History
English merchant Nathaniel Sylvester settled on Shelter Island in 1652. Mr. Sylvester had serious risk management challenges from the local Indian population and the English pirate Captain Kidd (who married into a Shelter Island family). There are no historical records of exploding workers’ compensation costs or capacity limitations in the marine cargo markets. The Captain Kidd problem was solved by hanging him in London in 1701. The long and exciting history of Shelter Island makes it an ideal venue for a risk services firm.
 Rick Denning founded Shelter Island Risk Services (SIR) in 1994, 342 years after Sylvester stepped ashore. He has a track record of innovating information systems and analytical methods. Previously, he co-founded Anistics and Risk Sciences Group. From these roots, SIR evolved to be less software development oriented and more solution directed than other RMIS vendors. Our focus is interpretation and analysis, not transaction processing or report production. Freed from the overhead burden of programming and maintaining software, SIR can be more flexible, more effective, and more creative in meeting the custom risk information needs of large organizations.
In the late 1990’s, business growth of Shelter Island Risk Services demanded the leadership from individuals with advanced technology skills and extensive risk management process experience. Former key personnel from Risk Sciences Group joined and continue to expand our abilities and guide our growth. We have also greatly benefited from the association of individuals with prior careers in Risk Management Departments, including Kim Rigsby (CSX), Fred Travis (Anheuser Busch), and Rich Inserra (Union Carbide).
Risk Management services were significantly impacted by the 9/11 events. Our NYC office, literally in the shadow of the World Trade Center, was forced to move. For SIR's business, the post 9/11 risk management model means servicing an organization-wide risk management agenda, that means accurate risk mapping, progressing to a practical and achievable Enterprise Risk Model. It also means greater accountability for the cost of risk and compliance with Sarbanes -Oxley. KPM (Key Performance Measures) ScoreCards were developed by SIR to provide such controls. Finally, SIR recognizes that risk retentions, cost allocations and litigation management decisions are best made with analytics and high quality data instead of intuition.
Today the business direction of standard RMIS services is consolidation, expansion and standardization. The need for creative, customization was never greater. SIR is best positioned to use analytics, technology, practical experience and financial resources to take standard RMIS programs to a higher level. |
