Since 2004, our risk management and insurance agency has invited our valued colleagues in the underwriting community to join us one time each year at our “National Holiday Celebration.” While the exact nature of this “national holiday” has become somewhat obscure, the reason for the celebration becomes clearer to me with each passing year. Getting together gives us a chance to thank our underwriters and referral partners for their steadfast support, while celebrating our mutual partnership.

With this year's celebration now in our rearview mirror, I have been reflecting on the vital importance of all our agency's partnerships with underwriters, insureds, employees and vendors.

In the absence of a productive partnership, very little work can get done. We need look no further than Washington, D.C., where the inability of the Republican and Democratic parties to forge a working partnership has resulted in massive gridlock. Before the two parties can even begin to untangle the federal government's fiscal labyrinth, they must first forge a productive partnership.