Welcome to BearWise Landscapers!

BearWise Landscapers is a division of an insurance agency (Black Bear Insurance Agency, Inc.) located in Orlando, Florida. Our agents specialize in serving the insurance needs of lawn care, landscaping, tree trimming, and other related businesses throughout the state of Florida. This specialized approach allows us to provide more valuable resources and services to our clients than other insurance agents who do not specialize in the industry. As a division of an independent agency, our agents have access to multiple insurance carriers and can shop the rates between those insurance carriers to offer multiple quotes and be very competitive with rates. We are proud to partner with the top insurance carriers that underwrite landscaping businesses.

More important than all of these business advantages we use to pass along insurance savings to our clients, is the fact that we enjoy what we do and enjoy working with Florida landscapers. I personally enjoy learning about insurance and explaining practical ways that business owners in the landscaping industry can use insurance to protect themselves. We pride ourselves on the exceptional service we provide to our clients and would like the opportunity to provide your business with comparative insurance quotes.

Please take a few minutes to browse through the articles on our website and let us know if we can provide further information to you. You can call our office toll free at 866-296-2327 and dial extension 3917 to speak with me or extension 3852 to speak with Dawn Bennett, who leads the client services for BearWise Landscapers.

Thank you and again welcome to our website and the services we provide for the Florida landscaping industry.

BearWise Landscapers is proud to be named the insurance partner of the American Landscape Maintenance Association (ALMA). The partnership will allow our agents the opportunity to provide practical information to the large number of ALMA members across the United States. We will do this through insurance articles similar to the ones on this portion of our website and through a number of videos. Check out ALMA’s website, www.ALMAnow.com, to see these videos and other informative pieces. ALMA provides a variety of practical information and services to businesses in the landscape maintenance industry.

The Member Resource Center on their website is the hallmark of the all new ALMA. Using innovative new technologies, ALMA is bringing their comprehensive selection of documents and information to landscape contractors on a global level. Through the use of video, audio, and document retrieval systems, the wealth of knowledge ALMA has to offer is at your fingertips 24/7.

Some of the features of the resource center include:

• In-Depth Operational Topics
  The Resource Center is constantly updated with current issues and operational tactics in video format.
• Document Libraries
  ALMA has been around since 1988, so we have manuals and documents that can easily be customized to fit you operation. Most documents are instantly downloadable and free to Premium Members right from the document center.
• Industry Interviews
  ALMA brings some of the most dynamic and successful contractors (large and small) to the resource center to tell their stories and offer advice and inspiration.

While the information provided to landscape contractors through the Resource Center is worth its weight in gold, you will not find another association staff that cares more about its members.

ALMA has been in existence since 1988. Since that time they have helped thousands of landscape maintenance contractors of every size in every area of the country. ALMA’s President and Founder, Tommy Ganz, has indisputably the most dynamic background of anyone in the green industry today. Publisher of Commercial Mowing Magazine, Founder of ALMA, the largest landscape association in America, Host of the ALMA Expo, former General Partner of U.S. Lawns, Executive at Environmental Care, President of AgriCare International and heading up Ganz Landscape Services for almost 30 years. For the last 20 years of Tommy’s career, he’s been doing nothing but helping and training landscape maintenance contractors all over America.

When Tommy assembles a team, lookout! He finds the best. So you can rest assured, through your membership in ALMA, you will learn from America’s most dynamic contractors who will be sharing their secrets with you!

Premium Members will have direct access to Tommy Ganz, Rick Beaver, and the rest of the ALMA Team. You will have their direct email addresses where you can request a phone call, have any questions answered or communicate however much you need by email whenever it’s convenient for you.

Check out ALMA’s website for more information about this great organization and to become a member. We look forward to developing an ongoing relationship with ALMA that will benefit its members through providing insurance information specific to your industry. We are also available to offer comparative insurance quotes to ALMA members located in Florida.

As mentioned in this previous article, BearWise Landscapers is gaining recognition for providing specialized insurance information and services to the landscaping industry. At BearWise Landscapers, our goal is to add more value to your landscaping business than other insurance agencies that do not offer our specialized expertise. We do this through our niche approach in your industry by providing practical insurance information, advice, and a knowledge of the insurance carriers that underwrite your exposures to risk. This approach directly benefits your business and we feel that it is the best way to effectively serve your insurance needs.

BearWise Landscapers was featured in an article by IA Magazine, the premier magazine for independent insurance agencies. IA Magazine is the official publication of the Insurance Agents and Brokers Association (IIABA). Here is a link to the full text of the December 2009 cover article about insurance specialists and here are some quotes that mention the advantage of using an insurance agency that specializes in serving businesses within your industry:

Independent agencies are wearing more hats these days, offering value-added and consultative services in addition to the more customary insurance roles. More producers are becoming specialists, learning a particular market niche and then putting their energy into developing a specific line of business.

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Why is such specialization better than a more generalist approach? “Buyers tend to like agencies that have a very detailed understanding of their risk needs,” Buckner replies. “When you can go to a trucking company and say that you insure 10 of his competitors across town—that we know this stuff real well and how to make things happen—they’re much more open to doing business.”

Brendan Lynch agrees. “It’s just a powerful marketing tool to go into a prospective client and really claim truthfully that you are an expert in a particular area,” says Lynch, CFO of Plastridge Insurance Agency in Delray Beach, Fla. The agency has built a practice group serving the hospitality industry, which includes restaurants, nightclubs, hotels and taverns. “When a producer can say, ‘This is all I do and my team does,’ prospects listen,” Lynch adds.

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Smaller agencies like Black Bear Insurance in Longwood, Fla., also are taking the specialty route. Although the agency traditionally has been a generalist, Main Street-type provider of p-c insurance, it recently developed a niche serving the landscaping industry. “There are thousands of landscapers in Florida,” comments Drew Roberts, Black Bear account executive.

Black Bear pursued an industrious approach to securing this business — the agency mailed postcards to all the landscaping operations it could find in the state, and then encouraged the businesses to log onto a Web site it had developed, www.BearWiseLandscapers.com, devoted exclusively to their risk management needs.”

BearWise Landscapers is proud to be a member of the Professional Landcare Network (PLANET).

PLANET is an international association serving lawn care professionals, landscape management contractors, design/build/installation professionals, and interior plantscapers. PLANET provides its members with a good business foundation to help them evaluate, plan, and better manage their companies. Member firms have direct access to marketing tools, industry specific business publications, updates on legislative issues, and networking opportunities that can assist them in becoming more profitable.

PLANET emerged on January 1, 2005, when the Associated Landscape Contractors of America (ALCA) and the Professional Lawn Care Association of America (PLCAA) joined forces to become a more encompassing network of green industry professionals.

PLCAA, organized in 1979, was the premier global trade association for residential and commercial lawn care professionals.

ALCA, founded in 1961, was the premier global trade association for landscape maintenance, installation, and design/build contractors and interiorscapers.

PLANET develops and maintains active programs for more than 4,000 member firms in the areas of business management, government affairs, public relations, technical assistance, safety and insurance, education, and interindustry relations with other facets of the green industry.

With more than 4,000 member companies and affiliates in PLANET, these firms and their employees represent more than 100,000 green industry professionals served by the association.

For more information, visit LandcareNetwork.org

BearWise Landscapers is a division of Black Bear Insurance Agency that specializes in the unique needs of landscaping businesses. We are proud to be a member of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA). Here is some information about IIABA:

The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA) is a national alliance of 300,000 business owners and their employees who offer all types of insurance and financial services products.

Unlike company-employed agents, IIABA independent insurance agents and insurance brokers represent more than one insurance company, so they can offer clients a wider choice of auto, home, business, life, health coverages as well as retirement and employee-benefit products.

IIABA agents and brokers not only advise clients about insurance, they recommend loss-prevention ideas that can cut costs. If a loss occurs, the independent insurance agent or broker stands with the client until the claim is settled.

IIABA was founded in 1896 as the National Local Association of Fire Insurance Agents. With the expansion of property-casualty business and coverages, the organization’s name was changed to the National Association of Insurance Agents in 1913. To emphasize its members’ ability to work with a variety of insurance companies, the organization became the Independent Insurance Agents of America in 1975. The Association’s name was changed in 2002 to the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America to reflect the diversity of its membership, which includes both independent insurance agents and insurance brokers.

IIABA is a voluntary federation of state associations and local boards, with affiliates in every state and the District of Columbia. Its independent insurance agents and brokers are politically astute and are involved both locally and nationally. They monitor and affect consumer, insurance agent and broker, and small business issues in Washington through IIABA’s active, professional staff on Capitol Hill.

BearWise Landscapers is your source for multiple insurance carriers that underwrite business insurance policies for landscaping and lawn care businesses. Our insurance agents have the ability to offer coverages through a variety of insurance carriers and we strive to further benefit your business through our specialization in the landscaping industry. To receive comparative insurance quotes, please complete our online insurance questionnaire.

At BearWise Landscapers, our goal is to provide practical and in-depth insurance information to landscaping businesses. We believe that by providing services above and beyond the typical insurance agency, that we will earn the trust of landscapers and will establish our insurance program as the expert in the landscaping industry. We believe this approach is the best way to conduct business.

This approach has received the attention of other insurance agencies and we were mentioned in this November article by Insurance News & Views, a weekly publication delivered to independent insurance agencies by the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers Association. The article, written by Veronica DeVore, described how even though more “personal lines insurance customers [are turning] to the Internet for their insurance needs, small business owners clearly prefer working directly with an agent to purchase workers’ compensation coverage.” Here is a quote that mentions our service of providing information to your landscaping business over this website and specific workers’ compensation information on another website:

While this personal touch is clearly valued among commercial insureds, EMPLOYERS has identified a gradual shift in how customers plan to service and perhaps even purchase policies in the future. The survey reports that the Internet’s role in workers’ compensation purchases will increase from 11% to 17% in the next 12 months, and many respondents plan to go online for information and quotes at their next renewal.

“Agents have to earn their role (as an advisor) by delivering more and more value,” says Welch. “They can do so with Internet sites of their own to help the insured obtain information.”

One agency has done just that by creating a separate Web site only for workers’ compensation needs. Drew Roberts, an account executive at Black Bear Insurance Agency in Longwood, Fla., says that while agents are still at the heart of selling workers’ compensation coverage at his agency, the Web site simplifies the process by answering customer questions in detail and by allowing quotes to be submitted electronically. Roberts adds that busy small business owners like to be able to read about coverage and complete quote forms “at midnight” if they want to, and he and his fellow agents like the time they save by directing customers to the Web site when questions arise. The agency plans to add a blog section to address even more customer concerns in an online format.

“It’s a way for us to provide general information and an introduction (to workers’ compensation coverage),” Roberts says. “We don’t have to answer questions multiple times and we can answer them more thoroughly by using the Web site.”

Our hope is that you continue to find this website informative and practical for your business insurance needs. If you have any insurance related issues for your landscaping business that are not addressed on this website, please contact me with them. I look forward to continually providing a quality insurance service to the landscape industry and appreciate the opportunity that you give us to do that.

Thank you!

Earlier this afternoon, we published a press release about the BearWise Landscapers insurance program. It was a brief description to the media and general public about our program and was simply designed to increase awareness of the insurance services available to landscapers in Florida. Our website has received many visitors across the state of Florida and I have heard a lot of positive feedback about these articles and other information on the website. We specifically wanted to mention the articles and information on the website and also let the owners of landscapers know that it is quick and easy to get quotes from our agents by simply completing our online quote request form. Here is the text from the press release:

BearWiseLandscapers.com - Informative Insurance Service for Florida Landscapers

Florida Landscapers Now Have a Specialized Insurance Program to Handle Their Business Risks - BearWise Landscapers

ORLANDO, Fla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Black Bear Insurance Agency, Inc. is proud to announce an insurance service designed exclusively for Florida landscaping businesses. The service is called BearWise Landscapers and it specializes in the unique insurance needs of landscapers throughout the state of Florida. Drew Roberts, CPCU, ARM, leads the group of insurance agents with multiple years of experience serving the ‘green industry’.

BearWise Landscapers provides industry specific information and recommendations to landscapers about their business insurance. The standard insurance coverages recommended to landscaping businesses are general liability, commercial auto, equipment floater, and workers’ compensation. Depending on size and exposures, a number of other insurance coverages can be added to reduce businesses risk.

In addition to the specialized information available on the website www.BearWiseLandscapers.com, landscaping businesses may also request comparative quotes online from over 30 insurance carriers.

This focused approach to providing insurance to Florida landscapers, gives the agents at BearWise Landscapers the ability to analyze the rates and coverage options offered by those insurance companies that underwrite landscapers. It also allows landscapers of any size to receive quality customer service form professional insurance agents with specialized knowledge of their insurance needs. Visit www.BearWiseLandscapers.com for more information.

About Black Bear Insurance Agency, Inc.

Black Bear Insurance Agency is located north of Orlando in Longwood, Florida. As an independent agency, the insurance agents at Black Bear have access to multiple insurance carriers. The agency specializes in handling commercial insurance programs for Florida businesses. For more information, visit www.BlackBearAgency.com or call toll free 1-866-296-2327. BearWise Landscapers is a division of Black Bear Insurance Agency, Inc.

I read an article in a very old issue (July of 2005) of the Irrigation and Green Industry magazine. The title, ‘Liability Insurance… Read the Fine Print’, caught my eye on their website and the article had some great points. It discussed the costs of general liability insurance and things that had affected the rates. At the end of the article, the author discussed services that insurance agents should offer their clients and that landscapers should ask their insurance agent to provide for their business. Here are the eight services:

Help Reduce Payroll Rates: The larger your payroll, generally the larger are your payroll rates. But there are some guidelines and industry rules that are applied to payroll that most dont know about. You should check with your agent to make sure you dont overpay. For instance, there are different rates for those in the field and those in the office, for full- and part-time employees, and field workers can have lower rates if they also work part-time in sales, in the office, or come to the office for training.

Reduce Vehicle Rates: A lot of liability will fall on automobiles and trucks, says Cason. The more knowledge you have of how rates are determined, the more money you save. For example, where vehicles are garaged affects the rates. If they are parked overnight in a metropolitan area, the rates will be higher. However, if workers drive these vehicles to their homes in small surrounding towns, the rates can be considerably less.

Have Loss Control Service: Landscapers should ask their agents to implement a safety program for loss control, to control risks, and to reduce premiums, says Hartman. Many landscapers are resistant. They may feel they dont have the time or staff. And I think theres a feeling in some, though not all landscapers, that the agents are out to get them and might find something wrong. But if we do find something wrong, we want to help fix it. Were there to help. And if, as a result, you have less equipment theft and fewer accidents, your premiums will be that much less.

Have Your Contracts Reviewed: Theres no reason you should not have your agent review your contracts, says Graham. He should be able to identify areas of concern, make suggestions, strike harmful language, adding this or that. If a renewal is coming up, the carrier might not have certain coverage, so the agent knows perhaps that its time to find someone else. Youd be surprised at what youll find in contracts. Some installation coverage will state that trees, shrubs and plants will not be covered. How would a landscaper feel about that?

Have Your Agent Visit Job Sites: Your agent is a salesman to you, the landscaper, but also your salesman to the underwriter, Graham says. Ask your agent to visit your jobsites, and if he reports to the underwriter that your workplace is great, awesome, wonderful and safe, the cream will rise and that will impress the underwriter. You want an agent who will do more than just fill out forms.

Have Your Agent Provide a Quarterly, Or At Least an Annual Report: If you see where your losses are, especially if there are patterns, you can make adjustments, says Graham. We do what we rarely see anybody else do, and that is prepare graphs for the past five years for accidents, and track it. One landscaper studying the graph and data saw that he had higher claims at the start of the season. Thats when regular employees have been off for a while and are rusty, and new people are hired. He learned to have a special focus on safety at that time of year.

Have Motor Vehicle Reports Made: Expect your agent to flag the department of motor vehicles, says Graham. A stray ticket here and there may not be important. But you want to be aware if any of your employees are having serious driving problems.

Aggressively Manage Claims: Have your agent review all of your claims before they are turned in, Graham says. A lot of claims may not be your fault; they are so small they will give you more trouble than they are worth, as well as other reasons.

If you are unsatisfied with the service you are currently receiving from your insurance agency and would like to understand the variety of services offered by BearWise Landscapers, please contact our office today. We handle the insurance for many landscapers throughout the state of Florida and can provide specialized insurance expertise for your landscaping business.

Good Afternoon! I have recently joined the team at Black Bear Insurance Agency and will be working with all of our landscaping clients in the BearWise Landscapers Insurance Service. I am excited to use my insurance experience towards providing practical advice to the landscaping industry and all of our current and prospective landscaper clients. Over the past 22 years that I have been in insurance, I have served a wide variety of businesses and developed good working relationships with a number of insurance carriers. I am excited to be a part of BearWise Landscapers as it continues to grow and offer new services that add value to the owners of landscaping businesses across Florida. If there is ever anything I can do to help your business, please do not hesitate to contact me.

The Florida Nursery, Growers and Landscape Association (FNGLA) is Florida’s oldest and largest association targeting the needs of the Florida’s environmental horticulture industry, which has an estimated $15.2 billion in industry-wide sales annually. BearWise Landscapers is proud to join and support the association and provide quality insurance service to its members.

FNGLA is a member-driven association that recognizes the need for individual industry members to unify. FNGLA works to better the industry, raising the bar on professionalism by spearheading marketing programs, providing promotional and educational venues for members, taking a leadership role in protecting and promoting their members’ business interests, communicating the latest industry issues and providing professional accreditations to interested individuals.

Until 1951, the Florida State Nurserymen had been a part of the Florida State Florist and Nurserymen Association. In May of that year, some nurserymen members felt that with the growing importance of the nursery industry within Florida and with concerns not shared by the Florist group, a separate organization was needed.

The first official organized meeting was held in Miami on May 25-27, 1952 and a plan of organization was adopted. Dave Stabler of Winter Haven Nursery agreed to be president. James F. Griffin, Jr. came to what was then called FNGA as Executive Secretary in early 1953. Since that time, FNGLA has gained strength, popularity and clout—absorbing the Florida Foliage Association in 1993, the Florida Ornamental Growers Association in 1995 and the Florida Landscape Designers Association in 1999. During this time, FNGLA established itself as one of the largest and most active nursery associations in the country with a membership base of over 2500 professionals.

Now in it’s sixth decade serving the industry, FNGLA is in its prime! The association represents all walks of the industry–foliage, woody ornamental, citrus nurseries, floriculture producers, interiorscapers, retailers, allied suppliers and landscape professionals – as proven by the recent addition of “landscape” to the FNGA name—making the association the Florida Nursery, Growers and Landscape Association, FNGLA. Landscape contractors, landscape designers, landscape architects and the like now have an association targeting their needs. Government representation & monitoring, professional education and marketing projects encompass just some or the services provided by FNGLA to members and the industry.