Leveraging opportunities: Voluntary benefits, enrollment solutions and benefit administration in a transforming marketplace.

Panelists:

Mike Cole
Senior Vice President
Alexander Benefits Consulting

Mike Cole is the Senior Vice President of Alexander Benefits Consulting and has enjoyed working with the company for over 23 years. Mike has over 28 years of health and welfare experience. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Economics with a minor in English and Political Science from the University of Colorado at Boulder and prides himself on being a Colorado native. Mike specializes in and enjoys the opportunity to partner with clients in managing various Employee Benefit Programs. The Benefits marketplace is a rapidly evolving challenge for clients and Mike finds great satisfaction in assisting them in navigating through the process. In his free time Mike enjoys fishing, biking, skiing and spending time with his family in the beautiful Colorado outdoors.

Jennifer Daniel
AVP, Business Development
Businessolver

Jennifer Daniel has spent more than 20 years focused on insurance product strategy and enrollment. She started her career with Principal Financial Group in various positions including benefit enrollment, product development, marketing, sales strategy and voluntary product sales and support. Jennifer is currently at Businessolver where she is AVP of Business Development. Jennifer has responsibility for carrier relationships, business marketing, as well as serving as Businessolver’s voluntary and wellness practice leader. She works closely with carrier and broker partners to create strategies and solutions that make it easier for clients to integrate voluntary products and wellness solutions into their benefit administration experience. Jennifer also runs Businessolver’s internal wellness program. She is life and health licensed and is certified in Corporate Wellness. Jennifer attended Drake University in Des Moines where she played basketball for the Bulldogs.

Joe Gaudino
Gallagher Benefit Services

Joe Gaudino has over 28 years experience collaborating with large employers to develop cost-effective, compliant employee benefit communication and enrollment programs. As the founder and ongoing leader of Gallagher’s Worksite Enrollment Division, Joe has extensive experience in customizing communications and .enrollment methodologies and systems for over one hundred large employers. Joe and his team were the first communications and enrollment firm to offer onsite wellness assessment and education services, and continue to provide wellness engagement solutions through the Well Engaged communications platform. Joe is a graduate of the University of South Florida and was inducted into the Worksite Marketing Hall of Fame in 2009.

Eric Hirschberg
Executive Vice President, Benefits Practice Leader
Lockton

Eric Hirschberg has more than 30 years of consulting experience in employee benefits. He has designed, implemented and managed health benefit programs for some of the largest private sector, public sector and multi-employer health benefit plans in the nation. Eric is a recognized expert in health benefit plan cost management, health plan financial analysis, provider network contracting/management, health risk management and strategic benefit planning. He is responsible for developing and maintaining client and market relationships both locally and nationally through Lockton’s Denver office. Eric is also responsible for developing intellectual capital and tools for Lockton’s national benefit consulting practice.

Dave Howes
President
Explain My Benefits, Inc.

Dave Howes has more than 12 years of benefit enrollment and technology experience in the insurance industry. After earning his bachelor’s in Aeronautics at Miami of Ohio, he served as a Captain in the U.S. Air Force National Guard. He started his career in insurance following 9/11, after being furloughed as pilot at delta airlines, and he went on to cofound EMB with his brother in 2007. EMB is now a highly regarded benefits communication and benefit administration technology company. Dave leaned on his prior military and pilot training to establish a process-oriented implementation program that breeds successful benefit technology experiences for clients while providing empowering benefit education for their employees. Under Dave’s leadership, EMB has achieved rapid growth through their expertise in developing multi-year strategies for clients. EMB leverages voluntary benefits to provide cost effective benefit administration systems while simultaneously maximizing employee benefit and wellness communication.

Dennis McGuire
CEO
CodeBaby^®

Dennis McGuire possesses over 25 years of experience developing innovative solutions for marketing, sales, and customer care organizations across multiple industries.

His recent career history includes serving as VP of Star B2B, a start-up venture within the Omnicom family of agencies, where he was responsible for strategy development and operational execution, EVP at Protocol Marketing where he headed the company’s B2B agency services group, and founding partner and President of Saligent Inc., which was acquired by Protocol Marketing in 2000.

In addition to his accomplishments in the agency and high-tech space, Dennis has experience within the CRM and customer contact center industries where he gained expertise in multi-channel marketing, resource optimization, revenue growth, customer lifetime value optimization, and strategic account management.

Dennis’ combined career tracks give him a unique perspective on the rapidly growing customer experience management marketplace and the importance of improving the online self-service experience across all industries in order to maintain and increase brand loyalty and revenue growth.

Brian Smith
Director of Benefit Communication Services
The Farmington Company

Brian Smith has been with The Farmington Company since 2003. After completing Farmington’s “rookie school” he served as both a Benefits Representative and Enrollment Manager before becoming the Regional Director of Marketing, Midwest. Based in Columbus, OH, Brian developed the Midwest market creating over 100 new client relationships in 5 years. In 2010, Brian relocated to Farmington’s corporate headquarters in Connecticut where he has since overseen the largest growth area of the company, Benefit Communication services and enrollment technology. Brian currently still maintains many of his Midwest client and broker relationships, while supporting the national sales team in Benefit Communication projects. Since 2010, he has implemented tens of thousands of new users on a variety of benefit administration platforms.

Bios of our hosts:

David Schneeweis
Regional Sales Vice President
Western Region

David joined Trustmark Voluntary Benefit Solutions in 2011. He leads and manages the 10 Western regions to develop the distribution channel and promote profitable sales growth. He has 25 years of experience in the insurance industry. David also served as a U.S. military officer and received a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing form West Virginia University.

Jodi Brooks Allen
Regional Sales Director
Mountain Region

Jodi joined Trustmark late in 2013. As a regional sales director, she is responsible for developing and managing voluntary group and worksite distribution in the Mountain region. Jodi is a veteran at developing relationship and building trust in a marketplace. Prior to joining Trustmark, she was an investigative television news reporter in several markets, and has spent the last 10 years building her personal brand in Colorado for CBS 4. Jodi received her Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism and sociology from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Dan Johnson
Vice President
Sales & Marketing

Dan is responsible for sales and marketing at Trustmark Voluntary Benefit Solutions. He began his career at Capitol Bankers Life Insurance Company where he was vice president, mass marketing sales and data processing. He also served as a vice president at Alexander Hamilton Life. After joining National Worksite Benefits as vice president of marketing, he was part of the team involved in the creation of National Worksite Advantage (NWA), a consolidated billing TPA. He served as president for NWA, which was eventually purchased by Trustmark and is now Trustmark Voluntary Benefit Solutions. Dan has spoken to various industry groups such as VEBB, NAHU and MDRT. He attended the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Area Technical College, majoring in computer science. Dan was elected into the Workplace Benefits Hall of Fame in 2013.