SDPAA… Who are we and what do we do?
Lynn Bren, SDPAA Deputy Director
The SDPAA has, on several occasions, had the privilege to speak to various groups at conventions, meetings, and conferences. It has occurred to me, that while we reach a lot of people, and sometimes a lot of those same people more than once, what if we are not reaching as many people as we could be? If you missed the meeting, the conference, or zoom call that we presented at, how will I share with you what the SDPAA is and what we do? And when my friend Justin told me that this is the hardest property market he has seen in a generation, I decided that this month, our article is going to give a high-level review to anyone who reads it. So, here we are.
Time Magazine has an article published in March of 1986 which describes an incredibly difficult market for public entities. Coverage back then was either expensive, to the point of being unaffordable for many, or simply unavailable. The commercial market was struggling with emerging risks and trends faced by public entities across the US, not just here in South Dakota. Our Legislature identified the need for an alternative for our public entities and created the enabling statutes. From those statutes, your public risk sharing pools were born.
The SDPAA started in 1987 as a liability pool with less than 10 participants. The focus was to simply provide affordable liability coverage for public entities across South Dakota. A few years later, property coverage began to be offered by the Pool. The goal was, and still is to provide broad property and liability coverage at stable rates. The Pool has grown to over 450 Members in just thirty-six short years.
The SDPAA is governed by an eleven seat Board of Directors. These people are representatives of Members of the SDPAA, as well as the Executive Directors of the SDML and the SDACC. These representatives help the administrative staff focus on providing broad coverage at stable rates. Further, the board supports the SDPAA’s Administrative Staff in their constant identification of trends which public entities across the nation are facing and finding innovative solutions for Member use.
The SDPAA takes a strong initiative-taking approach to loss control and risk management services. These are the tools that our Members need to put them in a better position to identify and mitigate risks, which in turn helps to reduce their claims exposures. The SDPAA provides an array of training opportunities to their Members, including online and streaming service to live in-person trainings on a variety of topics. Loss control and risk management training solutions are provided through partnerships with Safety Benefits, Inc., NeoGov, Aurora Pictures and LERMG. We encourage you to head on over to our website – www.sdpaaonline.org – to find training that fits your needs.
The SDPAA is member focused and service driven. We recognize that the products and services we offer need to put our Members in a better position to serve their citizens. We look forward to the opportunity to continue to offer not only the current portfolio of resources to our Members, but for new and exciting tools yet to come. If you are not a Member and want more information, check out our website and reach out for more details. For those of you who are Members and want more information on what is next, reach out to your favorite SDPAA Staff person, we would love to talk to you!
