When people introduce themselves as electroplaters, anodizers, powder coaters, or any type of surface finisher, I am always drawn to a simple conclusion that is more obvious: they are business owners and managers who just happen to apply a finish.
Lost in the thought of many people who work in the finishing and coating industry is the realization that they are a business owner first, and they just happen to apply electroless nickel, zinc, Type II and III, and powder and liquid coats to earn that buck,
Being a business owner in today's world is often not a pretty sight. There are taxes to pay—property, payroll, and personal—and regulations that reach deep into business owners' pockets before they even pay themselves.
When I heard that some business owners were having trouble with insurance for their finishing businesses, I was concerned that this may be a trend, just another thorn in the side of the surface finishing industry.
I spoke to a few people one day, a few more the next, and so on. I heard a definite trend that the insurance industry was abandoning the surface finishing industry. Either the carriers were raising rates 150% to 200% without real justification, or they were simply choosing not to quote a price for the finishing business.
You can't run a business without insurance, which left many shop owners and managers I spoke with scrambling to find suitable coverage or looking to dig even deeper into their pockets to pay these higher premiums. In our article "Risky Business," we detail how these shops are navigating this insurance dilemma and some of the thoughts a few owners raised about why this is occurring.
However, one thing remains obvious: the surface finishing industry has done a poor job of advocating for itself as a united front to help reduce some of the costs associated with operating a plating, anodizing, or other surface finishing business.
Ask yourself: what trade group, which claims to represent platers, anodizers, or even powder coaters, has even brought up the subject of high insurance rates — or even cancellations — in the past few years? How many groups have put forth the effort to work with their members to educate and collaborate with insurance carriers on how safe these businesses truly are? Others are not seeing these high rates — which some finishers say are caused by the misconceptions that their business is ready to burst into flames any moment from all types of hazards — so why is the finishing industry seemingly singled out on this? Or are they being singled out? We may not know, because the groups that should possibly be having this discussion with the insurance industry are not raising the issue.
Being a business owner in today's economy may not be as worthwhile as in the past, but there is hope that a solution may exist. Whether anyone will take up the cause is up for debate, but the costs will continue to skyrocket each year, and it is left to linger.
Tim Pennington is Editor-in-Chief of Finishing and Coating, and has covered the industry since 2010. He has traveled extensively throughout North America visiting shops and production facilities, and meeting those who work in the industry. Tim began his career in the newspaper industry, then wound itself between the sports field with the PGA Tour and marketing and communications firms, and finally back into the publishing world in the finishing and coating sector. If you want to reach Tim, just go 
