Friday, October 7, 2011

Insurance Coverage and Your Bottom Line


By John L. Watkins, Partner, Barnes & Thornburg, LLP, Atlanta

Insurance is the one thing a business needs to have that it hopes never to have to use. Many businesses go years without having to call on their insurers to perform and a lucky few may never have a claim. However, when a claim or lawsuit arises, you need your insurer to perform and to handle the claim promptly and professionally. Although many insurers act professionally, many also deny coverage for claims when the only thing standing between a business and financial ruin is the insurance policy. Often, the reasons for denying claims are questionable, if not clearly wrong. Here are a few things you can do to make sure your insurance company will be there if you need it.



  • Make sure your insurance agent or broker understands your business. Insurance should be the foundation of a company’s risk management program. An agent or broker can provide the right insurance only if he or she takes the time to understand your business. If an agent or broker is interested only in taking orders, you need to take your business elsewhere. As your company grows and becomes more complex, make sure that your agent has the sophistication to provide tailored and comprehensive coverage.

  • Keep copies of all insurance policies in an accessible location. When someone calls me about a potential insurance coverage issue, it is surprising how difficult it often is to get copies of the policies. Policies should be kept in a central and accessible location. It is also a good idea to scan policies and to keep copies on a server off-site, perhaps on a cloud-based server that can be accessed anywhere. Note: insurance certificates are not policies, and declaration pages (a page or two that outline policy limits) are only a small part of the policy. Insurance policies are typically many pages long. Make sure your agent or insurer delivers complete copies of the policies.

  • If you have a claim, or events happen that may give rise to a claim, notify your insurance carriers immediately. Insurance carriers often deny claims that would otherwise be covered because the insured did not give timely notice of the claim. The safest course is to put the carrier on notice of the claim in writing and to receive acknowledgement from the carrier that it is on notice. Check the policy for any particular requirements for giving notice. Notice to your agent may not be enough.

  • Understand the insurer’s basic obligations. Most insurance policies impose two basic obligations on an insurer: To defend (to hire and pay for a lawyer to defend lawsuits and claims) and to indemnify (to pay for settlements or judgments). As a general proposition, an insurer’s duty to defend is broader than its duty to indemnify. This is important because often an insurer will agree to provide a lawyer to defend a case – thus saving the insured thousands of dollars -- even if it is not sure that the claim is covered or completely covered.

  • Beware of potential limitations in commercial general liability policies. Commercial general liability (CGL) policies are often the backbone of business insurance. However, many insurers have loaded up their policies with so many exclusions (either in the policy or on endorsements to the policy) that a broad range of potential claims may be excluded. Your agent should review the exclusions with you. All policies are not the same and it is often possible to get endorsements that limit exclusions. It may also be possible to obtain other types of coverage to plug gaps in the CGL coverage.

  • Make sure your agent is familiar with new specialized types of coverage. There are many types of specialized insurance policies that cover risks that may be excluded by CGL policies. Examples include “media tech” policies that provide coverage for trade secret violations and certain types of breach of contract, cyber liability policies (which can, for example, cover losses due to hacking and the release of personal information), and environmental impairment liability or pollution policies.

  • Do not simply accept an insurance company’s determination that a claim is not covered. If your insurance company denies a claim, or if it issues a “reservation of rights” letter (a letter stating that it will cover a claim for now, but may deny later), do not simply accept the insurance company’s determination. Insurance companies often incorrectly deny claims. In such circumstances, an agent may be of some help, but you really need to see a policyholder’s insurance coverage attorney. A coverage attorney can tell you whether or not you should fight the insurance company’s decision. A coverage attorney may be able to convince the insurer to reverse its decision without the necessity of litigation. If litigation is necessary, coverage attorneys are not afraid to take on insurers.

  • Your policies may cover more than you think. We sometimes refer to insurance policies as buried treasure because many businesses forfeit coverage by not calling on their insurers to act when they should. As noted above, insurers will often agree to defend a case if part of the case is not covered or if there are coverage questions. This alone can save a business many thousands of dollars. Insurers can also often be convinced to pay claims if there is a legitimate (although perhaps not certain) basis for coverage. If it is necessary to litigate with an insurer, courts may not accept an insurer’s arguments. Earlier this year, for example, the Supreme Court of Georgia rejected an insurer’s arguments seeking to avoid coverage for construction defect claims. Georgia law is clear that ambiguities regarding coverage are to be resolved in favor of the policyholder.

ACityDiscount.com/Peach Trader Makes Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Company List

(Norcross, GA – Sept 21, 2011) ACityDiscount.com/Peach Trader has been listed as one of the 5000 Fastest Growing Companies in the US by Inc Magazine.

The Inc. 5000 List of the fastest growing privately owned companies in the nation was released in August of 2011. ACityDiscount.com/Peach Trader was ranked at number 4,258 according to percentage revenue growth from 2007 through 2010. The company, whose offices had been based in the same southwest Atlanta warehouse since 1973 and has since expanded to a 60,000 square foot showroom in Norcross, was one of only 75 Atlanta companies on the 2010 Inc. 5000 list.

The family-owned company, ACityDiscount began selling used restaurant equipment in 1973. A successful experiment selling new kitchen appliances on eBay in 1999, led to CEO, John Stack, opening Peach Trader Inc. later that year. This enabled Stack to focus the company’s expansion into supplying new food service equipment and developing its online presence. While the company continues to be an eBay Titanium PowerSeller, today, approximately 80% of the company’s revenue is achieved through selling new commercial kitchen equipment, refrigeration, bar equipment, ice machines, concession equipment and restaurant furniture through its online store and the major shopping comparison websites.

To qualify for the Inc. 5000 List, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by the first week of 2007, and able to show four full calendar years of sales. Additionally, they had to be U.S.-based, privately held, and independent as of 12/31/10. Revenue in 2007 must have been at least $200,000, and revenue in 2010 must have been at least $2 million. The number of employees listed is 39 as of 12/31/10.

Snapshot of ACityDiscount.com/Peach Trader

Rank on Inc 5,000 list: # 4,258
3-Year Growth: 24%
2010 Revenue: $15.5 Million
2007 Revenue: $12.5 Million
Employees: 39
Employee Growth: 15
Founded: 1973
Industry: Food & Beverage
Industry Ranking: # 122

To qualify for the Inc. 5000 List, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by the first week of 2007, and able to show four full calendar years of sales. Additionally, they had to be U.S.-based, privately held, and independent as of 12/31/10. Revenue in 2007 must have been at least $200,000, and revenue in 2010 must have been at least $2 million. The number of employees listed is as of 12/31/10.

See ACityDiscount.com/Peach Trader Inc 5000 Profile here:

http://www.inc.com/inc5000/profile/a-city-discount

Contact: Catalina Franco (404) 752-6715 ‎

Wealth Horizon to Host 6th Annual “Celebrating Wonderful Women” on Oct. 20!

Chairman’s Club member, Wealth Horizon, is hosting their 6th Annual “Celebrating Wonderful Women” event at St. Ives Country Club, Duluth on Thursday, October 20th from 6-9 pm. ALL female Chairman’s Club members are cordially invited to join us.

This event which was the brainchild of J. Jerri Hewett, CFP®, President and founder of Wealth Horizon, has been tremendously successful. Jerri started the no cost event as a way to honor ordinary women that do extraordinary things. Inspirational speakers in the past have included a holocaust survivor, leaders of various nonprofits and an executive of a Fortune 500 that left corporate America and opened a retail business selling products made by women in third world countries.

This year’s speaker will be Stephani Victor, a five time Paralympian Medalist. Please come share Stephani’s incredible, inspirational story of rebirth after surviving a terrible accident, amputation of both legs and how she is now a 5x Paralympic Medalist winning five medals to date. Live entertainment will be provided by Lori and Frank O’Brien of Atlanta Special Events, also Chairman’s Club members. This is a really fun night to network and meet other wonderful women in our community as well.

Cocktails and Dinner are our pleasure to provide for you.

RSVP to Paula Van Sickle at 770-840-8440 or paula@wealthhorizoninc.com
by October 12th

~Our Guest Speaker ~
Stephani Victor ~ Her Personal Story of Winning!
5x Paralympian Medalist ~ Skiing

Corus360 Celebrates Expanded LEED Gold Compute, Data and Recovery Center with Open House

Technology firm marks growth with interactive networking event


ATLANTA (October 4, 2011) – Corus360, an Atlanta-based technology solutions firm, is celebrating its expanded LEED Gold Compute, Data and Recovery Center with an Open House event from 3–7 p.m. on October 27. The event, titled “The Flight to Data Center Efficiency,” will take place at Corus 360’s headquarters, 130 Technology Parkway in Norcross, and includes a Technology Infrastructure Leadership panel, educational sessions, hors d’oeuvres and door prizes.

Attendees will be able to participate in a number of educational sessions presented by event sponsors Synnex, Dell, Hitachi, IBM, HP, EMC and Radware. Sessions topics include: Virtual Platforms, Storage Solutions, Data Center Efficiencies, Hactivism, Attack Mitigation and more. Tours of the newly expanded LEED Gold Recovery Center will be available to attendees, along with the opportunity to visit an IT vendor showcase featuring the latest in data center and technology solutions. The program will culminate with an interactive panel discussion featuring technology infrastructure leaders from a number of local and national businesses.

“Corus360’s focus on current IT needs and trends serve as the catalyst for this open house,” said Corus 360 Chairman Mark Metz. “We are pleased to provide this interactive forum and invite members of the IT community to join us for an afternoon of knowledge sharing and networking.”

To register, please visit https://www.regonline.com/corus360recoverycenteropenhouse.

View the open house web commercial at: http://tinyurl.com/Corus360dataopenhouse


About Corus360
Corus360 is a technology consulting and solutions company with more than 10 years of success delivering infrastructure solutions, recovery and consulting services that help organizations reduce costs, increase efficiencies and maximize productivity. Corus360 helps organizations solve business problems, reduce costs and enhance efficiency by devising, recommending and deploying business-aligned technology solutions. We specialize in best of breed infrastructure solutions, IT management consulting, application development, Data Center technologies, disaster recovery, managed services and enterprise applications. For more information, visit www.corus360.com.

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Thursday, May 5, 2011

Only Eight Days Left for Great American Clean Up Project!


Attention Gwinnett!

We have EIGHT days left to fulfill our goal of 100 organizations to complete a Great American Clean Up Project. We have 64 FANTASTIC organizations that have already stepped up to the plate.

So, if you see one of these organizations please be sure to thank them.

And, if you haven't already completed a project, then please do so! Remember, you can make it simple. You can clean up a parking lot. You can plant a tree. You can recycle at your child's sporting event this Saturday. EVERYONE can choose to reuse your paper at the office. Print on the back side of the paper and then recycle it once you're finished! Ask the organizations next door to you to start recycling! Be creative or go to the website for ideas. www.gwinnettcb.org

We have 63 participants. We need 36 more by NEXT SUNDAY. We can't do this WITHOUT YOU!!

Help make Gwinnett County the Greenest and Cleanest Community in America!


Make it a great day!
Cathy Nichols and Pam Ledbetter


Great American Cleanup – 2011 Participants


1. Jackson EMC


2. Cardiovascular Group


3. Russell Landscape Group


4. Brand Mortgage


5. Garrard Construction


6. Georgia Gwinnett College


7. The McGarity Group


8. Mobile Communications of Gwinnett


9. Gwinnett Village CID


10. Gwinnett Chamber


11. The City of Norcross


12. The City of Suwanee


13. The City of Lawrenceville


14. The City of Lilburn


15. Gwinnett Health Department


16. Accent South Media


17. Andersen, Tate and Carr


18. Canvas Systems


19. Cisco


20. The Kindergarten Classes of Wesleyan School


21. The Varsity Boys and Girls Track & Field Team of Wesleyan School


22. Pinckneyville Middle School Recycling Club


23. CAB, Inc.


24. Cornerstone Christian Academy


25. Gwinnett Place CID


26. Precision Planning


27. Gwinnett Medical


28. The Brand Banking Company


29. Advanced Disposal Systems


30. Waste Management


31. Brookwood Park Homeowner's Association


32. Gwinnett Station Apartment Homes


33. Arlington Capital


34. Moore, Stephens, Tiller


35. Madison Ventures


36. Wheeler Brand


37. Lowes


38. Aveda


39. Greening Forward


40. Mill Creek Key Club


41. Gwinnett County Public Schools- Facilities and Operations


42. Trilogy Park HOA


43. North Hampton HOA


44. Nestle


45. Solo


46. Community Foundation of NE Georgia


47. AGCO


48. Sugarloaf Korean Baptist Youth


49. BSA Troop 21


50. World Outreach Church fro All Nations


51. Idlewylde Apartment Homes


52. In Memory of Sabrina Stanek


53. Compass Research


54. Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine – GA campus


55. Quantum Bank


56. Mobile Communications of DeKalb


57. Georgia Power


58. City of Lawrenceville


59. Collins Hill Eagles Lacrosse U-13 Boys Team


60. Collins Hill Eagles Lacrosse U-15 Boys Team


61. Vanguard Cleaning Systems


62. American Cancer Society


63. Gwinnett County Tax Commissioner's Office


64. Collins Hill Lacrosse League


65. Mobile Communications of Gwinnett Management Team

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Family Promise of Gwinnett Hosts Second Annual Bed Race


Lawrenceville – On April 16th Family Promise of Gwinnett County will host their 2nd annual Bed Race. The event will be held at the Historic Lawrenceville Courthouse square with food, inflatables and face painting. The event will run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will be a fun event for the entire family.


David Chandley of WSB-TV2 will be the Grand Marshall for the parade and announcer for the race, where five person teams will push their racing beds around the square.


The day's events will conclude with the Fanatic Fan Fundraiser gala at the Gwinnett Place Marriott. Come join us and wear your favorite team colors. The MC of the event will be former director of sports from WSB-TV2, Chuck Dowdle. There will also be other sports figures from the Atlanta area. Music will be provided by Sounds of Motown.


For ticket information you can call 678-376-8950 or go to www.familypromisegwinnett.org to learn more.


Family Promise of Gwinnett County, one of 161 affiliates in the United States, assists homeless children and their families find affordable housing and employment.

Nancy Yancey Wins Humanitarian Award


DULUTH, GA - On Tuesday, March 2nd before a room full of executives and advocates passionate about ending homelessness in our state, Rainbow Village's CEO Nancy Yancey was honored by the Georgia Alliance to End Homelessness with the coveted 2011 Essential Piece Award. Through this award, GAEH recognizes annually one individual that truly models service, collaboration and leadership in the mission to end homelessness. Recipients exemplify innovation and exceptional service and offer unique programs that are making a real impact on the state of homelessness in Georgia.


Yancey was shocked to learn that she had even been nominated. As CEO Nancy is the face of Rainbow Village throughout the community but she is far more comfortable singing the praises of her staff, board, volunteers, community partners and residents than she is touting her own accomplishments or taking credit for the great work that they do. Nancy was so touched to discover that it was her own staff that came together to nominate her for this prestigious award. Though the organization as a whole has been recognized often through the years, they felt it was time for Nancy to get the personal recognition she deserved for her outstanding leadership and vision.


"Nancy is long overdue to receive recognition for what she has given to the families of Rainbow Village," said Lynette Ward, Rainbow Village's Director of Adult Programs. "She is not just the CEO; she is the heart of Rainbow Village. For 18 years she has been an anchor, an encourager, a believer in people, a voice of reason and inspiration. She's touched so many lives. I hope that by receiving this award she sees how much we value and appreciate her and her commitment to our mission."


Ward was once a resident of Rainbow Village. As a graduate of the program, she understands first-hand the impact this community–based transitional housing program has on the lives of homeless families that pass through.


"Thanks to Nancy's vision and guidance Rainbow Village has evolved into a comprehensive recovery program that enables homeless families to successfully return to a life of self-sufficiency. I know. I'm living it!" said Ward. "We are successfully breaking the cycles of homelessness, poverty and domestic violence one family at a time. Nancy is so committed not only to the mission, but also to each and every person that comes through our doors. She has a huge heart that was made for this very purpose."


As Rainbow Village celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, Nancy is passionately leading the charge to expand the vision for Rainbow Village and the impact it has on our community in the years to come. Exciting new plans, soon to be unveiled, to build a new all-inclusive campus that will allow Rainbow Village to triple the number of homeless families they can serve. Nancy shares, "I am truly grateful to receive this award. It would be my hope that this recognition will help us draw more attention to the needs of homeless families in our community, build the community's confidence in the work that we do, and inspire people to become more involved."