PLANSPONSOR - April/May 2020 - 33

AWARDS 2020 PLAN SPONSOR OF THE YEAR FINALISTS
Kelly Mutuc, Vice President Talent
Management, Novaspect, Inc.
Margaret Herod, Director of
Finance, Rumberger, Kirk &
Caldwell, P.A.
Lexa Turner, Human Resources,
Benefits and Compensation
Manager, Phifer Inc.
Debbie Hill, Vice President
Human Resources, Tree Top Inc.
Novaspect, Inc.
Schaumburg, Illinois
Corporate 401(k) >$100mm - $250mm
PLANS: 401(k); ESOP. PLAN ASSETS: $68.6mm. PARTICIPANTS: 454.
PARTICIPATION RATE: 94%. EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTION: 6% match
in 401(k), plus 2%-4% annually in employer stock. RECORDKEEPER:
Fidelity Investments. ADVISER: UBS.
Novaspect, Inc., became employee-owned in 2016. " Last year, we
contributed 50% more than we did in 2018, " says Kelly Mutuc,
vice president, talent management. Mutuc says the strengths
of the engineering company's defined contribution benefits are
" our automatic enrollment, our match and our annual resolicitation
for folks to join the plan. " Employees are spread across 10
locations in seven states. To produce educational materials and
communications that target all employees, Novaspect created a
culture committee; this tailors events and education about the
401(k) and employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) for a diverse
workforce. Recently, the company introduced a student loan
repayment program and instituted unlimited personal time off
for personal or family emergencies, illness, etc. -LB
Rumberger, Kirk & Caldwell, P.A.
Orlando, Florida
PLAN: 401(k)/profit sharing. PLAN ASSETS: $63mm. PARTICIPANTS: 235.
PARTICIPATION RATE: 94%. EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTION: 50% of first
6%. RECORDKEEPER: Transamerica. ADVISER: Cerity Partners.
The catalyst for working toward improving the plan at
Rumberger, Kirk & Caldwell, a trial law firm, was failed ADP
[actual deferral percentage] testing, says Margaret Herod,
director of finance. Inspired by Shlomo Benartzi's book " Save
More Tomorrow, " the committee decided to modernize its plan.
After an assessment by Cerity Partners, the plan made several
design changes. " The problem was, our plan was set up to not
encourage people to save much for retirement, " Herod observes.
Accomplishments, she says, were eliminating revenue sharing
and bundling the plan's recordkeeping and third-party administration
service. Together, these efforts reduced costs by 40%.
The plan also added participant education days, with a combination
of in-person and video presentations, and personal
meetings with an adviser. -LB
Phifer Inc.
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
PLAN: 401(k). PLAN ASSETS: $163mm. PARTICIPANTS: 1,200. PARTICIPATION
RATE: 97%. AVERAGE DEFERRAL RATE: 7.8%. EMPLOYER
CONTRIBUTION: 25% of up to 10%, plus discretionary match.
RECORDKEEPER: John Hancock. ADVISER: Morgan Stanley.
Lexa Turner, human resources, benefits and compensation
manager for this manufacturer of woven fabrics, credits
customized education and face-to-face communications for the
retirement plan's success. Instead of automatically enrolling
employees in the plan, the company prefers talking with them
in person about how the plan can benefit them. Last year, Phifer
partnered with a local community college to add a required
financial literacy education class to its pre-employment
training program. Phifer employees and their families are
also encouraged to use the Phifer Cares wellness program, a
platform to help them avoid high health care costs by staying
healthy. -Amanda Umpierrez
Tree Top Inc.
Selah, Washington
PLANS: 401(k); frozen DB. PLAN ASSETS: $121mm. PARTICIPANTS:
1,230. PARTICIPATION RATE: 97.8% overall. AVERAGE DEFERRAL RATE:
8.1% overall. EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTION: 100% of 4.5%,
workers; 60% of 4%, hourly workers; plus discretionary contributions.
RECORDKEEPER: T. Rowe Price. ADVISER: Arnerich-Massena, Inc.
Tree Top Inc. is a grower-owned fruit-processing cooperative.
Two-thirds of the company's employees are in manufacturing
jobs and work 10 to 11 months of the year, prompting the company
to utilize automatic 401(k) features. Tree Top tailors its education
to its workers. As many are Spanish-speaking, the company
conducts its education bilingually; education is provided every
other year, during company time, at all locations. When Tree Top
moved to T. Rowe Price in 2014, 30% of participants' assets were
invested in stable value funds. Defaulting participants' assets
into age-appropriate target-date investments at the changeover
reduced the stable value fund holdings to less than 10%. -AU
PLANSPONSOR.COM April - May 2020 33
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PLANSPONSOR - April/May 2020

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