Spring brings rising temperatures, extended daylight, and blooming flowers. Though the cold weather and icy road conditions of winter are gone, it’s important to remember that the spring and summer months have their own hazardous weather conditions that require preparation.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Terry Bush, Director of HR Services at Kruggel Lawton CPAs. We hope you enjoy Terry’s wisdom and perspective.

I’ve been fortunate to be in the accounting profession my entire career thus far. It's incredibly rewarding and also a bit ironic. Rewarding in that I get to work with talented, motivated, enjoyable people every day, something for which I feel very lucky. Ironic in that my academic background is human resources, and I wasn't planning or expecting to join this industry.

Countless people have influenced my life, mostly for the good I’d like to think. Perhaps I’ve discarded memories of those whose impact wasn’t positive or hopefully I’ve forgiven them. At any rate, lately I've been thinking about some of the people who have had the most significant and positive impact on my career. These individuals have taught me so much. Taking the time to reflect on these relationships has been quite valuable.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger, Dr. Eric Bricker, Chief Medical Officer of Compass Professional Health Services. We hope you enjoy Dr. Bricker’s wisdom and perspective.

The February 28, 2017 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published an article by Dr. Michael Fischer and Dr. Jerry Avorn entitled, “Step Therapy—Clinical Algorithms, Legislation and Optimal Prescribing,” that explains the benefits of step therapy, an approach intended to control the costs and risks posed by prescription drugs.

Step therapy is a relatively new program offered by insurers and pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs) that requires patients to try lower cost or generic medications before they can ‘step up’ to a more expensive medication.

According to the National Safety Council, motor vehicle deaths increased 6% in 2016 over the 2015 data, with an estimated total of 40,200 lives lost. The annual death toll from car crashes hasn’t surpassed 40,000 since 2007, so the new data is concerning.

Why such an increase? Officials say part of this escalation can be attributed to higher road density. An improving economy and higher employment rates combined with lower average gas rates to put more drivers on the road, and these motorists are covering more ground.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Jim Spuller. Jim has 40+ years of sales, marketing, and leadership experience and now provides sales training and leadership as a Business Development Consultant for Gibson. We hope you enjoy his wisdom and perspective.

How important is connectivity and what are the benefits? When people speak of connectivity today one thinks of the internet via LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or the like, but the lost art of human connectivity is the subject of today’s blog. While I am clearly an advocate of technology, there is something missing with the lack of personal interaction.

What’s your favorite holiday? If you ask anyone at Gibson you likely won’t hear the standard responses of Christmas, Halloween, or their birthday. Instead they’ll say Statement Day.

So what is Statement Day?

As an ESOP, our employees are all owners in the organization. They all have the opportunity to earn additional funds for their retirement based on the financial performance of our company. Statement Day is the annual event where we announce the company’s most recent stock valuation, and explain to employees what this means for their retirement. They receive a statement showing their new retirement account balance.

On Friday, March 24, 2017, Republican leaders withdrew their overhaul of the nation’s health care system, commonly referred to as repeal and replace, from the House floor. What this means for employers is the employer mandate, tax reporting, measurement periods, and employee tracking remain part of our daily activities. “Obamacare is the law of the land for the foreseeable future,” said speaker of the House Paul Ryan.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger Andrew Berlin, Chairman & CEO of Chicago-based Berlin Packaging, Chairman & Owner of the South Bend Cubs, and a Partner Owner of the Chicago Cubs. We hope you enjoy Andrew’s wisdom and perspective.

Today we’re sharing insight from guest blogger GenieBelt, the creator of a construction software and mobile app. GenieBelt’s blog and infographic address an important construction risk management concern – corruption. Unfortunately corruption is all too prevalent in the construction industry, as you’ll see from their data. In order to manage this risk, we need to first understand where it stems from. We hope you enjoy GenieBelt’s insight on this important construction risk management topic.

The construction market is huge – so huge that it is estimated to be worth more than $3.2 trillion per year and make up for 2-3% of developing countries’ GDP and 5-7% of developed countries’ GDP. 

The amount of losses through corruption range between 10 and 30%, which together with mismanagement and inefficiency makes up for close to $6 trillion losses. These numbers highlight the size of the problem and why eradicating corruption would make a big difference for the industry and for the overall economy.

It’s the 21st century business nightmare. A cyber-attack. A modern “monster” with many faces. Hackers can trick your employee into disclosing sensitive information. They can figure out a weak password. A virus or malware can leave your data vulnerable. The mobility of devices or laptops makes them easy to steal—and any data stored on them can often be stolen just as easily. Hackers can scramble your network and demand a bitcoin ransom to release it. They can down your website with bot traffic. They likely have other ways to get to data we haven’t even heard about yet.

And once they have your data, you can’t stop them from using it; you can only manage the fallout. That costs you not just time, but money too. For example, dealing with compromised personal information often requires attorneys, information technology specialists, a public relations firm, notices to the affected individuals, and identity-theft coverage for them too.

For modern businesses, then, cyber insurance has become a necessity. It can cover many of the costs you incur from a cyber-attack. But how do you know if you have the right coverage and enough of it?