The SFM Foundation started out in 2008, with a mission to ease the burdens on families affected by workplace accidents. Fourteen years and $3 million later, SFM Foundation scholarships are changing lives by making college possible for students in need.

In May, the Foundation’s annual Iowa golf event saw record turnout and received rave reviews from participants. The Foundation’s Minnesota golf outing in June has become one of the largest charity golf tournaments in the state, and this year’s event did not disappoint! These annual Golfing for Scholarships tournaments are the primary source of fundraising for the scholarship fund, and SFM’s agency partners have played play a key role since the very beginning.

Since its inception in 2008, the Foundation’s scholarship program has helped 216 students, including the 13 new recipients announced this summer. Generous support from event sponsors and donors over the years has allowed the Foundation to grant scholarships totaling more than $3.2 million.

The SFM Foundation provides scholarships for students whose parents were seriously injured or killed while working for Minnesota or Iowa employers. SFM Foundation is an affiliate of Kids’ Chance of America  in Iowa and Minnesota and is also known as Kids’ Chance of Iowa. To learn more about the cause, visit sfmfoundation.com .

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A number of SFM employees took time recently to talk with students about issues in insurance, and careers in the field.

Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Amanda Aponte presented to University of St. Thomas actuarial students on how COVID-19 has impacted the property casualty industry.

Internal Premium Auditor Toni Dvorak spoke as a panelist at the University of St. Thomas Dougherty Family College, sharing with students pursuing associate degrees in liberal arts. She talked about her experience working in the industry and gave advice on how to prepare for a job in insurance.

Loss Prevention Technical Leader Lee Wendel gave a guest lecture at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Business attended by actuarial and business students in the school’s insurance program. He talked about how leadership can impact major loss sources for employee injuries, and how technology is impacting safety over time.

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SFM continues to expand its employee base in states beyond its Minnesota headquarters.

Recent additions include:

• Senior Claims Representative Julie Jauron (Iowa)
• External Premium Auditor Lee Burkle (Iowa)
• TPA Claims Representative Nichole McCain (Iowa)
• Claims Representative Rebecca Skrobis (Wisconsin)

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By all objective measures, SFM’s financial results for 2021 are outstanding. From reaching new heights in customer retention to setting records in new business and total written premium, the company has excelled in virtually every category of performance.

“Looking over the 2021 financials, there’s plenty for SFM to be proud of,” said SFM Senior Vice President Steve Sandilla. “An even greater source of pride for our staff is living up to the reputation of delivering a level of customer service that’s second to none.”

Highlights from 2021:

• SFM’s commitment to customer relationships has resulted in exemplary customer retention over the years. In 2021, SFM raised the bar even higher, by reporting an unprecedented policyholder retention rate of 96.6%.
• SFM added 6,329 policyholders, representing record new business premium of over $30 million.
• Written premium for the year totaled $212 million.
• SFM had a combined ratio of 90%, representing 10 straight years with a ratio below 100.

SFM’s book of business now includes more than 28,000 employers throughout the region. In addition, SFM’s Superior Point division serves approximately 13,000 policyholders as a servicing carrier for the Minnesota Workers’ Compensation Assigned Risk Plan. In 2021, SFM was also selected to serve 20% of the Wisconsin Worker’s Compensation Insurance Pool.

SFM is actively engaged in expanding business beyond its original home state of Minnesota. Well over one third of the company’s in-force premium now comes from SFM’s other core states: Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota and Kansas. After last year’s successful Kansas rollout, SFM is in the process of adding agents and policyholders in the state of Indiana in 2022.

According to Sandilla, independent insurance agents have played a critical role in the successes described above. SFM places a consistent emphasis on growing relationships with these valued partners that are mutually beneficial and lasting.

“Agents know that when they trust their clients to the work comp experts, they can count on the best customer service in the business,” Sandilla said. “Year in and year out, we do everything within our power to reward that trust with great results for our customers.”

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Hundreds of agencies have signed up to have their commissions deposited directly into their bank accounts. If you haven’t signed up yet, now is the time!

Enroll today by following these simple steps:

• Log into SFM Agency Manager (SAM) and click on the “Commissions” tab. (Note: This tab is automatically available to admin level users only. Administrators can give access to other SAM users in the “User Profiles” area by selecting the “Agency commissions contact” under “Contact type” on their profile.)
• Click “Add account” and follow the instructions.
• Wait for two small deposits to show up in your bank account (this typically takes 1-2 days). Then return to SAM and verify the account. This step helps us keep your account secure and make sure your commission payments get to the right place.

For full setup information you can download the instruction sheet . If you are unsure of your SAM user ID or have other questions, you can email us at agencymanagement@sfmic.com.

Viewing commission statements

Once you start receiving direct deposit commissions, you can return to SAM anytime to view commission statements. To do this, just click “Commissions” and then click “Commission statements,” which is located on the far left just below the green box that says “SAM.”

You can also have statements automatically emailed to you or anyone at your agency. Just click “Commissions” and then “Manage notifications” to set this up.

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SFM’s territory expansion successes continue as the team finds opportunities to get their feet on the ground in our two newest states.

More than 100 Kansas agencies have signed up to work with SFM and the total in-force premium written since we entered the state in September 2020 has far exceeded expectations, cresting the $1 million mark as we started 2022.

Much of that is thanks to our agency partnerships which further our efforts by helping us make new connections. Attending the KAIA Annual Convention in January boosted our visibility in the state even more.

“Several agencies have told us that we are their go-to work comp carrier,” said Senior Marketing Underwriter Jeff Magee. “And that was after just 18 months in Kansas.”

Kansas agents have told Magee they appreciate how easy it is to submit business through SFM Agency Manager (SAM), he said.

“They say SAM is intuitive and makes it easy to do business with us,” Magee said, “especially the built-in class code checker, quick online applications, and pay-as-you-go and credit card payment options.”

Entrance into Indiana

SFM kept the momentum going as the company entered Indiana this year, quickly outpacing our goals for written premium and appointed agencies early in the year. We’ve remained on track to hit additional milestones by the end of 2022.

“We’re still in the process of growing our agency force in Indiana,” said Business Development Specialist Cody Allen. “So far the agencies we’ve met with have been very welcoming and we look forward to making more connections as we continue to visit Indiana in the coming months.”

SFM’s territory expansion team has several more marketing trips to the state planned for the remainder of this year. The company has become a member of the Independent Agents of Indiana.

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Three SFM representatives participated in this year’s Kansas Association of Insurance Agents (KAIA) Annual Convention in Wichita, Kansas on January 24-26.

“The convention gave us an opportunity to see many of our current agency partners and continue to build our brand and presence in Kansas,” said Small Business Marketing Representative Mark Lewis. “It was a really fun event that we plan to continue to sponsor and attend going forward.”

SFM is a KAIA member and a sponsor of the annual event. Lewis, Senior Marketing Underwriter Jeff Magee and SFM Business Development Specialist Cody Allen attended.

“The feedback we get from agencies is that they love working with SFM for two primary reasons – ease of doing business and responsiveness,” Magee said. “We’ve made it easy for them to work with us and they hear from us quickly, providing a 1- to 2-hour turnaround in most cases.”

The team is looking forward to making more connections in Kansas throughout 2022.

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The results of our latest agent survey are in, and agents gave SFM high marks on ease of doing business. 94% of respondents said it is either “easy” or “very easy” to do business with SFM, with 6% of responses being neutral.

Thank you to the more than 450 agents who participated in the survey. We review all feedback carefully and use it to continue to improve our services.

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