Adjusters International: a national powerhouse

UTICA — Hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, tornados, fire — they are all classified as natural disasters. Add to this oil spills, terrorist attacks, and arson — they are examples of man-made disasters. To an organization or business that has sustained a disaster, who negotiates and expedites the claim and maximizes the financial recovery?

Enter Adjusters International (AI), a disaster-recovery consulting organization headquartered in Utica. Formed in 1985 by 13 regional insurance-adjusting companies with offices originally in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, and Puerto Rico, “the founders wanted to create a consortium of regional [insurance-adjuster] powerhouses to handle large disasters,” says Ronald A. Cuccaro, president and CEO of AI. “We wanted to maximize our opportunities and be able to handle Fortune 500 companies and other large entities … Today, Adjusters International [a C-corporation] includes seven insurance-adjuster companies which are all stockholders.”

The stockholders are the seven regional corporations: Adjusters International Colorado, Inc. (Denver), Adjusters International Corporation (Seattle), Globe Midwest Corporation (Detroit), Greenspan Adjusters International, Inc. (San Francisco), The Goodman-Gable-Gould Company (Rockville, Md.), The Greenspan Company (Los Angeles), and Basloe, Levin & Cuccaro (BLC – Utica). BLC was founded in 1908 by Frank Basloe, a local real-estate broker who helped his clients with insurance claims.

“Since 1985, we have served 25,000 clients,” says Cuccaro … “Our national reach includes 275 employees in 45 offices [two offices located in Hawaii and one in British Columbia]. AI headquarters employs 27 full time, of whom 24 live in Central New York. … The company also retains 160 who work part time on a project-basis. The concept of a consortium is not unlike what accounting firms do today when they affiliate with an international group of independent [entities]. The difference here is that the regional companies own all of the stock in the consortium.” AI is licensed in all 50 states.

Adjusters International shares space with BLC in a 25,000-square-foot building at 126 Business Park Drive in Utica. The original 10,000 feet was constructed in 1995 on 2.2 acres, and an additional 15,000 feet, which included a large training center, was added in 2006. BLC employs 32 full time, of whom 18 live in Central New York. BLC is a sub-S corporation; Cuccaro is the sole stockholder and also serves as BLC’s president and CEO.

“BLC offers its services through seven offices covering Massachusetts, New York, New Hampshire, northern Pennsylvania, Vermont, Maine, Rhode Island, and some of Connecticut,” notes Stephen T. Surace, senior vice president and chief operating officer of BLC as well as the CFO of AI.

“In 1996, AI began competing against large engineering and consulting firms for RFPs (request-for-proposals) from public entities such as schools, states, municipalities, and not-for-profits for assistance with their recovery of FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) disaster funding following presidentially declared disaster events,” says John W. Marini, a vice president and chief operating officer of AI. Marini joined AI in 1991. “We have responded to requests for help after hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Wilma, and most recently Sandy … We helped the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, [which] owned the World Trade Center, after 9/11. The state of Louisiana called us in to deal with the damages caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill resulting from the BP [British Petroleum] explosion in the Gulf [of Mexico]. And the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority turned to us when the ‘Big Dig’ tunnel in Boston collapsed.”

“In the FEMA model, AI is paid based on time and expenses. The insurance model is usually based on receiving a small percentage of the funds recovered,” says Surace, “although we may also be paid for time and expenses, as was the case consulting on the BP spill.” Marini adds that “… AI always has 180 personnel with a variety of specialties ready to respond just to a FEMA-related operation.

Marini contends that, “AI is the nation’s premier disaster-recovery consulting organization in the country.” To back up his claim, he points to “… our ability to respond to any problem anywhere. It doesn’t matter what the size or scope the job is. Further, we are the only agency that can handle FEMA in-house, without having to farm out any operations.” Surace points to “… the size of the AI network and the depth of its technical capacity and experience.” Cuccaro adds: “… AI helps its clients to get back to business as quickly as possible. No one else can do this as well.”

Cuccaro, 68, Marini, 52, and Surace, 38, are joined on the executive team by Jeffrey Shaw, 42, a company vice president who operates from an office in South Carolina and has been part of the organization for about 20 years. Shaw brings more than two decades of experience in disaster recovery and specializes in the FEMA Public Assistance Program. He has been actively involved in AI’s hurricane operations. His expertise includes dispute resolution and appeals.

“Our business model [at AI] works very well,” says Cucarro. “No one can afford to sustain a national staff to anticipate every disaster. Our regional offices blanket the country, allowing us to respond quickly and move resources to wherever they are needed … Our business is growing because people continue to build along coastal areas and where there are natural disasters. It’s growing because very few [entities] can handle large disasters. There is simply more property with exposure, along with more severe weather events, like rising sea levels.”

Cuccaro also points to the company’s ability to attract and retain seasoned employees as a key to AI’s success. “We have a very strong labor pool in the Utica area,” he says. “There are a number of retirees and engineers from firms that have downsized, along with project managers and estimators. These seasoned employees are critical to our success. This gives us tremendous depth in the organization … We [expend] a lot of effort on training our adjusters and consultants, including employing trainers on staff. All of the FEMA training is done internally … We have an advanced training center here in the Utica headquarters, and we also train in the field.”

Among his many duties, Cuccaro finds time to publish Adjusting Today, a technical publication on property-insurance claims with a distribution of 32,000 printed copies, and Disaster Recover Today (DRT), a technical newsletter that focuses on processes related to the FEMA Public Assistance Program. DRT enjoys a distribution of about 15,000 copies.

“We rely on a number of local vendors,” says Cucarro. “For our banking needs, we turn to NBT Bank. Our accounting firm is Firley, Moran, Freer & Eassa CPA, P.C. in Syracuse. Jerry Stack of the Hiscock firm [Hiscock & Barclay LLP] in Syracuse handles our business/tax legal matters. The company’s travel needs are handled by Adams Travel Bureau here in New Hartford, and for printing we turn to Brodock Press in Utica and Dupli in Syracuse. Telecommunications is furnished by Northland Communications in Utica.”

AI contends it is primed to dominate the insurance-adjusting marketplace nationwide and has the capabilities to follow U.S. companies overseas to aid in resolving foreign claims. The key is to remain focused on what the company does best. Marini summarizes this attitude when he says: “We don’t want to be what we’re not.”

Contact Poltenson at npoltenson@tmvbj.com

UTICA — Hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, tornados, fire — they are all classified as natural disasters. Add to this oil spills, terrorist attacks, and arson — they are examples of man-made disasters. To an organization or business that has sustained a disaster, who negotiates and expedites the claim and maximizes the financial recovery?

Enter Adjusters International (AI), a disaster-recovery consulting organization headquartered in Utica. Formed in 1985 by 13 regional insurance-adjusting companies with offices originally in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, and Puerto Rico, “the founders wanted to create a consortium of regional [insurance-adjuster] powerhouses to handle large disasters,” says Ronald A. Cuccaro, president and CEO of AI. “We wanted to maximize our opportunities and be able to handle Fortune 500 companies and other large entities … Today, Adjusters International [a C-corporation] includes seven insurance-adjuster companies which are all stockholders.”

The stockholders are the seven regional corporations: Adjusters International Colorado, Inc. (Denver), Adjusters International Corporation (Seattle), Globe Midwest Corporation (Detroit), Greenspan Adjusters International, Inc. (San Francisco), The Goodman-Gable-Gould Company (Rockville, Md.), The Greenspan Company (Los Angeles), and Basloe, Levin & Cuccaro (BLC – Utica). BLC was founded in 1908 by Frank Basloe, a local real-estate broker who helped his clients with insurance claims.

“Since 1985, we have served 25,000 clients,” says Cuccaro … “Our national reach includes 275 employees in 45 offices [two offices located in Hawaii and one in British Columbia]. AI headquarters employs 27 full time, of whom 24 live in Central New York. … The company also retains 160 who work part time on a project-basis. The concept of a consortium is not unlike what accounting firms do today when they affiliate with an international group of independent [entities]. The difference here is that the regional companies own all of the stock in the consortium.” AI is licensed in all 50 states.

Adjusters International shares space with BLC in a 25,000-square-foot building at 126 Business Park Drive in Utica. The original 10,000 feet was constructed in 1995 on 2.2 acres, and an additional 15,000 feet, which included a large training center, was added in 2006. BLC employs 32 full time, of whom 18 live in Central New York. BLC is a sub-S corporation; Cuccaro is the sole stockholder and also serves as BLC’s president and CEO.

“BLC offers its services through seven offices covering Massachusetts, New York, New Hampshire, northern Pennsylvania, Vermont, Maine, Rhode Island, and some of Connecticut,” notes Stephen T. Surace, senior vice president and chief operating officer of BLC as well as the CFO of AI.

“In 1996, AI began competing against large engineering and consulting firms for RFPs (request-for-proposals) from public entities such as schools, states, municipalities, and not-for-profits for assistance with their recovery of FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) disaster funding following presidentially declared disaster events,” says John W. Marini, a vice president and chief operating officer of AI. Marini joined AI in 1991. “We have responded to requests for help after hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Wilma, and most recently Sandy … We helped the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, [which] owned the World Trade Center, after 9/11. The state of Louisiana called us in to deal with the damages caused by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill resulting from the BP [British Petroleum] explosion in the Gulf [of Mexico]. And the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority turned to us when the ‘Big Dig’ tunnel in Boston collapsed.”

“In the FEMA model, AI is paid based on time and expenses. The insurance model is usually based on receiving a small percentage of the funds recovered,” says Surace, “although we may also be paid for time and expenses, as was the case consulting on the BP spill.” Marini adds that “… AI always has 180 personnel with a variety of specialties ready to respond just to a FEMA-related operation.

Marini contends that, “AI is the nation’s premier disaster-recovery consulting organization in the country.” To back up his claim, he points to “… our ability to respond to any problem anywhere. It doesn’t matter what the size or scope the job is. Further, we are the only agency that can handle FEMA in-house, without having to farm out any operations.” Surace points to “… the size of the AI network and the depth of its technical capacity and experience.” Cuccaro adds: “… AI helps its clients to get back to business as quickly as possible. No one else can do this as well.”

Cuccaro, 68, Marini, 52, and Surace, 38, are joined on the executive team by Jeffrey Shaw, 42, a company vice president who operates from an office in South Carolina and has been part of the organization for about 20 years. Shaw brings more than two decades of experience in disaster recovery and specializes in the FEMA Public Assistance Program. He has been actively involved in AI’s hurricane operations. His expertise includes dispute resolution and appeals.

“Our business model [at AI] works very well,” says Cucarro. “No one can afford to sustain a national staff to anticipate every disaster. Our regional offices blanket the country, allowing us to respond quickly and move resources to wherever they are needed … Our business is growing because people continue to build along coastal areas and where there are natural disasters. It’s growing because very few [entities] can handle large disasters. There is simply more property with exposure, along with more severe weather events, like rising sea levels.”

Cuccaro also points to the company’s ability to attract and retain seasoned employees as a key to AI’s success. “We have a very strong labor pool in the Utica area,” he says. “There are a number of retirees and engineers from firms that have downsized, along with project managers and estimators. These seasoned employees are critical to our success. This gives us tremendous depth in the organization … We [expend] a lot of effort on training our adjusters and consultants, including employing trainers on staff. All of the FEMA training is done internally … We have an advanced training center here in the Utica headquarters, and we also train in the field.”

Among his many duties, Cuccaro finds time to publish Adjusting Today, a technical publication on property-insurance claims with a distribution of 32,000 printed copies, and Disaster Recover Today (DRT), a technical newsletter that focuses on processes related to the FEMA Public Assistance Program. DRT enjoys a distribution of about 15,000 copies.

“We rely on a number of local vendors,” says Cucarro. “For our banking needs, we turn to NBT Bank. Our accounting firm is Firley, Moran, Freer & Eassa CPA, P.C. in Syracuse. Jerry Stack of the Hiscock firm [Hiscock & Barclay LLP] in Syracuse handles our business/tax legal matters. The company’s travel needs are handled by Adams Travel Bureau here in New Hartford, and for printing we turn to Brodock Press in Utica and Dupli in Syracuse. Telecommunications is furnished by Northland Communications in Utica.”

AI contends it is primed to dominate the insurance-adjusting marketplace nationwide and has the capabilities to follow U.S. companies overseas to aid in resolving foreign claims. The key is to remain focused on what the company does best. Marini summarizes this attitude when he says: “We don’t want to be what we’re not.”

Contact Poltenson at npoltenson@tmvbj.com