Let's Get Surety #154 Bridges of Trust: Unraveling the People Power in Surety Success
Feb 24, 2026
Cory Hamling, Bond Director at EMC, keeps field and home-office teams aligned. Rocky Pofahl, AVC at EMC, drives underwriting strategy and culture. Justin Tomlin, SVP at FNIC, brings deep construction surety experience. Bob Bowman, underwriting manager turned broker, blends technical and production know-how. They explore teamwork, communication, avoiding surprises, improving submissions, mentoring newcomers, and collaboration on big, complex projects.
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One Unified Voice Reduces Miscommunication
- EMC emphasizes a unified culture with weekly home office calls to present a single voice to agents and producers.
- Rocky says this prevents miscommunication and ensures field and home office march to the same beat when dealing with partners.
Always Use A Meeting Agenda
- Use proactive communication and simple meeting agendas to align underwriters, producers, and contractors.
- Justin credits a mentor who insisted "it wasn't a meeting unless you had an agenda," which reduced surprises and improved alignment.
Self Awareness Is A Core Underwriter Strength
- Effective underwriters show self-awareness about what they know and don't know and remain curious.
- Bob values curiosity because surety presents diverse situations where no one can know everything.