PLANSPONSOR - July - August 2023 - 25

Corporate DC >$150mm - $250mm
Schwarz Partners L.P.
Carmel, Indiana
payroll platform. Now the sponsor can help the
various locations manage payroll, Kennedy says.
The plan's design became increasingly
complex, as well. In 2016, Schwarz replaced its
then current recordkeeper with John Hancock.
" Because of our ambitions growth, we outgrew
some of our vendor partners, " Kennedy says.
" We wanted to build a plan to help people
help themselves, " he observes. The sponsor
raised its default deferral rate from 3% to 6%,
also implementing annual automatic escalation
and re-enrollment for all nonparticipants.
" Schwarz is at the leading edge of the
Joseph Kennedy, vice president of human resources
Plan Snapshot
PLAN TYPE AND SIZE: 401(k); $187.8mm
PARTICIPANTS AND PARTICIPATION RATE: 4,992; 95.9%
DEFERRAL RATE: 6% default; 8.8% average
EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTION: 50% of 6%, profit sharing
SCHWARZ PARTNERS L.P., headquartered
in Carmel, Indiana, began in 1998 as a familyowned
corrugated sheet manufacturer and has
grown rapidly through acquisitions and startups.
Its operations now span all aspects of
producing and distributing paper packaging.
" The biggest challenge we face is that we're
a complex and highly decentralized organization
with operations in 21 states, " says Joe Kennedy,
vice president of human resources. The company
currently has 67 pay groups across its 48 operations-and
48 physical locations. Until recently,
it had separate payroll services at each. Some
operations are collectively bargained.
To help govern the plan, which was
growing increasingly complex, and to reduce
potential operational and administrative risks,
the sponsor created a dedicated 401(k) administrative
committee. It also moved to a common
industry for how to set up plan design and have
higher savings rates, " says Joe Connor, strategic
relationship manager with John Hancock.
Participation was already above 95%, and
the changes helped boost savings rates. " When
they came to us, their average savings rate was
6%, and now it's almost 9%, " Connor says.
Kennedy mentions an additional point of
pride for the plan: " We've also made significant
strides with our annual testing and audit
results. The number and amounts for refunds
to highly compensated employees is negligible
for the past four to six years, and we've
completed five consecutive years of audits with
no internal control recommendations. "
Encouraging employee engagement has
also been key. Last year, Schwarz's HR staff
partnered with John Hancock to hold 46
in-person education meetings-a challenge for
a manufacturing client, Connor notes-often
with bilingual interpreters, over 20 days to
show participants how to stay on track for retirement
during difficult economic times.
Further efforts include offering group
and one-on-one meetings for participants 60
or older with SageView advisers and holding a
biennial HR summit, where its HR staff from
all locations discuss benefits with providers to
determine how better to support employees.
" I've never worked with a plan sponsor
that's so dedicated to its employees' financial
success, " Connor says. -Kimberly Lankford
Finalists
Biotronik/Micro Systems
Engineering 401K Plan
Lake Oswego, Oregon
Halma Holdings Inc.
Summit, New Jersey
Ingevity Corporation
North Charleston, South Carolina
Midwest Radiology, P.A.
Roseville, Minnesota
Salas O'Brien
Irvine, California
More on PLANSPONSOR.com/
awards/2023psoy
" The biggest
challenge
we face is
that we're
a complex
and highly
decentralized
organization
with
operations in
21 states. "
PLANSPONSOR.COM July - August 2023 25
http://www.PLANSPONSOR.com/awards/2023psoy http://www.PLANSPONSOR.com/awards/2023psoy http://www.PLANSPONSOR.COM
PLANSPONSOR - July - August 2023

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