SFM Foundation scholarship applications accepted until March 31

The SFM Foundation will be accepting scholarship applications for the 2025-26 academic year until March 31, 2025.

The nonprofit 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.

Interested applicants can find a registration form and eligibility requirements for the scholarships on the SFM Foundation website .

Scholarships will be awarded based on injury severity and impact on the student and their family, among other factors.

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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Schmidt promoted to managing counsel, SFM updates in-house law firm

Aaron Schmidt
SFM Managing Counsel Aaron Schmidt

Following the recent promotion of attorney Aaron Schmidt, SFM’s in-house law firm is now Schmidt, Scharfenberg and Hollick.

Schmidt, who has been with SFM since 2015, is the new managing counsel at SFM.

“Aaron’s promotion to this role recognizes his client-centered approach to problem solving, and his interest in exploring and leveraging new technologies and processes to enhance the delivery of SFM’s in-house claims and legal services,” said Kathy Bray, Sr. VP and Chief Legal Officer at SFM.

Prior to joining SFM, Schmidt practiced law at private firms for several years in the areas of workers’ compensation, general liability and construction insurance defense.

“I’m excited to take on the Managing Counsel role at SFM,” Schmidt said. “We have so much opportunity for growth and sustained success on our team, and I look forward to continuing SFM’s highly respected reputation with the workers’ compensation bench and bar.”

With Schmidt taking on his new managing counsel position, John Hollick, Chief Defense Counsel, will dedicate more time to representing SFM and its policyholders in complex claims, as well as mentoring and educating claims personnel, and sharing his 35 years of experience through other projects.

“We are thrilled to begin this new chapter for SFM’s in-house legal team,” Hollick said. “SFM has the utmost confidence in Aaron and his talents as an attorney, and we are looking forward to having him enhance our delivery of legal services.”

 

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SFM webinar: De-escalation in the workplace

De-escalation in the Workplace - An SFM webinar for policyholders | 2024View the recording of SFM’s November 2024 workers’ compensation webinar, De-escalation in the workplace.

Workplace violence has become an increasingly common concern for employers, and taking the steps to mitigate potential issues is vital.

The webinar brought in SFM experts to examine:

  • The four categories of workplace violence
  • Factors behind workplace violence and which industries are at higher risk
  • Elements needed for a successful safety program
  • Why a safety program should include de-escalation techniques

The webinar also covered the associated work comp matters related to de-escalation, and policyholders and attendees gained insights into:

  • The claims process once an injury is reported
  • How workplace violence injuries can be challenging for return to work
  • Employer costs due to workplace violence claims and litigation
  • Much more, including a question-and-answer session at the end

View previous SFM webinars.

 

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Governor proclaims Kids’ Chance Awareness Week in Minnesota

SFM Foundation Kids' Chance of Minnesota and Iowa logoMinnesota Gov. Tim Walz proclaimed Nov. 18-23, 2024, as Kids’ Chance Awareness Week.

The SFM Foundation, also known as Kids’ Chance of Minnesota, is a nonprofit that provides college scholarships to children of severely injured workers so they can pursue college degrees.

“We’re proud Governor Walz has recognized the work of the SFM Foundation,” said Linda Williams, the foundation’s President. “The extra visibility of the proclamation will help us continue our mission of helping students whose families have been impacted by workplace incidents.”

Since its inception in 2008, the SFM Foundation has awarded scholarships totaling $4.1 million to nearly 250 students.

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

Fundraising events

The SFM Foundation recently wrapped up its fall fundraisers, an October bowling event in Iowa and a November “sip and shop” event in Minnesota, which also included an online silent auction.

Combined, the events raised nearly $30,000.

The foundation also hosts summer golf events in Minnesota and Iowa. This year, those events generated more than $160,000 for the organization’s scholarship fund.

“We are proud of our efforts to support these families, as 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.”

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.

 

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SFM attends Women and Safety conference

SFM Loss Prevention Specialist Jason Clausen; Sarah Allender, Senior Safety and Loss Control Specialist with True North Companies; and (in VR gear) SFM Loss Prevention Specialist Toby Tortorilla.

SFM recently participated in the Midwest Women in Safety Conference 2024, presenting information on virtual reality (VR) and safety training.

Held at the Kirkwood Linn County Regional Center in Iowa, the event included several safety-related sessions, with SFM Loss Prevention Specialists Jason Clausen and Toby Tortorilla discussing safety technology they are exploring.

“The implications of virtual reality’s use in safety training are certainly exciting,” Clausen said. “There have been remarkable advancements in VR in recent years, and we hope it can help employers keep workers safe in a number of ways.”

Specifically, they talked about:

  • SFM’s hopes for virtual reality training
  • Training methods
  • Exploring virtual reality training benefits
  • Virtual reality training demonstration

“VR is yet another tool employers can utilize to create a safe work environment,” Tortorilla said. “It provides the opportunity to mirror an actual workplace, track progress, engage employees and foster an open learning environment regarding safety.”

The benefits of VR safety training include:

  • Training for hazardous work, such as fall protection
  • Training that is normally very expensive and time consuming, excavation for example
  • Training for locations that do not yet exist
  • Training where errors have a large impact, such as Lockout/Tagout

“We were happy to be able to show the benefits of VR safety training at the Midwest Women in Safety Conference,” Tortorilla said. “It was a great chance to meet others in the industry and learn more about the latest developments in safety.”

Tortorilla also participated in a panel discussion relating to the future of artificial intelligence (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,” he said. “AI 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.”

Most attendees had not utilized VR or AI in the safety realm and were not familiar with the opportunities both could provide, Tortorilla said. “I was glad to be a part of this conference, to help spread the word.”

Recap of SFM’s 2024 summer interns’ experience

​They came. They saw. They learned a lot about workers’ compensation.

With fall underway, SFM is taking a look back at the experience of its summer interns.

During the summer of 2024, SFM had four interns aboard:

  • Lily Johnson, junior at Iowa State
  • Rishabh Sharma, senior at St. John’s University in Minnesota
  • Fathia Warsame, senior at the University of Minnesota
  • Darius Watt, senior at Hamline University in Minnesota

This year’s goal was to provide broad exposure to workers’ compensation insurance in addition to the corporate side of the business. Instead of interns being assigned to specific teams, they rotated within four main focus areas throughout the summer, including claims, underwriting, analytics and communications/marketing.

“We are thrilled to continue introducing young people to the insurance industry and promoting SFM as an employer of choice through our internship program,” said Senior Vice President and Chief HR Officer Jody Rogers. “It’s our plan to offer summer internships for the foreseeable future.”

During their time with SFM, the group was introduced to the world of workers’ compensation insurance and how SFM handles claims, underwriting, communications, etc. They also created safety videos based on what they learned — focusing on the common workplace injuries incurred among young people. Johnson’s mentor was Sadie Zorn, Marketing Underwriter at SFM.

“It was such a joy and honor to be a mentor to Lily. She brought such fun energy, enthusiasm, and curiosity to the internship. As the summer went on, and she learned more about SFM and the insurance industry, which opened her eyes to the endless opportunities that our industry offers,” Zorn said. “A reoccurring comment from Lily was how welcoming SFM was, how friendly our staff are and how she could tell SFM was a great place to work. It was cool to see Lily catch on to and immerse herself into SFM culture throughout the internship!”

As a group, the interns talked about their experiences at SFM.

Underwriting

During the first week of June, SFM kicked off our intern rotations with the Underwriting team. This was beneficial because it transformed our brains into an insurance mindset. Underwriting Technical Specialist Jen Wolf was one of the first people to take the time to teach us workers’ compensation history, which set the foundation to be able to comprehend the syntax and acronyms used at SFM. As we increased our knowledge and understanding of underwriting, we were tasked with a handful of endorsement requests and eventually processed them.

Claims

We were able to apply our newborn underwriting knowledge and reach another level of understanding of workers’ comp. As a result of our claims experience, we are now able to apply the five W’s of who, what, where, when and why, and how they all have a crucial impact on claim files.

Analytics

We were handed a large dataset containing 27,000 claims with over 50 variables and our general tasks were to answer questions using trends we identified. We learned a lot of cool tips and tricks from Analytics team members and how to turn around projects in a short amount of time.

Communications/marketing

We learned many methods that are utilized to stay up to date on resource literature, websites and blogs. We also learned how SFM uses style guides to communicate effectively and professionally.

We also used our time in Communications to finish our group project, which was to create short safety videos to help younger workers avoid common injuries. We made our final presentation to SFM management, internship leaders and mentors during the last week of our internship.

 

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Join the SFM Foundation for its 2024 fall event

Don’t miss SFM’s fall event, the Minnesota Sip & Shop for Scholarships.

Set for 6-9 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 7, the event will be held at the Westin Edina Galleria in Edina, Minn.

Enjoy an evening of wine and brew tastings, raffles, shopping, silent auction and appetizers to support the foundation’s cause. Proceeds from the event help fund multi-year scholarships for Minnesota and Iowa students affected by workplace injuries.

Activities include:

  • Wine, craft beer and cider tasting
  • Raffles for prizes
  • Shopping, with wares available from local vendors

Find more details about the Minnesota Sip & Shop for Scholarships on the SFM Foundation’s website .

In addition to the in-person event, there will be an online silent auction from Nov. 4-7. The SFM Foundation’s fall bowling event in Iowa was held Oct. 17.

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.

 

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Injured workers can now text SFM directly

SFM recently made it easier for injured workers to connect with the company by adding a new texting feature.

The platform allows injured workers to contact SFM’s claims team, as well as nurse case managers. Additionally, the texting software allows provides:

  • The ability for injured workers to send information about return to work, including photos for items such as mileage
  • Automated text messages letting injured workers know they will get a response if they text outside of regular business hours
  • The ability for multiple SFM employees to assist on the same text thread
  • SFM contact information, including a name, as soon as an injured worker opts in

In addition, if an injured worker has a language preference other than English, they can contact their claims rep to arrange for translation.

“One of the primary reasons for adding a texting option is that it often elicits faster responses than email or even phone calls,” said Angie Andresen, SFM’s Vice President of Claims. “A majority of people these days are never far from their phones, and texting has become a more common method of corresponding with companies for many people.”

The new feature went live Oct. 10, 2024.

SFM Foundation golf events recap, fall events set

SFM Foundation golf eventsThe 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 Foundation golf events raise $160,000

SFM Foundation golf
Participants at the 2024 SFM Foundation golf fundraiser

​The SFM Foundation — which provides college scholarships for students whose families are impacted by workplace injuries — recently wrapped up its 2024 golf fundraisers.

In total, the events raised more than $160,000. The Iowa event, held in May, raised about $7,000 more than the 2023 event. Likewise, Minnesota’s June event raised approximately $5,000 more than last year’s.

“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.”

In total, more than 260 golfers came out for the events, and sponsors continued to help bolster the fundraising effort.

In its first year, the SFM Foundation provided $57,000 in scholarship money. Already in 2024, it was $482,500. And the SFM Foundation is among the top organizations in the U.S. providing similar philanthropy. Since its inception in 2008, the SFM Foundation has awarded $4.1 million in scholarship funds.

“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. “But 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.”

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.

 

View more news about SFM

 

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