You may not see an obvious connection between roller-skating and aquatics, but Doug Flora, senior producer at Haas & Wilkerson Insurance, found one. A former competitive roller skater, he first made a name for himself in the insurance industry in the mid-1990s. That’s when Flora created a specialty insurance program for roller skating rinks after determining that rink operators were an underserved niche market.
Now he takes that same competitive spirit into the waterpark market for his firm.
“The waterpark resort market is the fastest-growing segment of the amusement industry, and this specialized market has unique needs that provide us the opportunity to be more value-added to our clients and the industry as a whole,” Flora says.
He notes that Haas & Wilkerson has gained attention for setting new standards of coverage. The company was one of the first in the industry to provide standard coverage for discrimination claims alleging ADA violations, and Flora expects the commitment to the industry to continue growing, along with his firm.
“Right now, our clients are mainly medium to large family-owned waterpark operations,” Flora says. “But in the past two years, Haas & Wilkerson has become more hands-on and recently we’ve been approached by some of the larger chain operations.”
