PLANSPONSOR - April/May 2019 - 62

Individuals
David Parker
His steady presence and the trust he has built with
participants has helped the plan grow
RECORDKEEPER COMPANY: The Standard
CLIENT: Shelburne Farms
CLIENT INDUSTRY: Nonprofit organization
CLIENT HEADQUARTERS: Shelburne, Vermont
PLAN ASSETS/PARTICIPANTS: 401(k) $1mm - $5mm/90 full-time, plus
150 seasonal, employees
BIO: David Parker, a relationship manager for The Standard in
Portland, Maine, has worked in the retirement industry for 35 years,
the last 19 with employers that were merged into The Standard.
S
helburne Farms, a working farm, education center and inn on
the banks of Lake Champlain in Vermont, switched recordkeeping
providers in 2011 to The Standard. From the beginning,
says Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Tom Nold, Relationship
Manager Dave Parker's steady presence and the trust he built
with employees has increased both the number of employees who
participate in the plan and the percent of earnings they defer.
" He has gone out of his way to understand the complexities
of our nonprofit organization and is well-respected across our
employee base, " Nold says. " Our participation rate has tripled,
as has our asset level-all within the seven years Dave has been
managing our account. "
Part of that trust stems from Parker's ability to connect with
the workforce. " Dave schedules his time at Shelburne Farms so
all employees have an opportunity to meet with him regardless
of their schedules, plus he is able to educate in a manner that
meets all levels of understanding, " Nold says.
There is a diverse population of employees, from dairy
farmers to educators to senior-level managers at Shelburne, and
Parker can engage with all of them. Before he started working in
the retirement industry, he was a carpenter for several years and
a maintenance worker for the school district in Portland, Maine,
his hometown. " I've done everything the employees have done,
so I tell stories about my experiences, " Parker explains.
" People have grown up with phones and instant gratification, "
he says. " They get a 'like,' and dopamine goes to their head.
I tell them that saving for retirement is something that you don't
get immediate feedback on-the dopamine doesn't come for a
long time. "
Nold says, " Parker may be the only person who will advise
participants to save their money and put off spending. If this
was the Academy Awards, this would be more of a lifetime
achievement award than a Best Actor of 2019. It's been more
about Dave being a continuous solid presence than any one
singular event. " -JFH
62 PLANSPONSOR.com April - May 2019
Linda Trinh
She proactively suggests improvements to make the
plan efficient and employee-friendly
RECORDKEEPER COMPANY: John Hancock Retirement Plan Services
CLIENT: Curtis Industries LLC
CLIENT INDUSTRY: Manufacturing - Consumer products
CLIENT HEADQUARTERS: West Boylston, Massachusetts
PLAN ASSETS/PARTICIPANTS: >$5mm - $10mm/169
BIO: Linda Trinh, a client account manager with John Hancock
Retirement Plan Services in Toronto, has been with the firm for 13
years, serving in her current position for the past seven.
C
lient Account Manager Linda Trinh, with John Hancock
Retirement Plan Services, looks for trends in participant
behavior in the plans she oversees. If she perceives how a plan
could be better served, she reaches out to the client.
Steven LeBlanc, director, human resources (HR), at Curtis
Industries LLC, a manufacturer of compact vehicle enclosure
systems, nominated Trinh for just that reason. " Linda does a great
job, processing the day-to-day loan requests, and happily answers
any questions I have, but what separates her from others is that
she notices trends and patterns of use in our plan and does her
research into our plan construction, " LeBlanc says. " She then
takes this information and contacts me, making proactive suggestions
on ways to make our plan even more employee-friendly. "
" I evaluate my plans every quarter, " Trinh says, " to see what
kinds of services I can recommend to make administration of the
plan easier or more efficient. I also look for tools and communications
that I can recommend to boost participant engagement. "
Trinh says she contacted LeBlanc last September when she
noticed many participant requests for loans and withdrawals
coming through on paper. " An alternative way is to use online
withdrawals and loans, which are faster and more efficient, " she
notes. " He was open to the suggestion, so the service was added in
October. " To eliminate more paperwork at the participant level,
Trinh suggested additional convenient online services, such as
paperless online enrollment and online deferral management,
both of which Curtis Industries also embraced and adopted.
Continuing to evaluate the plan with an eye toward ease of
use and participant engagement, Trinh suggested that the client
improve its website by posting " plan highlights " there, which it
did-i.e., " a high-level overview of what the plan allows, such as
eligibility, loans and withdrawals, " Trinh says.
Trinh also streamlined Curtis Industries' plan administration
by suggesting Payroll Pass, a service that permits participants'
contributions to be directed straight to John Hancock,
rather than the sponsor issuing a contribution file to the payroll
company. -LB
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