Matthews Blog

Congratulations to Eric Brust, CEO of Matthews Benefit Group, who has been accepted as a member of the Class of 2013 in Leadership St. Pete^®.  The program is a "dynamic, intensive, interactive, six-month experience designed to promote and enhance community leadership through an in-depth introduction to social, economic, business and political issues in the St. Petersburg area."  Leadership St. Pete is a division of the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce and is one of the oldest leadership programs in America.

The press release by the Chamber of Commerce, including the full list of participants, can be found here:  http://www.stpete.com/news/111037/Leadership-St.-Pete-Announces-Class-of-2013.htm

In October 2012, Matthews Benefit Group was nominated for the Tampa Bay Business Journal's first ever Corporate Philanthropy Awards. This program was designed to "spotlight the many corporate sanctioned giving and volunteer programs that stand out in our community." There were 200 applicants which the Journal narrowed down to 35 finalists in 3 different categories.  

Matthews Benefit Group was represented at the December 6th awards ceremony by our CEO, Eric Brust, and Kelly Burnett, a senior Plan Administrator and the head of our Philanthropy Team.  While we did not win in the 5-100 employee category, it was certainly an honor to be recognized in our community along with other Tampa Bay companies such as CapTrust Advisors, AXA Advisors and Raymond James Financial. 

I am very pleased to share an email that Matthews Benefit Group, Inc. received earlier today.  Please see below: 

It is with great pleasure that the When Work Works national partners, Families and Work Institute (FWI) and The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), jointly congratulate Matthews Benefit Group, Inc. St. Petersburg, FL on its selection as a recipient of the 2012 Alfred P. Sloan Awards for Excellence in Workplace Effectiveness and Flexibility!

As a recipient of this prestigious award, Matthews Benefit Group, Inc. St. Petersburg, FL has distinguished itself as a leading employer of choice that is successfully using flexibility as part of an effective workplace strategy to achieve business goals and benefit employees by helping them meet their responsibilities on and off the job.

The two-step selection process is rigorous, involving an evaluation of employers’ programs and practices, and a confidential employee survey. As a recipient of the 2012 Sloan Award, your organization ranks in the top 20% of employers nationally in terms of its programs, policies and culture for creating an effective and flexible workplace. In addition, what makes this honor so special is that employees have corroborated this, affirming that yours is indeed an effective and flexible workplace.

As a full service Third Party Administrator, we often find ourselves having to explain the breadth and scope of the services we offer that other TPAs or payroll companies do not offer. Many sponsors don't recognize the value of the good TPA and often opt for the least amount of service for the lowest price. Of course, often utilizing these services makes a sponsor "penny-wise but pound foolish" as a non-experienced or low service TPA can often create problems that eventually cause the plan sponsors more over the long run.   

Ary Rosenbaum of The Rosenbaum Law Firm, PC, recently penned a great article describing the value of hiring a good TPA to assist with the administration of a retirement plan. In addition to discussing the value of TPA expertise as a factor to consider, Ary discusses the value of a TPAs to deal with creative plan designs and testing requirements as well as offering supplementary services such as Defined Benefit Plans or assistance with IRS Audits of DOL Investigations.   

I suggest that everyone give Ary's article a read at this link:  http://www.jdsupra.com/post/documentViewer.aspx?fid=c4ca11d0-8bf0-4530-a999-42aa089a6744 

 Matthews Benefit Group Supports Corporate Giving and Civic Responsibility 

The Philanthropy Team is a unique strategic initiative at Matthews Benefit Group that brings out the best in our employees - by allowing them to give back to their communities, feel good about their own generosity and experience a change of pace during the work day.  Established in 2010 by a group of five enthusiastic employees, the team runs an annual philanthropic program, directing corporate/individual giving and volunteering toward a specific non-profit charity in the Tampa Bay area. 

For the past two years, the charity of choice for Matthews has been the St. Petersburg Free Clinic.  Our company  donated over $18,000 and approximately 1200 pounds of food, clothing and household articles to the Clinic.  Recently seven employees attended “The Battle of the Minds”, the Free Clinic’s 10th annual fundraiser, joining a record crowd which raised over $200,000 to benefit the valuable programs that are saving lives.

The mission of the Free Clinic is to address homelessness and to expand healthcare quality and access to vulnerable families and adults who currently are falling through the cracks. In a recent 3 month period, volunteers gave 5,700 hours of their time, helping the clinic to:  

• serve 6,300 meals at Beacon House, the Men’s Residence
• shelter 22 women working toward independence, employment and education at the Women's Residence
• collect and distribute over 433,000 pounds of food to individuals in need and to the agencies that serve them through the Food Bank
• treat 440 new patients at the Health Center
• provide over $7,800 in financial assistance through We Help Services

We recognize that focusing our giving efforts results in a higher return on investment for the selected charity and for the positive reputation of Matthews in the community.  Kathy Matthews, president of Matthews Benefit Group and new Free Clinic Board Member states, “It is truly inspiring for me to be involved with such a critically important organization as the Free Clinic.  I hope that other local companies will continue creating philanthropic initiatives within their companies to share expertise, time and treasures with deserving causes.”

http://www.stpetersburgfreeclinic.org/

On our first application, Matthews Benefit Group, Inc., was named a finalist in Training magazine’s Training Top 125.  Now in its 12^th year, the Training Top 125 is the only report that ranks companies unsurpassed in harnessing human capital through training and professional development.  With 29 employees, Matthews was the smallest company chosen to take its winning place among such corporate giants as Verizon (#1), Farmers Insurance (#2), McDonald’s (#5), the United States Navy (#13), Edward Jones (#15) and Best Buy (#30).

The Top 125 ranking is determined by assessing a range of qualitative (30%) and quantitative (70%) factors, including financial investment in employee development/training, the scope of training programs, and how closely such training efforts are linked to business goals and objectives.  

In the past year, Matthews has made a significant investment in our staff retirement plan administrators through our Professional Certification program. The leading credentials in our industry are ERPA (Enrolled Retrement Plan Agent) and Enrolled Actuary. Currently, Matthews employs 5 of the 39  ERPA credentialed professionals in Florida enrolled to practice before the IRS as a retirment plan agent.  We also have two enrolled actuaries and one enrolled agent, setting the highest standards of professional expertise within our company.  Our staff experts vow to provide you with accurate plan administrative services that you can continue to trust.

“One exciting aspect of this certification program is the sense of pride and accomplishment that our plan administrators report as they pass their exams and are able to put the ERPA initials on their business cards. Thanks for joining us in celebrating these accomplishments, “ states Eric Brust, Executive Vice President.

Matthews Benefit Group’s Credentialed Experts:

        Mary Bullara, ERPA                                          Eric Brust, Enrolled Actuary
        Marty Burke, ERPA                                          Leon Smith, Enrolled Actuary
        Kelly Burnett, ERPA                                         Frances Bowser, Enrolled Agent
        Deb Nagorka, ERPA
        Michelle Wrinkles, ERPA

In 2011, Matthews was successful in obtaining an Incumbent Worker Training Grant from Workforce Florida, Inc. to support our company-wide 2011 Professional Development and Training Initiative.  We have incorporated training, supervision and coaching processes into everyday work processes.  Each employee has their own professional development plan, embracing their individual accountability to grow into the professional they want to be. 

As you can see, we have redesigned our website and have begun implementing exciting new features, such as this blog and our new Pension Portal program. The Pension Portal is designed to make it easier for our clients by giving them “on-demand” access to electronic copies of their documents, annual reports, and other forms necessary for proper operation of a qualified retirement plan. Additionally, the portal will provide our clients with secure “drop box” features that will allow us to transfer documents back and forth in an even more secure environment.

If you’re interested in getting into the Pension Portal program earlier than our official roll out, please contact your plan administrator at (727) 577-7000.

Going forward, we plan on using this blog to keep our clients up-to-date on the most recent developments in the retirement industry. We’ll also explain some of the more commonly misunderstood (but crucial) concepts involved in sponsoring a qualified retirement plans. If you have any issues you’d like to see addressed, please contact Martin Burke at MBurke@eERISA.com.

There are many industry-wide changes that will affect plan sponsors this year, so you’ll want to bookmark this blog and watch for upcoming discussions on such issues as required fee disclosures, changes to the determination letter process, and suggestions for ways you can lower your plan costs.