When the countdown ends on 2009, it also brings an end to the first decade of the new millennium. It’s hard to believe how much our world has changed in those 10 short years, from global terrorism (still happening) to the financial meltdown to the ascendancy of the Internet. Let’s look at just a few:

Everything tech. Yes, the Internet was around at the turn of the century, but it wasn’t as ubiquitous as it is now. Since then, a whole generation has grown up with this technology, and that generation is our future employees and customers. While all this has made our lives a lot easier, it’s also phased out a lot of what we were confortable with and raised the bar on customer expectations. A mixed blessing, to say the least.

A world of new risks. The world is smaller, and the risks you underwrite are not like anything that’s been insured before. Acts of terrorism, environmental exposures, professional liability related to new technology standards and expectations — they’re all in the mix, with new risks coming at us every day. The challenge for our industry will be to keep one step ahead of anything new that comes along.

A bigger, smaller agency universe. The agency/brokerage M&A boom may have slowed to a trickle, but the activity of the past 10 years has altered the landscape forever. Big brokerages have gotten bigger by increasingly targeting the midmarket customers that have long been the bread and butter of the average agency. Conversely, the latest IIABA Agency Universe numbers suggest that smaller, startup agencies are on the rise, thanks in large part to the availability of sophisticated automation systems that allow them to compete with bigger players.

More eyes on the industry. Public/political scrutiny of the insurance industry is nothing new, but the seismic financial upheavals of the past 10 years — from the Enron fiasco in 2002 to last year’s subprime mortgage meltdown and AIG bailout and current healthcare debate — have put this most risk-averse industry in the spotlight more than ever before.

And while nobody can predict what the next 10 years will bring, it’s a safe bet that the trends we saw begin at the dawn of the century will continue to play a significant role going forward. And while 2009 was a good year in that we dodged a lot of bullets — from natural disasters to truly bad legislation — it’s inevitable that we’ll stand to take a hit from these and other problems in the future.

What were your biggest concerns in 2009, and what do you predict will dominate the headlines in 2010?

Last June, AA&B took an in-depth look at insurers and agents who were specializing in “green” insurance coverage. Our sources spoke glowingly of the potential for growth in green construction, especially in the area of retrofitting existing buildings — a topic covered in a current Web exclusive article on the subject.

Supporters maintain that adopting green building methods and materials will create a “green collar” job transformation in the U.S.  The latest figures from the USGBC in a “Green Jobs Study” conducted by Booz Allen suggests that green building will support or create 7.9 million jobs between now and 2013. And in certain areas of the country, it seems to be working. One independent study shows California green jobs grew 36 percent from 1995 to 2008.

But President Obama’s campaign promises to create 5 million new green jobs and put the U.S. in the forefront of renewable energy production have failed to materialize. Ironically, China, which for years has been reviled for its profligate use of nonrenewable energy, is now the world leader in the production of off-grid wind turbine generators, according to a recent article in EcoWorld.com.

According to a recent article in Fast Company magazine, there is terrific potential for green job growth in these areas:

• Farmers
• Foresters
• Solar power installers
• Energy efficient builders
• Wind turbine fabricators
• Conservation biologists
• Green entrepreneurs
• Recyclers
• Sustainability systems developers
• Urban planners

This list is inclusive enough to accommodate all levels of workers, from MBAs to retrained blue-collar people.

Nobody should be cheering green jobs more than the insurance industry. With the manufacturing and construction industries struggling to find a place in the “new normal” economy, a burst of new activity in the green jobs area could pull these and other industries out of the doldrums.

But as the California example indicates, it takes more than hope to build the new green collar middle class American worker. Green is “gold” in California in large part because of state and municipal rules mandating green compliance. Like any fledgling industry, green jobs need some government incentive to get off the ground. As long as it’s cheaper to keep doing things the old way, the green promise will remain just that. In China, the government subsidizes wind power, knowing the young industry won’t be self-sustaining for years, but willing to make the investment. It seems if we really want to dig ourselves out of our current economic malaise, our country would be better served by a government that’s willing to invest in the future instead of propping up relics from the past.

Last week I had the privilege of seeing independent agents in action at the Big “I” annual legislative conference and convention in Washington, D.C. — an event that, unlike the recent RIMS conference, was well attended in spite of pinched travel budgets and the growing swine flu threat (yes, there were a few travelers in medical masks at O’Hare Airport). 

Despite the pleasant weather, cherry trees in bloom, and the perennial chaperoned groups of middle-schoolers on class field trips, this D.C. meeting is no junket. Agents who take time away from their businesses to come to this event are committed to getting their POVs known and understood by their representatives in Washington.

I was graciously invited to tag along on some of the Hill visits by the boys (mostly) from Illinois, led by IIA of Illinois President-elect Luke Praxmarer of the Corkill Insurance agency in Elk Grove Village (you couldn’t miss his psychedelic tie).

Luke and his group weren’t there to see the cherry blossoms. Their schedule started at 10 a.m. in the offices of Illinois Congressman Timothy Johnson, and ended well after 6 p.m. with Illinois Sen. Roland Burris (Barack Obama’s replacement, who was appointed by erstwhile Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich). I went along for the last two appointments.

At the Hart Building offices of Sen. Dick Durbin, the Illinois contingent of more than 50 agents was so big that the staff couldn’t accommodate them in a conference room, so they met with Durbin’s legislative assistant in the hallway. (As a member of the press, I wasn’t allowed to eavesdrop.)

Later, at Burris’s offices in the venerable Russell Building, where we were told a young Sen. John Kennedy once had his digs, the dapper senator reverted to his political roots and “worked the crowd,” speaking with individual agents about their hometown alliances (I was allowed to sit in on this one).

Ill. Sen. Roland Burris (seated at center) gets a briefing on insurance issues from members of the Illinois Big I.

Over and over, Luke and Illinois agents Mike Wojcik, Tom Mollenhauer and others pounded home the independent agency position on three key issues: federal regulation, agent licensing and healthcare reform. They were both skillful and diplomatic, stressing their knowledge of the subject and how it affects both independent agents and consumers.

Between meetings, and later at the Big I exhibit hall, agents told me that legislator response to these issues could be uneven; some lawmakers were adamant that a form of federal regulation was imminent, while others denied it. Most agreed that Obama’s campaign promise of healthcare reform was a certain deliverable (the latest permutation would expand the federal Medicare program to include the uninsured), and NARAB II, which easily passed through the House last year, seemed to be a shoo-in.

On the whole, the Illinois agents and others at the convention said the politicians they spoke with are playing their cards pretty close to the vest — and it’s understandable why. Their constituents have been burned hard by the Wall Street debacle and are leery about any proposals that might smack of supporting big business. The Illinois agents at our Capitol Hill meetings made it clear that they’re not AIG asking for a bailout: they and their customers are in fact the Main Street America that legislators otherwise know as voters.

The last time I went lobbying with insurance agents was during the palmy days of the early 1990s, back before banks were even allowed to own insurers. Although a lot has changed since then, the need for an informed agency force to communicate their needs to their elected officials is more important than ever. After all, it’s your democratic right — exercise it!