SFM recently promoted several of the organization’s leaders to the role of Vice President.

According to Senior Vice President & Chief Business Officer Steve Sandilla, they have all exhibited exceptional leadership skills and demonstrated 100% commitment to their teams. Year after year, each of them has led their teams and managed their business units to produce consistently excellent results.

Dennis Logstrom has been promoted to Vice President of Small Business.

Logstrom has led the Small Business Accounts Team since 2005.

“Under Dennis’ oversight, the Small Business Team has seen tremendous growth in premium, policy count and state expansion,” said Sandilla. “He is the epitome of a team player always willing to help when needed.”

Debra Zorn has been promoted to Vice President of Regional Business. Zorn has led the Middle Market North/Metro Accounts Team since 2016.

“The North/Metro Accounts Team has seen excellent growth and continues to manage our two largest agency partners under Deb’s leadership,” said Sandilla. “The team has had a lot of new faces since 2016 and Deb has worked tirelessly to make sure the SFM culture runs through the North/Metro Accounts Team. She doesn’t hesitate to challenge the status quo and always looks for ways SFM can improve.”

Mark Arrington has been promoted to Vice President of Regional Business. Arrington has led the Middle Market South/Metro Accounts Team since 2005.

“During this time, the South/Metro Accounts Team has also seen good growth and has led our expansion into South Dakota under Arrington’s direction,” said Sandilla. “Mark also has oversight of one of our top three agency partners. He continues to lead by example and is always looking for ways that he and his team can exceed customer expectations.”

Nick Marino has been promoted to Vice President of Regional Business. Marino has led the Wisconsin Business Team since 2008.

“Wisconsin is SFM’s second largest state and continues to be a very challenging and competitive workers’ compensation market,” said Sandilla. “Under Nick’s leadership, the team has profitably grown SFM’s premium and policy count, relying on exceptional customer service. He has created an environment that promotes ideas and innovation that has led to several successful niche business opportunities and growth for SFM.”

Shawn Miner has been promoted to Vice President of Regional Business. Miner has led the Iowa/Nebraska Team since 2013.

“The Iowa/Nebraska Team has continued to be a growth engine for SFM,” said Sandilla. “Shawn also successfully led our expansion into Kansas. Because of the business growth, the team has had to add several new employees all while maintaining a very high level of service under his leadership. He is the definition of a servant leader and knows what it takes to build a winning team.”

Congratulations to these exemplary leaders on their well-deserved promotions.

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SFM Loss Prevention Specialist Jason Clausen hopes employers he works with will see him not as a safety inspector, but as a safety champion and business partner.

This means he often includes the bottom-line benefits of safety in conversations with employers.

“We talk a lot about your experience mod and how preventing injuries over the long haul means you’re going to pay less of a workers’ compensation premium,” Clausen said.

Clausen has been a safety professional with SFM since 2012, and he serves employers in Iowa. His days involve everything from providing consultation on a safety program to visiting a workplace after a bad claim to attending a safety committee meeting.

Over time, he hopes the employers he works with will grow to trust him enough to come to him when they need something.

“We pride ourselves on being very accessible and easy to get a hold of,” he said. “I want customers to know they can call us with a question and expect a timely response.”

Clausen is also proud to play a role in SFM’s team-based approach to account management, where safety professionals, claims representatives, attorneys, underwriters and medical professionals work together to provide holistic service and solutions for customers.

“At the end of the day, I find it pretty satisfying to know that I’ve done something to help an insured, and that’s a team effort,” Clausen said. “That’s the collaborative, non-siloed SFM way where you’re talking to a claims rep or you’re talking to counsel, and you’re giving rock solid, real-time advice.”

Clausen is based in Waukee, Iowa, where he lives with his wife, two children, and dog. A veteran of both the Navy and Iowa Army National Guard, he now serves as a Dallas County Reserve Deputy Sheriff. He enjoys hunting, fishing and scuba diving.

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The SFM Foundation was featured on the November 9 edition of the KARE 11 “Communities that KARE” segment.

SFM Foundation Scholarship Director Debra Zorn was interviewed along with scholarship recipients Haley and Mason Rinzel and their parents.

KARE 11’s video and article showcase how the SFM Foundation changes lives and how their scholarships personally impacted the Rinzel family after Haley and Mason’s father, Greg, was injured in the line of duty as a Cottage Grove police officer.

“We are absolutely elated to have been featured by KARE 11,” said SFM Foundation President Linda Williams. “We are so grateful to KARE 11 for helping us spread the word about the important work we do so we can help more deserving families.”

View the full KARE 11 feature

About the SFM Foundation

The SFM Foundation was created in 2008 by SFM Companies, a regional workers’ compensation insurance group headquartered in Bloomington, Minnesota. SFM Foundation is dedicated to easing the burdens on families affected by workplace accidents. Since its inception, the Foundation has awarded 187 scholarships totaling $2.4 million. For more information, visit sfmfoundation.com .

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

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Injured workers covered by SFM now have 24/7 digital access to their claim information through SFM’s website.

Through a new self-service tool called SFM Claim Connection, workers with SFM claims can access claim details, review payments, download forms and set up text alerts to be notified of payment activity.

“This is the latest development in our ongoing initiative to improve the claim experience for the workers we serve,” said Steve Sandilla, SFM’s Senior Vice President of Strategic Business Operations. “We’re striving to eliminate barriers for the employees we insure, and this tool gives them a valuable new way to access critical information about their claims.”

Optimized for mobile devices

The system was designed with mobile users in mind, as we recognize that a growing percentage of users prefer to access this kind of information on their phones. Smartphone users can access all the same information that’s available on the desktop version. The application even includes a mobile-friendly insurance ID card that workers can take with them to medical appointments.

Empowering workers with information

“Equipping injured workers with the right information at the right time makes their lives easier,” Sandilla said. “We’ve always worked hard to empower our customers with reliable answers, and now we have a convenient new tool to help us deliver on that promise.”

Learn more about the SFM Claim Connection and how it can help injured workers.

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BLOOMINGTON, Minn., June 25, 2020 — SFM ranked ninth among medium-sized employers in the Star Tribune’s Top 150 Workplaces in Minnesota for 2020.

The Star Tribune’s top 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.

92% of SFM’s 250+ employees participated in the survey. Key findings include:

• SFM employees describe SFM as a caring, ethical, collaborative and supportive workplace
• SFM employees rate their job satisfaction 77 percent higher compared to similar business insurance companies
• 99 percent of employees feel well informed about important decisions at SFM compared to other business insurance companies
• 93 percent of employees believe that there is good interdepartmental cooperation at SFM
• SFM employees are engaged 9 percent higher than the industry benchmark

“I truly feel that we are the work comp experts because of our wonderful employees,” said Terry Miller, President and CEO. “Our employees are the heart and soul of SFM, and I believe they are the reason SFM is such a great place to work.”

SFM is known for its caring culture. We do this by helping employers keep safe workplaces, helping injured workers get their lives back, and making sure we take great care of our own employees.

“It’s wonderful to see that our employees feel good about working at SFM,” said Jody Rogers, Senior Vice President, Human Resources. “It’s always been our philosophy to take excellent care of our employees, and these survey results confirm that our efforts are being felt.”

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.

View Star Tribune’s 2020 Top Workplaces article

View SFM’s Top Workplaces profile

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Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal ranked SFM Foundation’s annual Golfing for Scholarships event #8 of the metro area’s top 25 charity tournaments in 2019.

Tournaments were ranked based on their 2019 gross revenue. SFM Foundation’s gross revenue came in at $247,749. All proceeds of the event go toward the Foundation’s scholarship fund.

“We are absolutely thrilled that our golf event has grown into a quarter million dollar fundraiser and has been recognized alongside such exceptional Twin Cities charitable organizations,” said SFM Foundation President Linda Williams. “The number of families we’ve helped far exceeds what we originally dreamed of when we gave out our first scholarships in 2009. We are so thankful to our sponsors and donors who made this possible.”

Business Journal subscribers can view the full list online .

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SFM was recently recognized by the City of Bloomington as one of eight local employers who are supportive of breastfeeding mothers in the workplace. 

Senior Vice President, Human Resources Jody Rogers and HR Business Partner Mickey Willard accepted the award from Mayor Gene Winstead at an August Bloomington City Council meeting.

The award is part of the city’s Breastfeeding Awareness Month social media campaign to raise awareness of breastfeeding in the workplace laws, and encourage more employers to increase support of working mothers. 

SFM was nominated by one of its employees for providing a room for mothers to pump at work, ability to occasionally bring children to work when daycare or school aren’t options, and flexible work hours.

“I am proud that we received this nomination from one of our employees and that our moms feel taken care of and valued by SFM,” said Rogers. “SFM genuinely cares about its employees, and we are passionate about providing a family-friendly environment.”

Willard echoed her sentiments. 

“SFM truly affords people the opportunity to have a family and a career. Our continued support of working parents is evident with this award. SFM promotes family first, and supporting new moms with their breastfeeding goals after they return to work is a great example of how we do this,” said Willard.

Several SFM mothers were interviewed by the City of Bloomington for the following video that they hope will encourage more employers to follow suit. 

Other Bloomington employers recognized include Edmentum, HealthPartners, Minnesota Gastroenterology, P.A., NorthMarq, Prime Therapeutics, TRIA Orthopaedic Center and UMB Bank. 

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