The SFM Foundation’s summer golf events are in the books, and more than $160,000 was raised for the organization’s scholarship fund.

Founded in 2008, the nonprofit provides college scholarships for students whose families are impacted by workplace injuries.

“We’re always so thankful of the support of our agent partners, clients and others who contribute to our mission,” said Linda Williams, President of the SFM Foundation. “These golf events are not only a way to raise scholarship funds, but they also allow those involved to connect and build a community.”

The events were held in Iowa and Minnesota, and more than 260 golfers participated. Both fundraisers saw increases from last year’s totals.

“We are proud of our efforts to support these families, and they have endured difficult times and deserve something good,” said Andy Gebhard, Chair of the SFM Foundation Board of Directors. “Without the support of our sponsors, agents and others, we would not be able to help these young people. The foundation is doing great things, and it takes all of us working together to make it all happen.”

SFM Foundation fall events

Planning is well underway for the SFM Foundation’s fall events.

The second annual Iowa Bowling for Scholarships events is set for Oct. 17 in at Spare Time Entertainment in West Des Moines.

On Nov. 7, the foundation will host the Minnesota Sip & Shop for Scholarships. There is also a silent auction running in conjunction with the event.

See the SFM Foundation’s events page for more details.

About the SFM Foundation

The SFM Foundation is a nonprofit that helps families affected by workplace injuries by providing scholarships to children of workers disabled or killed in work-related accidents. The financial burden of putting a student through college is real. Add a catastrophic injury into the mix and affording college is an even bigger challenge. We help education be more affordable for these students and their families by offering multi-year post-secondary scholarships.

SFM Foundation is an affiliate of Kids’ Chance of America in Iowa and Minnesota and is also known as Kids’ Chance of Iowa.

SFM Mutual Insurance Co. announced today that the Star Tribune has ranked the workers’ compensation insurer as the eighth best place to work among midsize employers in Minnesota for 2024.

The Star Tribune’s Top 200 workplaces were chosen based on anonymous surveys of employees, which asked them to rank their employers in areas such as quality of leadership, cooperation between departments, meaningfulness of work, appreciation from coworkers, positivity of workplace, flexibility in scheduling, level of pay and quality of benefits.

“Our reputation as the work comp experts is directly related to the talent of our employees and their dedication to customer service,” said Terry Miller, President and CEO of SFM. “Our employees embody our culture. They are the primary reason SFM is a fantastic place to work and develop.”

The survey of SFM employees produced a workplace experience score of 4.92 out of 6. Themes that emerged from the survey include:

• The company’s vision, values and direction closely align with those of employees
• SFM employees feel empowered and able to grow in their careers
• Employees are engaged and committed, and advocate for SFM
• Pay, benefits and work-life balance are competitive compared to others in the industry
• Employees feel respected and supported

Also cited in the survey was an appreciation for SFM’s strong tradition of corporate philanthropy. In April 2024, the company became a member of the Minnesota Keystone Program, which promotes corporate philanthropy by recognizing and honoring companies that donate at least 2 percent of their pre-tax earnings to charitable organizations.

“It’s terrific to see how much employees enjoy working at SFM,” said Jody Rogers, Senior Vice President, Chief HR Officer. “It’s always been our philosophy to take excellent care of our employees, and our latest survey results confirm that our efforts are being realized.”

The Star Tribune Top Workplaces designation is awarded based on the results of a survey of employees conducted by Energage, a company that specializes in employee surveys and conducts more than 66,000 annually.

SFM has earned the accolade four out of the four times the company has participated.

View Star Tribune’s 2024 Top Workplaces webpage

View SFM’s Top Workplaces profile

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Children’s Minnesota has been recognized as one of the best hospital systems for kids in the U.S.

“Children’s is on the leading edge of advanced care for medically delicate situations, such as post-delivery for premature babies, childhood cancer and adolescent mental health,” said Amanda Aponte, CFO at SFM. “As a mother with small children, this cause is very close to my heart.”

Now, Aponte will bring her financial expertise to the nonprofit hospital group — she’s volunteering as a Community Member on the Children’s Minnesota Hospital investment subcommittee.

In her role, Aponte will collaborate with the Children’s investment team and subcommittee members on the Children’s Minnesota hospital and Children’s Minnesota Foundation investment portfolios. She started in May 2024, attending her first investment committee meeting. The group meets quarterly.

“I’m excited to step outside of workers’ compensation and use my experience to help a different worthy cause,” Aponte said. “I’m looking forward to learning more about nonprofit financials and investment strategies.”

Those investment strategies often center around environmental, social and governance matters, developing metrics to monitor asset managers’ progress toward goals.

“The mission at Children’s is to help kids specifically,” she said. “They do this not only in their operations but also in the way they invest, such as venture capital investments that bolster childhood medical advancements.”

An actuary by training, Aponte will bring the skills she has developed at SFM to the investment portfolio at Children’s Minnesota, notably her background in fixed income investing and enterprise risk management.

“I’m thrilled to be a small piece in Children’s greater community initiatives to lift up kids and families who are experiencing difficult medical situations.”

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Get expert information and statistics on why being cautious behind the wheel is important during SFM’s upcoming webinar.

Register now for Driving Safety, an SFM webinar for policyholders, set for 10-11 a.m. CDT Wednesday, June 26.

During the webinar, SFM professionals will share their extensive knowledge on:

• Why driving is the most dangerous work activity
• Types of driving-related injuries
• The claims process, including investigations
• How to prevent driving incidents and establish a safe driving program
• The consequences of a driving-related injury for the company and the employee
• Much more, including a question-and-answer session at the end

To learn more about this webinar and view past webinar recordings, visit sfmic.com/webinars.

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If you use CompOnline® you can create customized reports on your workers’ compensation claims.

The CompOnline risk management system allows policyholders to manage claims online and access workers’ comp data in real-time. (It’s especially helpful for mid- to large-size employers who tend to get more claims.)

Reports can be filtered by policy term, claim type, claim status, location and claim cost, and exported as a spreadsheet. You can also choose from a long list of data points to include in the report, such as injury, average weekly wage, amounts paid or reserved and much more.

To run a report, click “reports,” and then click “data export” in the navigation bar that appears below.

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The SFM Foundation, created by SFM in 2008, provides college scholarship funds for students whose parents were killed or seriously injured in workplace accidents.

Of the 247 scholarships the SFM Foundation has awarded over the years, nearly 95 percent have gone to students whose parents’ employers were not covered for workers’ compensation by SFM Companies.

In fact, the SFM Foundation does not consider the work comp insurer when awarding scholarships. We aim to serve the entire community, and more than 60 different insurance companies have had scholarships awarded by our program.

“It’s important for us to focus on helping students achieve their dreams, regardless of which carrier their parent’s injury is with,” said Linda Williams, SFM Foundation President.

Other insurance carriers have also taken notice of the efforts. A local carrier with national reach that could be considered a competitor of SFM is a longtime sponsor of the foundation.

Since its inception, the SFM Foundation has awarded $4.1 million in scholarship money.

“We want to help these students, and it doesn’t matter who their parent’s insurer was. It’s about doing what we can to support families at a time when they are really going through some tough challenges in their lives,” Williams said.

And by not considering the work comp carrier of the student’s parent, it opens up the door for a wider range of individuals to receive support for their college careers.

In its first year, the SFM Foundation provided $57,000 in scholarship money. In 2023, it was $482,500. And the SFM Foundation is among the top organizations in the country providing similar philanthropy.

“Seeing the responses from the young people we have awarded scholarships to over the years has been incredible,” Williams said. “The SFM Foundation is committed to making a difference in the lives of students and their families.”

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SFM Mutual Insurance Co. announced that its Financial Strength Rating of “A- (Excellent)” and Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “a-” have been reaffirmed by AM Best Rating Services, Inc.

AM Best issued this rating based on several factors, including its assessment of SFM’s balance sheet strength, as well as its operating performance, business profile, innovation and enterprise risk management. Before publicly disclosing this affirmation, AM Best conducted a thorough analysis of SFM’s finances and operations.

“Our annual review with AM Best gives us the opportunity to share our company’s story, and commitment to customer service, with experts from the global authority in credit ratings for the insurance industry,” said SFM President and CEO Terry Miller. “We view this annual rating as an important indicator of SFM’s long-term financial strength and stability.”

About AM Best

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the U.S., the company does business in more than 100 countries with regional offices in New York, London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com .

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SFM has long had a goal to increase the percentage of its charitable giving to 2% of pre-tax profit.

And the company will reach that threshold in 2024.

“SFM is proud of our commitment to giving back to the communities we serve,” said Terry Miller, President and CEO. “Reaching this milestone is a major accomplishment and further cements SFM as a leader in the communities we live and work — as evidenced by our corporate philanthropy.”

With the additional charitable funds set to be issued in 2024, SFM has become a member of the Minnesota Keystone Program, which promotes corporate philanthropy by recognizing and honoring companies that donate at least 2 percent of their pre-tax earnings to charitable organizations. Some of the state’s largest and most well-known employers are part of the program.

In 2023, SFM contributed to more than 200 charitable organizations. Strategic Business Units previously made many of the decisions about where funding would go. But in 2024, teams within SFM will have a bank of funds and decide which organizations receive charitable donations.

“I like that a lot of it goes through the employees,” said Dave Kaiser, SFM’s Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. “Then they’re deciding how to give back to the community that’s close to them. It makes people feel more of a part of what we’re doing.”

In addition to direct donations, SFM gives back in a number of other ways, including:

• The SFM Foundation
• Its internal Connecting to Communities (C2C) committee
• External applications for donations
• The Bob Lund Scholarship
• Volunteer efforts

“Being part of the Minnesota Keystone Program is great, but it’s just a good thing to be a good corporate citizen,” Kaiser said. “We feel a responsibility to support nonprofits and are proud of what SFM and our employees do for the communities we serve.”

About the Minnesota Keystone Program

The Minnesota Keystone Program, administered by the Minneapolis Regional Chamber, promotes corporate philanthropy by recognizing and honoring companies that donate at least 2 percent of their pre-tax earnings to charitable organizations. In 1976, 23 Minnesota companies created this program (originally known as The 5% Club) to recognize and encourage charitable giving in the state. The commitment of Minnesota Keystone participants continues to serve as an example to other businesses, both here and around the globe, and to sustain Minnesota’s spirit of generosity and sense of community. Qualifying companies have an operating presence in Minnesota and donate cash or in-kind donations, including pro-bono services, and/or employee paid volunteer time. For more information, visit www.minnesotakeystone.org .

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Sarah Hunter recently took over as SFM’s VP of Operations.

A former attorney with more than a decade of experience in workers’ compensation, Hunter will work with SFM’s current Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Dave Kaiser, until his retirement at the end of 2024.

In her new position, Hunter will help drive SFM’s big-picture strategy and develop plans for the company’s future. She previously served as VP of Claims at SFM.

In 2018, Hunter came to LSH, the in-house legal firm at SFM. She was looking for a new challenge and wanted to learn more about the business side of work comp.

“I kind of always had SFM in my sights. They’re known as the best carrier in the state,” Hunter said. “I told myself if something opens up there, I’m going to go for it.”

Once she got experience in other aspects of the company, she looked for leadership opportunities outside of the legal side of SFM.

“In learning more about the business side of things, I thought, this is pretty interesting. When the VP of Claims position opened up, I realized it would be a good way to change up my career,” Hunter said. “I could still use my workers’ compensation experience and legal knowledge and training. And there’s a lot of strategy that goes into handling claims. I was able to use those skills that I’d developed as an attorney and it all worked out.”

Hunter said she enjoyed her time as VP of Claims but wanted to expand on her role at SFM and take on more responsibilities for the direction of the company.

“SFM is great that they’re willing to take chances on people. They have faith in them,” she said. “If you’re doing good work, they give you that chance and give you the support to be successful.”

In her time at SFM, Hunter said she has been impressed with how closely the company adheres to its values.

“They show us that they care and appreciate the work that we’re doing,” she said. “That’s everything from wellness programs and special events to compensation and how they treat employees. They know that our strength comes from the people with their boots on the ground.”

Her promotion went into effect in early April 2024.

Hunter grew up in St. Paul, Minn., and attended St. Scholastica in Duluth before earning a degree from Mitchell Hamline School of Law. She lives in Champlin, Minn., with her husband and two daughters.

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