From The President

Welcome to our new electronic newsletter!  Our aim is to make it easier for you to identify the articles you wish to read by giving you the opportunity to scan the headlines and click on those that pique your interest.  As before, the information is intended to be news you can use in your business or life.  Our primary distribution will be electronic, but if we get feedback that we need a printed edition as well, we will take a look at that.

Since our last edition, we have done many exciting things, but none more so than the opening of our Portland Branch office.  While a significant portion of our business is already Portland Metro situated, the size of the Portland market demands a strong local presence.  The office is located in the Lincoln Center near Washington Square.  Our address is 10300 SW Greenburg Road, Suite 240, Portland OR 97223.  Our local Portland phone is (503) 892-0550 and the fax number is (503) 892-0700.

We are fortunate to have identified an outstanding staff to get our office started.  Scott Price, Robert Paskins and Ben Salisbury are our sales executives, and Dawna Brosius is our account manager.  Between them, they have over 50 years of insurance experience and are familiar with all the industry groups KPD insures and more.  Best of all, each of them has the Kandu attitude that distinguishes us in our business.  We are pleased to say that in their short existence the Portland office has written many nice accounts and are off to a great start!

Changing gears, wellness is a buzzword in the Employee Benefits business.  Like you, KPD tries to offer our employees a comprehensive package of benefits at a reasonable cost for both the employees and KPD.  Unfortunately, we face the same increasing costs of the health care system you do.  This year we are taking an extra step to try to control our health insurance loss experience (and ultimately our costs) by installing a wellness program from Matria, a nationally recognized leader in wellness programs.  The program involves health assessments, coaching, record keeping and, of course, activities that can lead to better health.  KPD will be providing employees an incentive to participate and we hope many of our folks take advantage of the program.  An article appears later in this newsletter detailing the wellness program, and in future editions of this we will keep you posted on our progress toward a healthier workforce and lower insurance rates.

That’s it from me for this edition – let us know how we did!

Jim Ginger