Tag: Professional Development

The Importance of Higher Education

Higher Education Day 2023 is an annual event celebrated to promote higher education and its importance in shaping the future of individuals and society. It is a day to recognize and appreciate the value of education beyond high school and to encourage more people to pursue higher education.

Farmers Alliance believes that higher education is an essential part of personal and professional development for any individual. That’s why we offer different channels for employees to develop their skills and knowledge.  

LinkedIn Learning

We provide access to LinkedIn Learning to our employees, which gives them a valuable resource to develop new skills and advance their careers in specific areas they choose. We frequently do LinkedIn Learning challenges, encouraging employees to complete specific topics and share takeaways with their co-workers.

Insurance Education

It’s important to Farmers Alliance that our workforce is highly skilled in the world of property and casualty insurance, and that’s why we invest in our employee’s insurance knowledge through courses offered by The Institutes and IRMI. Whether an employee is just getting started and wants to earn their Associate in Insurance (AINS) or is choosing a lifelong career in insurance and wants to earn their Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation, we provide access to the appropriate training when an employee is ready and compensate them for completing it.

Pursuing a degree

As members of the Farmers Alliance FAMI-ly, employees have a unique opportunity to pursue a college degree without incurring significant costs. Farmers Alliance’s educational reimbursement program allows team members to have up to $5,250 in expenses reimbursed annually if their major benefits both the employee and the company.

I want to advance my skills to be even more effective within my department. Secretly, I want to be the next FAMI nerd!

Natalie Zink, Quality Assurance Analyst

Natalie Zink is a Quality Assurance Analyst in our Enterprise Project Management Office (EPMO). She is taking advantage of this benefit by earning her associate degree in computer science from Barton County Community College. “I’ve been with Farmers Alliance for almost 16 years, and I feel like I’ve found my niche,” said Natalie. “I enjoy the camaraderie I have with Project Managers and Developers in the IT department, and I want to advance my skills to be even more effective within my department. Secretly, I want to be the next FAMI nerd!”

Charitable Foundation 

Our passion for higher education extends beyond our employees, as we have a Charitable Foundation set up primarily to help fund scholarships for students of employees. All employees with children graduating high school with a minimum GPA of 2.5 and entering college are eligible to receive a $1,000 scholarship for the first four years they are enrolled.

It’s clear that higher education is a big deal at Farmers Alliance. That’s why we are pleased to celebrate Higher Education Day 2023.

Brett Hudson, Leadership McPherson Graduating Class of 2022

Brett Hudson Leadership McPherson

Brett Hudson, Senior Product & Compliance Manager at Farmers Alliance, recently graduated from the McPherson Chamber of Commerce Leadership McPherson class. Brett was one of 11 individuals from McPherson County that participated.

Leadership McPherson partners with the Kansas Leadership Center to administer an in-depth, educational program that focuses on developing individual leadership skills, giving participants the skills to move organizations and businesses forward. The participants met several times over a 90-day period and received training from multiple community members as well as instructors from the Kansas Leadership Center. Brett said that “much of the curriculum focused on understanding ourselves and how we can leverage different strategies for interacting with others in more productive ways.  We spent time talking to several community organizations who are working to help youth in the area and discussed options for projects we could do as a class to help them.”

As part of the class, participants were required to plan a project to benefit the youth of McPherson County.  “Most of the community groups we spoke to said that there is a lack of awareness in the community of what services they provide,” said Brett. As a result of their research, the group decided that a Community Connection Fair within the local schools would be an excellent solution to the problem. The fair would allow these community groups to come together in one place to talk with teachers and students about the resources that they can provide. “We are excited about the potential to connect these organizations with teachers and students in our community. There is such a great need for this, and we hope it’s a way we can make the lives of youth in our community better,” said Brett. The fair would be open to both charitable and for-profit organizations that provide youth services in McPherson County. They expect to complete the project by the Spring of 2023.

Farmers Alliance is excited for Brett and what the leadership class has been able to accomplish so far. We are pleased to have great leaders on our team who want to make a difference in their communities.