Crop Insurance Today June 2018 - 33

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Susan Cunningham Receives
Outstanding Service Award
Susan Cunningham was the recipient of the
2018 Crop Insurance Industry Outstanding Service Award in recognition for outstanding service
and outreach to small, limited resource, and socially disadvantaged farmers. The award was presented during the 2018 Crop Insurance Industry
Annual Convention in February.
Susan Cunningham has spent decades building a successful crop insurance business in Montana. The keys to her success have been providing
excellent service to Montana's producers through
extensive research, education, newsletters, and
traveling to meet growers at their farms. Susan
attends many AIP-sponsored update meetings
where she studies the policy updates and changes, and will not leave until she has all her questions answered. She is an industry leader when it
comes to understanding all facets of the various
MPCI, Crop-Hail and Fire & Allied Lines products, and is a supporter of the new Whole Farm
Revenue Protection policy. Susan was one of the
first agents to write Adjusted Gross Revenue-Lite
for beginning organic farmers in Montana.
Susan's clientele outreach is quite diversified and includes many women, Native Americans, and Hutterite Colonies across Montana
in approximately 25 counties. She served as
"Montana Grain Growers Association Board
of Director-At-Large for Crop Insurance" from
1997-2015. She frequently participated in listening sessions and provided the monthly crop insurance update article in the MGGA magazine.
Her goal is service to the American farmer - to
help keep them farming!
Susan grew up in Sunburst, MT, which is a
small town and farming community close to the
Canadian border. After graduating from high
school, she attended Montana State University
where she received a Business degree. She moved
to Billings, MT, in 1980 and began working for

Presenting the Outstanding Service Award to Susan Cunningham (center) was Tom Zacharias
(left), President, National Crop Insurance Services, and Mike Day (right), Chairman of the National
Crop Insurance Services Board of Directors.

the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (FCIC)
as a part-time county office clerk. Through the
progression of government changes, she continued with FCIC in various positions that included field representative, loss adjuster, trainer, and
reviewer. This extensive work experience provided her with a well-rounded experience and
deep knowledge of the crop insurance program.
In 1988, Susan left FCIC to go into the private
industry, delivering MPCI as a company service

center helping agents service their clients. In
1990, she started her own crop insurance agency in Billings. The family agency now includes
her son, Chase, and husband, Bill. They also
service multiple sub-agencies with informational meetings, newsletters, and one-on-one client
meetings.
Susan has an excellent reputation with growers and is held in the highest regard among the
members of the crop insurance industry.

Outstanding Service
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crop Insurance Today June 2018