PLANSPONSOR - April/May 2019 - 64

Empower Retirement
Jerry Lynn and Terry Shackelford gave the plan sponsor
expert advice on how to incorporate the retirement
plans of acquired companies into its own plan
CLIENT: Applied Technical Services Inc.
CLIENT INDUSTRY: Consulting
CLIENT HEADQUARTERS: Atlanta, Georgia
PLAN ASSETS/PARTICIPANTS: >$25mm - $50mm/1,043
BIOS: Jerry Lynn is a client service manager specializing in the
$25 million to $50 million market segment; he has been working at
the firm since 2012, prior to its rebranding from Great-West. Terry
Shackelford is a senior relationship manager, having also joined the
firm when it was Great-West, in 2007.
B
obbie Rose, director of human resources (HR) for Applied
Technical Services Inc., says going above and beyond, from the
client service perspective, should be a provider's everyday policy.
" Anyone can have a good day, " Rose points out. " That's why
I think it's important to look at the whole picture and the dayto-day
interactions [with] the client service person to see if they
deserve being recognized. "
According to Rose, the Empower Retirement team of Terry
Shackelford, senior relationship manager, and Jerry Lynn, client
service manager, embodies this philosophy of giving consistently
great client service. " I can honestly tell you that, between
the two of them, I've always had exceptional day-to-day customer
service-not just a one-time event of [it], " Rose says. " There are
numerous times that either Terry or Jerry walked me through
a situation that required time and undivided attention to make
sure things were done within the law and ethically performed. I
depend on them, and they've never let me down. "
Rose notes that Applied Technical Services, a provider of
consulting engineering, testing and inspection services, is a
growing company and, in the past two years, has made numerous
acquisitions that called for managing and merging new retirement
plans with its own.
" Both Terry and Jerry have reached out to experts for me
to get the answers on the grueling process, " Rose says. " For
example, when one of the companies we acquire has a simple
individual retirement account [IRA] and we, the buyer, have a
401(k) and it's mid-year, there's a lot to consider. Terry walked
me through similar scenarios and helped me understand the
complexity of the situation and what I needed to do, going
forward. Jerry helped get the process going. Without them, I
would not feel confident about the process. " She concludes,
" Many people depend on retirement plan sponsors doing the
right thing. So it's a big benefit for the plan sponsor to be able to
lean on a solid support system. " -John Manganaro
64 PLANSPONSOR.com April - May 2019
MassMutual
The team of Steve Cirenese, Karrie Morisette, Sharon
Scussel, Caitlin Shipley and Nancy Thibault shows its
versatility, addressing a wide array of client needs
CLIENT: McLaren Health Care Corp.
INDUSTRY: Health care organization (not for profit)
CLIENT HEADQUARTERS: Grand Blanc, Michigan
PLAN ASSETS/PARTICIPANTS: >$500mm - $1b/24,000
BIOS: Steve Cirenese, client engagement manager, has over 12 years'
experience in the retirement industry. Karrie Morisette, director, client
management, leads the McLaren service team. Sharon Scussel, regulatory
advisory services consultant, has over 25 years of industry experience.
Caitlin Shipley, communication consultant, delivers communication
programs to employees. Nancy Thibault, senior account manager,
leads the day-to-day management of the plan.
D
onna Aho, director of corporate retirement services at
McLaren Health Care Corp., " recognizes the MassMutual
team for its amazing support on numerous projects. "
For McLaren, a large integrated health network, the past
year required a lot of the team's attention. The organization
converted employee contributions from a flat dollar amount to a
percentage, which involved communicating with approximately
2,000 employees plus offering the opportunity for individual
meetings. Additionally, it launched a new-hire video-now part
of its employee university and onboarding process-that will
educate more than 3,000 employees annually about its plans.
" We work closely with the MassMutual team because we are
constantly transitioning plans into our system, " Aho says. Also
during that time, McLaren merged over 300 employees under a
new contracted subscriber, only to have the direction reversed at
the last minute. " I can't tell you how many times they've had to
help us with corrections, " she says.
In another example of how the team excels, Aho says,
a facility in Northern Michigan was about to merge with
McLaren; meanwhile, the McLaren team was tied up with other
projects. The MassMutual team went to educate the facility's
employees-and has stepped in this way at other times, as well.
McLaren holds planning meetings with the MassMutual team
annually. " We told them we have trouble getting people engaged
in educational meetings, so we mutually came up with the idea
of retirement plan parties, " Aho says. " We've held about 40 over
the whole McLaren system. "
Says Karrie Morisette, MassMutual's director, client management,
who leads the team, " We work in a continuous improvement
environment to achieve participant engagement goals.
Each team member is passionate about improving retirement
outcomes for the employees of McLaren. " -Rebecca Moore
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PLANSPONSOR - April/May 2019

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