Eighteen members of Community Associations Institute (CAI) are the first recipients of the new Community Insurance and Risk Management Specialist (CIRMS) designation. The CIRMS designations will be presented at CAI's 52nd National Conference and Exposition, May 1-3, at the Wyndham Anatole Hotel in Dallas.

CAI developed the CIRMS program in January 2003 in recognition of the growing importance and complexity of insurance and risk-management issues facing community associations.

To obtain the CIRMS designation, an insurance and risk-management professional must:

1. Have five years of experience in the community association field.
2. Be a member of CAI in good standing.
3. Have had responsibility for at least 25 community association insurance programs during the past three years or be able to demonstrate significant involvement in the provision of insurance and risk-management services to community associations.
4. Satisfy continuing education requirements.
5. Sign a Code of Ethics.

"Those who receive the CIRMS designation have demonstrated the knowledge and skills to provide quality professional service to condominium, cooperative and homeowner associations," said CAI Chief Executive Officer Tom Skiba. "From drafting specifications and analyzing risk potential to identifying insurance coverage and problem-solving, CIRMS designees have shown the expertise needed to help community associations address these difficult issues."

The 18 inaugural designees are:

• David Anderson, CIRMS, Thompkins & Company, Alameda, CA
• Mark E. Blasch, CIRMS, Community Association Underwriters of America, Newtown, PA
• Nancy K. Cannan, CIRMS, Community Association Underwriters of America, Newtown, PA
• Timothy Cline, CIRMS, Timothy Cline Insurance Agency, Inc., Santa Monica, CA
• Mark A. Conner, CIRMS, Hilb, Rogal & Hamilton Company of Houston, Houston, TX
• Kevin Davis, CIRMS, Kevin Davis Insurance Services, Los Angeles, CA
• Robin L. Flynn, CIRMS, Brown & Brown Insurance, Bethlehem, PA
• Carol A. Fulton, CIRMS, LaBarre/Oksnee Insurance, Palm Desert, CA
• Douglas J. Henken, CIRMS, Community Association Underwriters of America, Fairfax, VA
• Sarah J. Kramber, CIRMS, RJF Agencies, Inc., Minneapolis, MN
• Lori A. Long, CIRMS, Community Association Underwriters of America, Newtown, PA
• Robert G. Morgan, CIRMS, Community Association Underwriters of America, Newtown, PA
• Debbie Taras Pasquariello, CIC, CIRMS, Boyarin, Hourigan, Blundell, Toms River, NJ
• Karen Shirvanian, CIRMS, Kevin Davis Insurance Services, Los Angeles, CA
• Robert A. Travis, CIRMS, Community Association Underwriters of America, Stroudsburg, PA
• Edmund C. Weber, CIRMS, West Chester Insurance Group, West Chester, OH
• Barbara D. Wick, CIRMS, CPCU, ARM, AIS, CARMIC LLC, Northfield, IL
• Patricia A. Wilderotter, CIRMS, Talty Insurance Agency, Inc., Denver, CO

For more information on CAI's CIRMS designation or to obtain an application, contact CAI Direct at 703-548-8600.

Headquartered in Alexandria, Va., CAI is a national organization dedicated to fostering vibrant, responsive, competent community associations. The 15,000-member organization and its 55 chapters represent cooperatives, condominium and homeowner associations, professional managers, management companies and other businesses and professionals involved in the community association field.