WINTER 2021
THE PENTEGRA PULSE What’s Happening At Pentegra
In This Issue
President’s Perspective ONE PENTEGRA Update From HR Welcome To Pentegra! Happy Anniversary! Pentegra Gives Back BRAVO Recipients Have You Seen Us In The News? Missed a PENTalk?
President’s Perspective As we close the books on another year and reflect back on the year we had, what a year it was. 2020 will be one of those years, like so many in history, we will never forget. Who thought that when we closed the offices in the middle of March, that 10 months later we would still be closed with no real line of sight as to when we might re-open. The pandemic has changed so many aspects of our life, you wonder how will we respond when things do go back to “normal”. They say that with every disaster or challenge you get to see the real good in people. This pandemic really showed the good in the Pentegra people. You were forced to work from home with almost no notice, yet you responded by delivering to our clients, partners and each other without really missing a beat. That is a testament to who you are and what this company is all about. How much we care about our clients, partners and each other was on display every day. In addition, through your generosity during these difficult times, we were able to feed thousands of families in need and bring a smile to hundreds of children at Christmas time. Despite everything thrown at us this year, we still managed to have a very successful year. Through the tireless efforts of many, we are going to roll out new websites in 2021. Our whole technology platform is being redone, a new phone system was installed. Speaking of technology, a big thank you for all your efforts in helping to get everyone set up at home and dealing with all the calls for help when we first sent everyone home. I know it must not have been easy. Great strides were made to ensure our future as new business partnerships were developed. When we finish tabulating our sales for 2020, our new partnership with ADP to date, will have brought in nearly
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THE PENTEGRA PULSE 5,000 plans. We are also working on establishing relationships with some of the largest players in our industry that will hopefully result in a significant increase in new business in 2021 and beyond. Financially, as you can see from the monthly dashboards, we are going to exceed our 2020 budgeted net income, although this year (2021) to be sure, will be more challenging. I am planning on a having a call with all the employees in February to review the final results for 2020 and the forecast for 2021. One of the other big undertakings this year that you all have heard about is “One Pentegra”. So often you would hear, “they do it that way there and we do it this way here”. Going forward there will be one way, the Pentegra Way. No longer will anyone feel that things are done differently in different locations, we are going to do it the same way everywhere. We are one company. That is what One Pentegra is all about. In closing, I just want to say a huge heart felt thank you to everyone for helping Pentegra get through 2020 and position us for the future. As corny as it sounds, the best is yet to come. Thank you and I look forward to an even more successful 2021.
ONE PENTEGRA Over the past year, the management team has spent a significant amount of time developing a strategy to position the organization for future growth in this rapidly changing marketplace. This initiative is called “One Pentegra”. One Pentegra will focus on 3 principles: People – We will develop a relationship model that is human centric ensuring both our clients, partners and employees are successful. We will adopt and deliver a “Client First” focus, to help save our current clients and welcome our new clients. Process – We will establish one client and employee experience by providing a consistent service offering. We will look at how we service our clients, incorporate our “best practices”, and process our work the best way. Technology – We will deliver on the technology necessary for Pentegra to deliver “best-in-class” services to our clients and partners and make our business scalable and more efficient so our employees are empowered to offer the “Client First” experience we all want to deliver. PAGE 2
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There is a lot of momentum as we enter 2021. There is still so much work that needs to be done. It starts with saving our hard earned existing clients. It requires us to double sales in 2021. It means we focus on tomorrow today. It revolves around building—and believing in the importance of—One Pentegra. Success will not be defined by the accomplishment of an individual, or department, or a specific line-ofbusiness. Success will be defined on how we collectively work together—across the firm—to help each other find new clients, and create better outcomes for all the clients and partners we serve. Each and every one of us must be integral in this success. Now is the time to assure no idea is left silent. Think of what is possible, and help make it happen. Share your ideas on where and what and how we can do better, be more efficient, and scale to levels never before imagined. Clear your mind and think from a clean sheet of paper on how to better equip yourself and Pentegra for the next 80 years of success. No matter what department you work in or what role you play at Pentegra, your input and perspective is important. We look forward to your input and ideas. We’ve set up a place for you to share your suggestions: OnePentegraIdeaBox@pentegra.com. We recognize this is a lot to digest, even more to accomplish, and appreciate in advance the energy you bring. We will continue to update you on important milestones throughout the year, look for your ideas and involvement, and look forward to celebrating these successes as One Pentegra..
Update from HR The migration from Namely to ADP is well under way. Payroll and time off is up and running. The HR portal is in process with the benefits going live next. There will be more features rolled out in the coming months. The BRAVO rewards program that has been housed in Namely will be replaced by our own portal that will be located on our SharePoint page. We are excited that it will be more user friendly and automated! Remember to send us pictures for our Keeping It Fun page on SharePoint. Let us know what you’re doing. Your co-workers love to see it. We are always looking for ideas on fun stuff, so send them our way if you have one!
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Welcome To Pentegra! Elena Virella Staff Accountant White Plains
Meredith Burgos Customer Service Representative White Plains
Shanice Culbreth Customer Service Representative
Wilson Kane Customer Service Representative
Charlotte
White Plains
Landon Tepedino Billing & Collections Specialist
Bruce Harrington Vice President, Strategic Deveiopment
Charlotte
Remote
Courtney Saddler 3(16) Fiduciary Support Analyst
Ramon Sieira Internal Sales Representative
Blacklick
Remote
Bridgette Miller 3(16) Account Manager
Chasity Austin Account Manager
Remote JoAnn Clausen Compliance Analyst Remote
Remote
John Ebright Internal Sales Representative Remote
Happy Anniversary! Scott McCarthy Caroline Rizzaro-Nardone Jose Ronquillo Ellen Walsh Zack Demers Nadia Jordt Cathy Bomba
20 years 15 years 5 years 5 years 5 years 5 years 5 years
Pentegra Gives Back Thank You From The Salvation Army Greenville Thank you so much for all of your help at the Christmas Center this year. Together, we created Christmas magic for over 1,400 children here in Greenville by making sure that each had Christmas toys and clothes. Because of the circumstances that we are currently living through, we had far less volunteers than normal. We honestly couldn’t have done this without you. Many of you signed up for multiple shifts when you saw how far behind we were. Thanks for playing Santa along with us! Thank you so much for giving of your time to help us get this done. We hope that you are willing to come back next year and do it all over again.
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John D'Agostino Regional Director
Rich Unger 403 (b) Enterprise Relationship Manager
Remote
Remote
Recent BRAVO! Recipients
Eberlie Brice Alisa Mccray Laura Garcia Robert Fiorentino Debra Durso Gretchen Williams Carolina Luna Tanya Soto Bridget Boyd April Horne Tina Jordan Jennie Mar Leah Moehlman Michael Syrowski Nicholas Rice Vasso Morse Jacqueline Drew Verene Joseph Jeffrey Autero Jahmal Canty Karen Kelsch
Kathryn Brooks Tracy Villanueva Curtis Rodriquez Diana Pisaneschi Brandon Miller Jennifer Moore Nadia Jordt Diana Lopez Kim Rome Colin Muzycka Colleen Zanicchi Anthony Baumann Shane Cody Fernando Pino Carolyn Stowe Lisa Marie Debiase Elizabeth Parker Ashley Moore Sonya Sandell Christine Hinson Courtney Saddler
Phyllis Kucewicz Jerrilyn Johnson Peter Sprague Robert Scholl Joseph Tedesco Mitchell Sime Urvashi Jones Yashoda Walter Robert Lopez Anabelle Helton Suhail Manasia Lynn Phillips Richard DiRusso Patrick Mcgrath Ira Reifer Richard Brolly Leah Dixon Sanjana Chowdhury Jeffrey Diamond Beth Kane Rene Roulier
Katerina Kostikj Renita Nance Wilson Kane Wayne Mosley Dionne Mcpherson Shirley Horner David Barrer
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Have You Seen Us In The News? Our public relations program continues to elevate Pentegra’s profile in the media and within the industry, showcasing our expertise and promoting our thought leadership. In addition to sending out regular press releases, we’re busy pitching blogs, articles and other news items to the media on a regular basis. You can see where we’ve been featured in the news on Pentegra’s website: www.pentegra.com/news/as-seen-in-the-news/
Missed a PENTalk? Catch up on all of our latest PENTalks here https://www.pentegra.com/expertise/videos/
We’re social! Be sure to follow Pentegra’s daily posts on social media!
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