Latest news with #Porte
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Winners of AM Best's 2025 Student Challenge Announced
OLDWICK, N.J., June 02, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AM Best has announced Hernán Burgos and Alexander Porte of UW-Madison – Wisconsin School of Business as the winners of AM Best's 2025 Student Challenge for their tropical storm parametric insurance solution for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The 2025 Student Challenge tasked risk management and insurance students with creating innovative solutions for insurance risks. The proposed insurance solution from Burgos and Porte would provide coverage to low-income individuals and micro enterprises in LAC coastal regions using real-time meteorological data. "In LAC, where insurance penetration is extremely low and the poverty rate is significantly high, access to insurance products is basically impossible for low-income communities," said Burgos in an AM Best TV interview about the proposal. "In the region, access to insurance is considered to be a luxury. Millions are left financially vulnerable and unprotected in the face of increasingly frequent and severe natural catastrophes." Porte explained that the winning Student Challenge entry proposes leveraging the high level of banking products in LAC to create insurance markets and deliver products: "When you're trying to create an insurance marketplace—you're trying to create appetites for these products—you need to use other distribution channels." In addition to Burgos and Porte, students from University of Akron and Florida State University were finalists in the national competition, which was open to undergraduate and graduate students. "The innovative ideas and thoughtful proposals put forward by these students point to a bright future for the insurance industry," said Lee McDonald, AM Best's senior vice president, publication & news services. To view video interviews and Best's Review magazine interviews with the winning team and other finalists, please visit the 2025 Student Challenge landing page. AM Best's 2025 Student Challenge is a company initiative to support the development of new talent in the insurance industry. The company also provides an analytical development program. AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit Copyright © 2025 by A.M. Best Company, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. View source version on Contacts Lee McDonald Senior Vice President, Publication & News Services +1 908 882 2102 Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Wire
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Wire
Winners of AM Best's 2025 Student Challenge Announced
BUSINESS WIRE)-- AM Best has announced Hernán Burgos and Alexander Porte of UW-Madison – Wisconsin School of Business as the winners of AM Best's 2025 Student Challenge for their tropical storm parametric insurance solution for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The 2025 Student Challenge tasked risk management and insurance students with creating innovative solutions for insurance risks. The proposed insurance solution from Burgos and Porte would provide coverage to low-income individuals and micro enterprises in LAC coastal regions using real-time meteorological data. 'In LAC, where insurance penetration is extremely low and the poverty rate is significantly high, access to insurance products is basically impossible for low-income communities,' said Burgos in an AM Best TV interview about the proposal. 'In the region, access to insurance is considered to be a luxury. Millions are left financially vulnerable and unprotected in the face of increasingly frequent and severe natural catastrophes.' Porte explained that the winning Student Challenge entry proposes leveraging the high level of banking products in LAC to create insurance markets and deliver products: 'When you're trying to create an insurance marketplace—you're trying to create appetites for these products—you need to use other distribution channels.' In addition to Burgos and Porte, students from University of Akron and Florida State University were finalists in the national competition, which was open to undergraduate and graduate students. 'The innovative ideas and thoughtful proposals put forward by these students point to a bright future for the insurance industry,' said Lee McDonald, AM Best's senior vice president, publication & news services. To view video interviews and Best's Review magazine interviews with the winning team and other finalists, please visit the 2025 Student Challenge landing page. AM Best's 2025 Student Challenge is a company initiative to support the development of new talent in the insurance industry. The company also provides an analytical development program.
CBS News
30-04-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Why is renting in Minneapolis so much more affordable than buying right now?
The rent-versus-buy question is one that millions of Americans grapple with. Now, nearly 30 percent of Minnesotans live in a rental unit. Even as it turns warmer, for sale signs are hard to come by in the Twin Cities, especially at an affordable price point. Over the last few years, rising mortgage rates have contributed to the decline in housing affordability, while home prices have skyrocketed largely due to a lack of supply. Rents have fared much better. "What's interesting here in the Twin Cities is that the rental rate increase over the last couple of years, has only been about 1% per year," said Mike Kaeding, CEO of Norhart. Norhart designs, builds, and rents apartments. Kaeding says compared to inflation, rents have actually come down, keeping potential homebuyers out of the market. I think a lot of smart people are taking the time to rent now, position themselves well so that in a year to two, they can be better positioned to buy," said Kaeding. The average monthly rent in the Twin Cities metro is now $1,669 versus an average monthly mortgage payment of $2,638, a difference of $969 or 58.1%, according to Bankrate. That gap is up 4.3% compared to last year. "It's simply financial. It's very hard to build at a lower price point because the cost of construction is pretty high," said Kaeding. "For us to combat this we need to produce more units," said Elfric Porte, director of housing, policy & development for the city of Minneapolis. Porte says the current conditions also create challenges for the city. Since 2018, Minneapolis has invested nearly $365 million to expand housing options and address homelessness through a variety of projects. More than half of low-income renter households in Minneapolis live in unsubsidized housing. The city has worked to preserve more than 2,800 naturally occurring affordable units allowing developers to acquire those properties. "In exchange, those developers make those units affordable to households at 50 percent or 60 percent of the area median income for up to 30 years," explained Porte. No matter your price point or location in the metro, Kaeding doesn't expect the wide gap between renting and owning to last. "I don't see that continuing over the next year or two, so take advantage of it, while it's here," he said. You can learn more about the city of Minneapolis' affordable housing efforts here.
CBS News
23-04-2025
- Automotive
- CBS News
Baltimore workers petition for special permit program that allows overnight city parking
Baltimore business owners and their employees hope a petition will help them start a special permit program to allow residents with smaller trade or commercial vehicles to park overnight near their homes. In March, the Baltimore City Department of Transportation launched 24-hour parking enforcement to reduce traffic congestion and boost safety. However, Baltimore business owners and their employees believe the stricter enforcement and rules disproportionately impact contractors, technicians, and other blue-collar professionals who rely on their commercial vehicles, work vans, and smaller service vehicles to make a living. Workers fined for violating overnight parking rules Garrett Porte, the vice president of Town Group, started the online petition and said his family's fleet of work vans is more than a mode of transportation — it's their livelihood. "All the companies, commercial vehicles, they take them home. They sleep there," Porte said. "They get up in the morning, take the car, and go right to the job site." But after his employee received a $250 parking ticket in mid-April, Porte realized there isn't a convenient place for their work vehicles to park overnight. "Right now, it's affecting people who are parking at their homes," Porte said. "There's no permanent place for them. So, they are getting $220-$250 fines per night with the new law." Porte's family owns Town Group, a security, locksmith, and alarm company, so their work is always on the go, especially in Baltimore City. "There's really not too many [people] that drive these vehicles down there," Porte said. "So, we like to keep the ones down there that work. I mean, they service the city. They help build it." The former Baltimore City resident believes the crackdown on overnight parking deters skilled workers who want to live and work in Baltimore. "There are definitely mixed opinions," Porte said. "But I think the mixed opinions are more to do with what kind of vehicle or how big, because when someone thinks of a commercial vehicle, they could think anything really large or very small." What would the permit program accomplish? Porte hopes that creating a special permit program will allow residents with trade or commercial vehicles to park overnight near their homes. "Here is a perfect example of what we're trying to get a permit for, under 3,000 to 4,000 pounds, very small," Porte said. "It's only about eight to nine feet in length, if that. I mean, you're talking smaller than a Chevy Tahoe." Porte also told WJZ he has contacted Baltimore city council members about this parking matter and hopes to work with the city to find a balanced, fair solution that supports both sides.
