What's New at Benefits Design Group, Inc.
April 2008
Staff News
Valerie
Schleifer joined Benefits Design Group, Inc. as an Account
Representative for Service Option 2 effective February 6, 2008. Valerie
previously worked at Metallics, Inc. in the Accounting Department as an
Accounts Receivable Clerk. Valerie graduated from University of Wisconsin –
La Crosse with a Finance Degree. She currently resides in Holmen, WI with
her dog Paco. She will be taking over the accounts previously assigned to
Kari Frick, who resigned at the end of last year.
Valerie’s background in Finance and Accounting will be
an asset to our organization. We
welcome Valerie and are confident that she will be a great addition to our
benefits team.
Sue Sieger, CFCI and Kim Ness, CFC will be attending the Employee
Benefits Institute of America’s (EBIA) 10th Annual Advanced Cafeteria Plan
Conference, which will be held this year in Boston, MA July 16-18, 2008.
The IRS business plan year ends June 30, 2008, so this conference
should prove to be timely with a flurry of guidance yet to be checked off
the IRS business plan list this spring.
We will also be attending the Employer Council on
Flexible Compensation (ECFC) 21st Annual Cafeteria Plan Symposium, which
will be held this year at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, CT August
13-15, 2008.
Sue Sieger, CFCI has been asked
to serve on the conference planning committee to help develop the conference
agenda and will again teach the Flexible Spending Account course used to
prepare candidates for the “Certified in Flexible Compensation” exam.
This national conference is attended by some of the most well known
benefit attorneys, third party administrators, and IRS representatives.
This conference always provides an excellent forum to discuss the
latest trends in employee benefits with mutual experts in the field.
We may even find out what else may be brewing on Capitol Hill.
Stay tuned for our updates after these conferences!
October 2007
Staff News
Heather Smith has joined Benefits Design Group, Inc. as an Account
Representative for Service Option 2 effective September 10, 2007. Heather just
recently moved to this area from North
Dakota with her husband Ty
and her son, Donovan. She enjoys scrapbooking,
sewing, and crafting. She will be taking over duties previously assigned to Melissa Schams.
Heather’s
background in human resources and employee benefits will be an asset to our
organization. We welcome Heather
and are confident that she will be great addition to our benefits team!
Melissa Schams has taken on some new responsibilities within
Benefits Design Group, Inc. Her duties will include processing: Health
Reimbursement Accounts (HRA), Section 125 Renewals, and claims for both Service
Option 1 and Service Option 2 clients.
July 2007
Staff News
Sonja Kerr has joined Benefits Design Group, Inc. as a COBRA Benefits Specialist effective
June 25, 2007. She has worked in
the health care industry for over 25 years with experience relating to
medical insurance billing, health information management and HIPAA compliance. She is certified as a Registered
Health Information Technician (RHIT).
Sonja
lives on French
Island and has three
children, Lindsay, Jenna and Sean and one grandchild Vanessa all of whom are
a joy to her life. She enjoys
golfing, reading and socializing with family and friends.
Sonja
will be great addition to our benefits team!
Sue Sieger, CFCI, has been selected by the Employer Council on
Flexible Compensation (ECFC) to teach one of the courses used to prepare
candidates for the certification exam.
The CFC designation is awarded as a result of a rigorous examination
covering plan design and administration, the law, regulations and ethical
standards. The examination covers
flexible benefit programs, including flexible spending accounts, child and
elder care reimbursement accounts, Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRA),
Health Savings Accounts (HSA), 401(k) and other defined contribution plans
and innovative forms of compensation and benefits. Sue will be conducting the
session on Flexible Spending Accounts at the Cafeteria Plan Symposium in Reno, NV
this August.
In addition, Sue Sieger,
CFCI, has recently authored an essay that has been published as part of a Viterbo
University project
completed by the Masters in Servant Leadership program this spring. Her essay entitled “Remaining
Authentic in a Fast Forward World” was included in the Monograph,
Becoming Authentic: The Search for Wholeness and Calling as a Servant-Leader. The Monograph, edited by Trevor
Hall, is a collection of essays
from current students and alumni of Viterbo’s
Servant Leadership Master’s degree program that delve into the themes
of conflict, friendship, contemplation, and community. The collection has
been reviewed and endorsed by James Autry, Ann McGee-Cooper and John Izzo, all of whom are respected authors of leadership
books. All royalties will go to the Bishop John Paul Scholarship Fund for
students in Viterbo’s servant leadership
program. You can find copies of
the book at online bookstores and Viterbo’s
campus bookstore.
April 2007
Staff News
Sue
Sieger, CFCI and Kim Ness, CFC will be attending the Employee Benefits
Institute of America’s (EBIA)
9th Annual Advanced Cafeteria Plan Conference, which will be held in Seattle WA
July 18-20, 2007. The IRS
business plan year ends June 30, 2007, so this conference should prove to be
timely with a flurry of guidance yet to be checked off the IRS business plan
list this spring.
Sue
Sieger, CFCI and Shawn Bresnahan,
CFC will be attending the Employer Council on Flexible Compensation (ECFC) 20th Annual Cafeteria Plan
Symposium, which will be held in Reno,
NV August 15-17, 2007. This national conference is attended
by some of the most well known benefit attorneys, third party administrators,
and IRS representatives. This conference
always provides an excellent forum to discuss the latest trends in employee
benefits, with mutual experts in the field. We may even find out what else may be
brewing on Capitol Hill.
Stay tuned for our updates after these
conferences!
October 2006
Staff News
Ness Awarded CFC Designation
Kimberly
Ness, CFC, Office Manager for Benefits Design Group, Inc., has been awarded
the highest professional certification available for practitioners in
flexible compensation by the Employer’s Council on Flexible
Compensation (ECFC). Kimberly
Ness CFC, has been “Certified in Flexible
Compensation” by the Council’s Academy for Professional and
Ethical Standards. She joins Sue
Sieger, CFCI, General
Manager of our Onalaska location and Shawn
Bresnahan CFC, Employee Benefits Consultant of our Wausau location.
The
designations are awarded as a result of a rigorous examination covering plan
design and administration, the law, regulations and ethical standards. The examination covered flexible
benefit programs, including flexible spending accounts, child and elder care
reimbursement accounts, Heath Reimbursement Arrangements (HRA), Health
Savings Accounts (HSA), 401(k) and other defined contribution plans and
innovative forms of compensation and benefits. Their achievements put them
among the elite few hundred that have been awarded these designations
nationwide and it demonstrates the continued commitment that Benefits Design
Group, Inc. has to be leaders in employee benefit plan administration.
July 2006
Staff News
Sue
Sieger, CFCI, General Manager graduated this past May with a Master’s
Degree in Servant Leadership from Viterbo University,
La Crosse Wisconsin. Viterbo University
is a Catholic Franciscan University,
that provides an opportunity for individuals to deepen and develop
their vocation to engage in competent, creative, leadership that works for
the common good. The master’s program in servant leadership supports
and affirms people who seriously embrace their vocation to serve in the world
and the church and is the first degree of its kind nationally.
Excerpt From: Robert K.
Greenleaf: A Life of Servant Leadership, San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler,
2004. by Don M. Frick
“Who is a
servant-leader?”
Robert
Greenleaf’s first servant writing was titled “The Servant as
Leader,” not “The Leader as Servant.” Greenleaf explains
the difference:
The
servant-leader is servant first . . . It begins with the natural feeling that
one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire
to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first,
perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire
material possessions. For such it will be a later choice to serve—after
leadership is established. The leader-first and the servant-first are two
extreme types. Between them there are shadings and blends that are part of
the infinite variety of human nature. . . The difference manifests itself in
the care taken by the servant-first to make sure that other people’s
highest priority needs are being served.7”
Robert K. Greenleaf, The
Servant as Leader (Indianapolis: Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership,
1970, 1991),7.
EBIA’s
8th Annual Advanced Cafeteria Plan Conference
Kim
Ness and Sue Sieger, CFCI, attended the Advanced Cafeteria Plan Conference
held in Minneapolis, MN June 28-30, 2006. This conference was conducted by the
Employee Benefits Institute of America (EBIA) and provided us with a wealth
of information. The seminar
attendees included attorneys, accountants, TPAs and
compliance specialists. These
fact filled sessions gave us the opportunity to hear about the latest in
employee benefits news, as well as a forum to ask questions of our peers and
the attorneys that conducted the seminars. We had hoped that the HSA
comparability rules would be finalized while we were in session and we could
get an immediate translation from the presenting attorneys; however, the
flooding rains in Washington, D.C. that week and the subsequent evacuation of
the IRS building may have played a part in the delay of the final guidance
that was expected this June or July.
According
to the IRS’s 2005-2006 Priority Guidance Plan there will be additional
guidance on debit cards, final regulations issued on HSA comparability,
proposed regulations on cafeteria plans, finalized dependent care
regulations, proposed regulations under Code Section 152, and updated
regulations on the definition of highly compensated employee under Code
Section 414(q) coming soon.
COMING
SOON…
To a Conference Center
Near YOU!
Check out Benefits Design Group, Inc. at the
following events:
April 3-4, 2006
Skyward
Software Users Group Spring Conference
Kalahari
Resort Wisconsin Dells WI
April 19-20, 2006
2006
Rehabilitation & Transition Conference
American
Club Kohler WI
April 27, 2006
Wausau/Marathon
County Chamber Business Expo 2006
Marathon Park
Wausau WI
May 18, 2006
National
Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) of Wisconsin
Sales
& Leadership Conference & Exhibits
Kalahari Resort
Wisconsin Dells WI
August 3-4, 2006
MTA 74th
Annual Conference
Breezy Point Conference Center
Breezy Point MN
Staff News
We would like to welcome Kari Frick
as an Account Representative for Service Option 2 clients effective January
23, 2006. Kari comes to us with an extensive background in accounting and
computer consulting. Kari is
married and has three boys. Kari is assuming the responsibilities of Lori
Olson who resigned her position with Benefits Design Group, Inc. effective
December 31, 2005. Lori has chosen to take a job closer to her home to allow
more time with her family. We wish Lori the best and welcome Kari to our
staff!
Sue Sieger, CFCI and Kim Ness will be attending the Employee
Benefits Institute of America’s (EBIA) 8th Annual Advanced Cafeteria
Plan Conference, which will be held in Minneapolis,
MN June 28-30, 2006. The IRS business plan year ends June
30, 2006, so this conference should prove to be timely with a flurry of
guidance yet to be checked off the IRS business plan list.
Sue Sieger, CFCI and Shawn Bresnahan,
CFC will be attending the Employer Council on Flexible
Compensation (ECFC) 19th Annual Cafeteria Plan Symposium, which will be held
in Dallas, TX August 9-11, 2006. This national conference is attended
by some of the most well known benefit attorneys, third party administrators,
and IRS representatives. This
conference always provides an excellent forum to discuss the latest trends in
employee benefits, with mutual experts in the field. We may even find out what else may be
brewing on Capitol Hill.
Stay tuned for our updates after
these conferences!
Bresnahan
Awarded CFC Designation
Shawn
Bresnahan, CFC, Employee Benefits Consultant for Benefits
Design Group, Inc., has been awarded the highest professional certification
available for practitioners in flexible compensation by the Employer’s
Council on Flexible Compensation (ECFC).
Shawn has been “Certified in Flexible Compensation”, CFC,
by the Council’s Academy for Professional and Ethical Standards.
The designation is awarded as a
result of a rigorous examination covering plan design and administration, the
law, regulations and ethical standards.
The examination covered flexible benefit programs, including flexible
spending accounts, child and elder care reimbursement accounts, Health
Reimbursement Arrangements (HRA), Health Savings Accounts (HSA), 401 (k) and
other defined contribution plans and innovative forms of compensation and
benefits. His achievement put him
among the select few hundred that have been awarded this designation
nationwide and demonstrates the commitment that Benefits Design Group, Inc.
has made to continue as leaders in employee benefit plan administration.
Mr. Bresnahan can be contacted
in our Wausau
location at (715) 848-4267, or at sbresnahan@bdgflex.com.
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