events up to 24 hours in length.

There are several traditions held at the event. The Survivor’s Lap kicks off the relay event and is an inspirational time when survivors are invited to circle the track together and help everyone celebrate the victories achieved over cancer. The Survivors Lap is an emotional example of how Relay participants are creating a world with more birthdays like those of each individual on the track.

After dark, we honor people who have been touched by cancer and remember loved ones lost to the disease during the Luminaria Ceremony. Candles are lit inside bags filled with sand, each one bearing the name of a person touched by cancer, and participants often walk a lap in silence.

Last, there is a Fight Back Ceremony, where we make a personal commitment to save lives by taking up the fight against cancer.

Cancer touches so many people. From loved ones to co-workers, neighbors and friends-everyone knows someone who has been diagnosed with cancer. No matter where you are, there’s a place for you at Relay and you can make a difference today by signing up online to start your own team or by simply making a donation. We will be glad to have you as part of our Stanberry Insurance Agency team!

As recently as October of 2009, WNC felt the tremors of a 2.5 magnitude earthquake just 20 miles south of Asheville. Though that quake was not classified as severe, our history does show how surprising and costly earlier quakes have been. In February of 1916, a 5.2 earthquake caused Waynesville residents to flee into the streets, as chimneys toppled and windows cracked. The intensity of the largest earthquake in North Carolina history was felt throughout the south east region to include residents of Alabama, South Carolina, Kentucky and West Virginia. Move forward to 1928. Many seniors in Asheville recall the earthquake that struck that November. It is recorded that there was panic in the theaters, homes damaged by falling items, chimneys leveled, the cracking of home foundations and broken water lines. Other notable earthquakes were reported in 1935, 1957, 1969, 1970 and 2007.

Growing urban development and buildings that have been built prior to current building codes increase the potential costs of recovery each year. Going forward, we must understand that to prepare for the recovery of one of the above listed losses, we need to take a hard look at our insurance coverage. A standard homeowners or business property insurance policy does not contain coverage for earthquakes. The good news is that you do not need a separate policy to protect yourself and your most valuable possessions from devastating loss. Earthquake coverage can be added to existing policies to cover against damage to the structure of a covered building, your personal property contents and ‘loss of use’ coverage that will pay for a place to live while the repairs are being completed to your damaged home.

Adding this coverage today might increase your premium in the short term, but not adding could be financially devastating in the future.

Links

• http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/last_event_states/states_north_carolina.html
• http://insurancenewsnet.com/article.aspx?id=153461
• http://www.heritagewnc.org/WNC_natural_disasters/earthquakes.htm
• http://www.geology.enr.state.nc.us/Geologic_hazards_earthquakes/earthquakes.htm
• http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/states/index.php?regionID=33