Last year brought about many significant changes affecting us globally and locally; some exciting, some rather concerning. Great technological advances, from location-based services to iPads, are making our lives more interesting, if not easier. At the same time, we also continued to experience one of the greatest recessions in American history, resulting in continued job loss and the general slowing of the economy.

The result has been a profound impact on the day-to-day work of public entities. Whether a local public works department, a large county government or a law enforcement agency, there's no denying that standard operating procedures have drastically changed in the last few years due to shifting circumstances in the marketplace.

Public sector risk can often perplex even the most experienced agents and brokers. The difficulty of providing effective risk management solutions to an already complex sector is magnified by different rules between states, as well as laws governing public entities' responsibilities that are always subject to change.