Author: Kris Janisch

Update on Indiana market, claims handling

Posted on by Kris Janisch

SFM is making two important enhancements to its workers’ compensation operations in Indiana, both of which will go live May 1.

To begin, SFM will start writing business with mid-market employers, further expanding SFM’s presence in Indiana as it continues to gain a greater portion of the state’s workers’ compensation market.

“We’re excited about this new chapter for SFM and our commitment to Indiana,” said Cody Allen, SFM Territory Manager, who was recently elected to the governing board at the Indiana Compensation Rating Bureau. “The agents we work with know the value SFM brings to the table and our reputation for exceptional customer service. Now, that will extend to a larger pool of potential clients.”

SFM began writing business in Indiana in 2022 and previously focused on writing policies with smaller employers. Starting May 1, agents can expect SFM to be “open for business” for accounts larger than $25,000 in annual premium, said Mike Happe, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer.

“Our relationships with agency partners in our newer states are gaining more momentum with each passing year,” Happe said. “SFM’s standing as the work comp experts has helped us develop and retain business in these markets, and we’re thrilled to expand our book of business in Indiana.”

Claims handling

The second big change coming at the beginning of May is that SFM will begin handling Indiana claims in-house.

Injuries that occur on or after May 1 will be addressed by SFM claims personnel directly, rather than through a third-party vendor. (Claims with earlier injury dates will continue to be handled by a vendor.)

Policyholders will see no change in how they report claims — they can still call the SFM Work Injury Hotline, report online through SFM’s website or the CompOnline portal.

“SFM is known for its expertise in claims handling. By taking on these claims in-house, we hope to provide a higher level of customer service and a better experience for policyholders and injured workers,” said Angie Andresen, Vice President of Claims.

 

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SFM again gets high marks from NCCI on data reporting

Posted on by Kris Janisch

The National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) has again given SFM excellent marks for the quality of its data reporting.

Recently released results from 2024 demonstrate SFM’s commitment to accurate reporting in several categories:

  • Financial data
  • Unit statistical data
  • Policy data
  • Medical data
  • Indemnity data

The NCCI is the nation’s most comprehensive source for workers’ compensation data, insights and solutions.

“The effort we put into our data reporting is vital because it makes SFM a better carrier and makes doing business easier for agents and policyholders,” said Brian Bent, SFM Vice President and Director of Underwriting. “Quality data leads to a quality experience. And SFM’s excellent grades and percentages are important to us and our partners.”

It’s not common for SFM to receive a notice about an issue with data reporting, said Bent, who also serves on the NCCI Underwriting Committee. For several years SFM has received exceptional grades from the NCCI.

Mike Happe, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at SFM, said accurate data reporting helps agents spend less time on policy tweaks or corrections, as well as making it easier to track down experience modification factor numbers.

“At the same time, having precise data also frees up agents to manage accounts and prospect for new business,” Happe said. “SFM is committed to quality customer service, and that extends to our data reporting.”

 

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Jirak promoted to VP of Regional Business, Large Accounts

Posted on by Kris Janisch

Ryan Jirak
Ryan Jirak, VP of Regional Business, Large Accounts

SFM’s Ryan Jirak, who has more than 16 years of experience in the insurance industry, was recently promoted to VP of Regional Business, Large Accounts.

He has previously worked at SFM as a midmarket underwriter, small business marketing representative and in large accounts business development. As of 2020, he has led SFM’s strategic business unit for large accounts, now being promoted to Vice President.

“It’s exciting. Our team is incredibly experienced. We have great relationships with our policyholders and agency partners,” Jirak said. “And now our next generation is stepping up and running with the culture already created. I’m just excited to be part of it.”

Jirak said he views the team as a resource for policyholders. His role is to help ensure the transfer of knowledge when employees take on new roles among SFM’s large accounts.

“A lot of times, we’ve been working with the same claim handlers and in-house attorneys at these policyholders for 10-15 years,” he said. “It’s so fun to help develop new relationships and assist those professionals who are taking over new roles with our policyholders.”

A native of New Prague, Minn., Jirak now lives in Victoria, Minn., with his wife and dogs. During the fall, he volunteers — or “voluntold,” as he put it — on his in-laws’ apple orchard. He also enjoys enhancing wildlife habitat on his conservation property in western Minnesota.

“When I first came to the Twin Cities, I was looking for a job outside insurance,” Jirak said. “But after finding SFM, having the coworkers I do and the strong relationships we have with our policyholders, that’s the reason I come to work with a smile every day.”

 

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SFM’s Miner named to Kansas Workers’ Compensation Insurance Plan Governing Board

Posted on by Kris Janisch

Shawn Miner
Shawn Miner, SFM’s VP of Regional Business, Iowa/Nebraska/Kansas Accounts

Shawn Miner, SFM’s VP of Regional Business, Iowa/Nebraska/Kansas Accounts, was appointed to the governing board of the Kansas Workers’ Compensation Insurance Plan (KWCIP) earlier this year.

The organization, facilitated by the Kansas Department of Insurance, primarily focuses on the residual workers’ compensation market and the administration of the state’s assigned risk plan. Miner’s three-year term began at the start of 2025.

“SFM started writing business in Kansas in the fall of 2020 and we have steadily been increasing our presence in the state,” Miner said. “Being on the KWCIP is a great opportunity to get involved on the industry side, as well as continuing to build relationships with our agent partners and policyholders.”

The group’s board members include insurance carriers, agents, business leaders and others. It consults and collaborates with the Kansas Insurance Department and the National Council on Compensation Insurance.

“I’m excited to get involved with KWCIP and learn more about the organization and its role in work comp in Kansas,” Miner said.

At SFM, Miner oversees business in Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, Indiana and Tennessee. He lives in Iowa with his wife and three children.

 

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New AutoPay, payment and billing features in SAM

Posted on by Kris Janisch

Agents will soon be able to make payments and manage AutoPay for customers right within SFM Agency Manager (SAM). Also, we are enhancing the billing information you can see within SAM.

The upgrades are expected to roll out later this spring.

AutoPay setup and management

Soon, you will no longer need to go to another site outside of SAM to make a payment on behalf of a customer.

Within the Policies section of SAM, on the “Billing Summary” page of any policy, you will be able to:

  • Make a one-time payment
  • Set up AutoPay
  • Change the AutoPay payment method
  • Change the AutoPay email notification recipient
  • Cancel AutoPay

You’ll still be able to set up AutoPay right away during the binding process.

Enhanced billing information

You will also see additional information on the Billing Summary page to help you better answer customers’ questions about their SFM bills.

On the Billing Summary page, you will soon be able to find:

  • A downloadable installment schedule
  • Current invoices and their payment status
  • Payment details, such as date paid and payment method
  • Return fund amounts

SAM admin change: Unique email addresses required for new users

Lastly, we recently made an update to SAM that requires users for the same agency to have different email addresses.

SAM administrators can no longer create a new user if another user is already assigned the same email address for the same agency.

We added this requirement to prevent admins from accidentally creating duplicate accounts, and in preparation to allow users to log in with their email addresses later this year.

If you have any questions about this change, please contact us.

 

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SFM hires Chief Medical Director, Dr. Andrew Wilkins

Posted on by Kris Janisch

Dr. Andrew Wilkins
Dr. Andrew Wilkins, SFM’s Chief Medical Director

SFM recently hired Dr. Andrew Wilkins as Chief Medical Director.

In his role, he will assist in the management of complex claims, serve as an educational resource, and lead strategic initiatives to better understand what is driving a rise in medical severity and how we can best address it.

“I’m looking forward to taking a holistic approach to complex claims and trying to find solutions that best benefit the patient, the policyholder and SFM as a whole, backed by good medical practices and literature,” he said.

By way of background, Wilkins attended medical school in Arizona, followed by a residency in Emergency Medicine at the Medical College of Georgia while on active-duty service. Wilkins then joined the Army’s 101st Airborne Division, providing medical care as a Battalion Surgeon in the Middle East, Europe, and at Fort Campbell, Ky.

After transitioning to civilian practice, Wilkins most recently was a staff physician at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center. He serves on the state Medical Services Review Board, is board certified in emergency medicine, and has special interests in medical education and health care leadership.

Outside of SFM, Wilkins enjoys running on the Chain of Lakes, studying history, and spending time in his home state of Idaho. He lives in Minneapolis with his spouse, Bethany, and two young daughters, Olivia and Sasha.

Wilkins joined SFM in November 2024.

 

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HOM Furniture honors SFM’s Director of Loss Prevention

Posted on by Kris Janisch

Dan Lentz (left), Safety Manager/HR Representative at HOM Furniture, presents Lee Wendel, Director of Loss Prevention at SFM, with the retailer’s Service Representative of the Year award.
Dan Lentz (right), Safety Manager/HR Representative at HOM Furniture, presents Lee Wendel, Director of Loss Prevention at SFM, with the retailer’s Service Representative of the Year award

Lee Wendel, Director of Loss Prevention at SFM, was recently recognized by HOM Furniture, a regional retailer with locations in Minnesota, South Dakota, North Dakota, Iowa and Wisconsin.

The company presented Wendel with its Service Representative of the Year award.

Wendel said he was surprised with the honor. But company officials outlined the efforts that led to the award, including:

  • Completing site visits for about half of HOM Furniture locations
  • Discussing common issues and solutions with district managers and facilities personnel
  • Working with the HOM warehouse team to file and receive a Minnesota Occupational Safety and Health Administration safety grant for ergonomics improvements by leveraging video artificial intelligence (AI) analysis
  • Demonstrating and educating HOM leadership about technology in safety, such as virtual reality training, ergonomic position trackers and other AI solutions

“The leadership at HOM Furniture is truly committed to safety,” Wendel said. “They set goals and strive to make improvements. It’s a partnership between SFM, HOM safety officials and their agency partner.”

With a mixture of retail, warehouse and delivery services, HOM has several areas to monitor regarding safety. Company leaders take extra steps to ensure the safety of their employees, Wendel said, including having leaders talk with injured workers about what happened, helping them identify root causes and develop solutions.

“That’s one of the most effective things that they do,” Wendel said.

Notably, HOM Furniture’s safety efforts have halved both claims costs and workplace injuries over the past couple of years. The company has taken advantage of SFM’s safety resources and been proactive in developing safe workplaces and behaviors, Wendel said.

“I appreciated most that they said they feel as though I’m part of their team,” he said. “And that’s really my goal — to be someone they can rely on and to bring an outside perspective.”

Wendel leads SFM’s loss prevention team in developing best practices, resources and strategies. He has more than 30 years of experience in the field and has worked with hundreds of individuals to help support a safe work environment, including promoting safety culture in a wide range of businesses, schools and medical facilities. Additionally, he maintains relationships with vendors that support activities to help keep workers safe.

 

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Bob Lund Scholarship reaches new milestone

Posted on by Kris Janisch

Starting in 2025, SFM’s Bob Lund Scholarship will go from freshman to senior. Literally.

In 2022, SFM established the scholarship and partnered with Wallin Education Partners , a Minnesota-based nonprofit that serves high-potential students with financial need.

This spring, a fourth student will be selected for the Bob Lund Scholarship. Once the next school year begins this fall, four students — freshman, sophomore, junior and senior — will see their college careers helped along by SFM. The plan has been to support four students at a time.

“It’s amazing to see how committed SFM is to supporting the community,” said Kim Burandt, SFM Senior Project Manager, who helps coordinate the scholarship program. “We take pride in being a good corporate citizen and supporting underserved populations.”

The Bob Lund Scholarship provides college scholarships through the Wallin Scholars program — which has a mission to support college and career success for high-potential students from low-income backgrounds — as part of SFM’s effort to invest in future leaders and introduce them to careers in the insurance industry.

In addition to the scholarship funds, Wallin provides students with 1:1 advisement and career support. The organization also assists students in applying for other scholarships and state funding opportunities.

At the same time, SFM provides the students with gift baskets to help them get through the final weeks of their schooling and distributes information about internship opportunities at SFM. Members of SFM’s HR team also attend Wallin job fairs.

Initially, the scholarship was aimed at students looking to go into the insurance industry — “Insuring the future was our tagline at first,” Burandt said — but it has expanded to business, finance or actuarial fields.

SFM tracks the students’ progress and Burandt meets with Wallin once a year to get updates. So far, all three students are doing well.

Spread out over the four years of schooling, Wallin is a “last-dollar scholarship,” which means the group can help cover remaining costs after other scholarships or state funding are applied, e.g., books, class materials and living expenses.

“It’s exciting to add another student to the Bob Lund Scholarship roster,” Burandt said. “SFM continues to demonstrate its commitment to helping students overcome barriers to higher education.”

The current scholarship students are:

  • Hideaki Lee (University of Minnesota)
  • Natali Iguanero Espinoza (University of Wisconsin)
  • Van Nguyen (University of Minnesota)

 

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The use of AI in workplace safety

Posted on by Kris Janisch

It might surprise employers to learn that the recent advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) have applications in workplace safety.

But this technology has been harnessed of late to expand the ability of safety leaders to train employees, test methods, develop best practices and more.

Imagine a piece of equipment a new employee will be using. Instead of training with the machine itself, employers can give workers the ability to “use” the device without the potential for injury. In this way, employees can get a degree of “on-the-job training” without risk.

“It’s exciting to envision the future applications for AI when it comes to workplace safety,” said Lee Wendel, SFM’s Director of Loss Prevention. “Already, some employers are utilizing the technology. Others are researching how it could be used. It’s fascinating to see and project how much it will develop moving forward.”

Wendel has embraced this evolution. He was recently honored by a regional furniture retailer for his safety efforts. Company officials noted his dedication to demonstrating and educating leadership about virtual training, ergonomic position trackers and other AI solutions.

At the same time, similar practices are being implemented elsewhere.

The National Safety Council has several real-world case studies related to virtual reality and augmented reality (AR). In one instance, a technology-focused defense, intelligence, security and infrastructure engineering firm used a VR program during employee orientation. The simulation involved identifying workplace hazards. The results included increased employee engagement, efficiencies by reducing the need for in-person trainers and, of course, a greatly reduced chance of injury during training.

Wendel said the speed, accuracy and breadth of the information some of these programs provide is impressive. Examples include:

  • Giving the software a photo of a workspace and having the program outline safety issues, whether those would result in an Occupational Safety and Health Administration fine, the frequency and costs of those fines, and how to address any hazards.
  • Uploading a picture of scaffolding where wood was used to frame up handrails. The tool will outline the risks and suggest ways to fix the problem.
  • Giving the software a jurisdiction-specific prompt, such as patient handling in a parking lot in Minnesota. The system provided state-specific laws to note, weather considerations and other information.

“Employers can even provide their company policies — maybe an area on a warehouse floor cannot be used to store items — and the tool will take that into account, along with any safety issues, when it comes back with the information,” Wendel said.

In November 2024, SFM Loss Prevention Specialists Jason Clausen and Toby Tortorilla discussed safety technology they are exploring at the Midwest Women in Safety Conference.

Tortorilla participated in a panel discussion relating to the future of AI in relation to the safety field. He was able to provide findings from the research that he, and a team of SFM Loss Prevention personnel, were involved in recently.

“AI can be used in many ways to assist us as safety leaders,” Tortorilla said. “It can help create safety programs and policies, assist with ergonomic assessments, perform compliance and behavioral based assessments and bring attention to real-time hazards through wearables, telematics and other electronic devices. The capabilities are truly limitless.”

Join us for the SFM Foundation’s 2025 golf events

Posted on by Kris Janisch

Registration is now open for the SFM Foundation’s upcoming golf events in Minnesota and Iowa.

The foundation makes college more affordable for families affected by workplace injuries by offering post-secondary education scholarships to children of parents fatally or seriously injured on the job while working for a Minnesota or Iowa employer.

Iowa’s event will be held Monday, May 19, at Hyperion Field Club in Johnston. The day includes lunch and golf, followed by a reception, program and dinner. People can also sponsor the event. Find details on the registration page .

The Minnesota golf event is set for Monday, June 9, at Prestwick Golf Club in Woodbury and follows a similar schedule to the one in Iowa. Find more information on the registration page .

In 2024, the two events raised more than $160,000 in total, with over 260 golfers hitting the links for the fundraisers.

“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.”

About the SFM Foundation

The SFM Foundation was created in 2008 by SFM Companies, a regional workers’ compensation insurance group headquartered in Bloomington, Minn. The nonprofit is dedicated to easing the burdens on families affected by workplace accidents. Since its inception, the foundation has awarded 247 scholarships totaling $4.1 million. For more information, visit sfmfoundation.com .

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

 

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