DECEMBER 2022
In this issue
Click a heading to reach that section or just scroll through.
COLLEEN LEPPERT RETIRING – Colleen to Retire at End of the Year
WELCOME NICKIE SABO – New Marketing Manager
THE DASHBOARD – The Dashboard is Your Tool to Help Your Bottom Line
IMARK GROUP HEALTH INSURANCE CAPTIVE – The Future of Employee Benefits
BLUE HAWK RETIREMENT – Spend Less and Get More
BENCHMARK BLUE – How Much Track is Left on This Gravy Train?
2022 FALL ADVISORY FORUM RECAP – Who Won the BLUE HAWK Cup?
2023 BLUE HAWK ANNUAL CONFERENCE – Registration Opening in Late January
BLUE HAWK UNIVERSITY – BHU Fourth Quarter Stats
NEW BLUE HAWK VENDOR PARTNER – One New Vendor Partner
BLUE HAWK GIVES BACK – Current Count on Gives Back Hours
BLUE HAWK SOCIAL MEDIA – Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn
Happy Holidays from BLUE HAWK
Colleen Leppert Retiring
With a combination of happiness for her and sadness for us, we would like to share that Colleen Leppert will be retiring from BLUE HAWK at the end of this year.
Colleen has been instrumental in BLUE HAWK’s success since its inception. She was hired as the first official employee in 2005 and worked a year before that as a consultant during the co-op’s startup period. Colleen used her background in business development and computer information systems to develop all operating procedures and computer systems to support the cooperative. Over the years, as we have grown, she has continued to develop and support all areas of our operations. Colleen has poured her heart and soul into BLUE HAWK and its continued success.
Colleen will officially retire at the end of this year, but she will continue working part-time with the BLUE HAWK staff to support her transition and assist with special projects.
Colleen would like to take the opportunity to say thank you for all of your support over the last 18 years. She is genuinely grateful for her opportunity at BLUE HAWK and for working in an industry with so many awesome people.
Colleen is a private pilot and recently received her Instrument Rating. She also is an avid skier and loves mountain biking, road biking, hiking, and yoga. Her two adult boys also enjoy the outdoors, and she looks forward to spending more time with them.
Thank you, Colleen, for your incredible contributions to our team. We will certainly miss you, but we know you will enjoy many adventures with your family and friends during your retirement.
2007 Scottsdale
2007 Tampa
2007 Tampa
2008 San Antonio
2008 San Antonio
2008 San Antonio
2008 San Antonio
2008 San Antonio
2013 Beaver Creek
2012 New Orleans
2012 New Orleans Habit for Humanity
2013 San Francisco
2013 San Francisco
2015 Breckenridge
2014 Baltimore
2014 Baltimore
2015 Orlando
2016 Jackson Hole
2017 Denver
2016 Jackson Hole
2016 Dallas
2018 NCBA Co-op Festival
2018 Chicago
2022 Orlando
Welcome Nickie Sabo
BLUE HAWK is pleased to announce Nickie Sabo has joined our team as marketing manager. Nickie will work alongside Teri Ditsch, Vice President of Marketing & Communications, to broaden the scope of our marketing, communications, and social media outreach.
Previously, Nickie was the communications specialist and graphic designer for Associated Milk Producers Inc., the largest cheese and butter cooperative based in the United States. She has over 16 years of experience producing visual solutions to cooperative communication needs using a wide range of media, including print, social media, and digital.
When not utilizing her creative skills, she also coordinated AMPI’s Young Cooperator (YC) Program. This program is geared toward dairy farmers aged 45 and younger. It enables the cooperative to educate the next generation of AMPI dairy farmers on everything from cooperative plant operations, ag policy, and the dairy industry as a whole. Nickie also worked closely with the human resources department as the recruitment and employee engagement liaison.
Nickie has been an active member of the Cooperative Communicators Association (CCA) since 2007, where she served on the Board of Directors for five years and was President in 2017. In 2013, she was the recipient of CCA’s Michael Graznak Award – an honor that recognizes an outstanding young leader in cooperative communications.
Outside her career, Nickie enjoys golfing, visiting craft breweries, cheering on the Minnesota Vikings, Timberwolves and Twins, and volunteering her time with the local ambassador program in her community.
The Dashboard is Your Tool to Help Your Bottom Line
Rebates earnings shouldn’t be a mysterious holiday gift for your company. By utilizing The Dashboard year-round, your company can take full ownership of the rebated incentive process. By using the ‘Rebate Performance’ tab, it is easy to determine the best ROI of purchases for rebate maximization. Buyers can quickly hone in on incentives that need attention and those that have already been earned. In addition to rebate tracking, The Dashboard provides rebate earning potentials through the ‘Conversion Opportunity’ tab. This space can help your company BUY BLUE and maximize rebate opportunities by supplier or product groups. We know a lot of thought goes into choosing the right Vendor Partner for your company’s needs, so let The Dashboard help you decide on rebate potentials based on your company’s historical purchases.
Like any other analytics tool, The Dashboard is only as good as the data we feed it. Our cooperative needs all of our Members’ input to make The Dashboard as insightful as possible. If you’re not already submitting your company’s data to the site, let’s start the coming year strong by making it a priority. We have worked with over 30 ERPs, and Tredence, the site provider, has extensive security measures in place, so there is no reason to delay onboarding. The Dashboard is useful all year round, so don’t put off utilizing everything the site has to offer by uploading your transactional data.
Have you heard the news? We redesigned The Dashboard to make it easier to navigate and gain valuable insights. If you haven’t taken a tour of The Dashboard recently, now is the time to reach out to Jessica Jones to maximize rebate earnings and BUY BLUE.
Schedule Your Tour of The Dashboard
Or reach out to Jessica directly with any other questions:
Jessica Jones
jjones@bluehawkcooperative.com
480-499-4426
The Future of Employee Benefits
Since open enrollment and renewal season is upon us, your employee benefits are probably weighing on your mind. Maybe you have a fully insured renewal sitting on your desk with an unexpected increase. Perhaps you’re thinking about all the rising costs you’re facing due to inflation (with medical inflation lagging not far behind). Appropriately, you may be looking for ways to cut spending, and transforming your employee benefits plan could help you tackle a significant source of it.
When we think of health insurance, most immediately think of old-fashioned plans. You pay a premium to an insurance company, and it handles your claims. That sounds straightforward, but it’s not the only way to finance your benefits, let alone the best. While it may seem counter-intuitive for small and medium-sized businesses to think about self-insurance, we have developed cutting-edge risk-management practices that make it not only a possibility but a positively necessary solution.
In light of these challenging economic times, with inflation rates rising and the looming threat of recession, any chance to save money on health benefits deserves a close look. For many employers, employee benefits are one of the largest line-item expenses. However, you can combat these rising costs without sacrificing the quality of care that your employees receive. ParetoHealth’s solution, which I will explain in detail in this article, saves new members an average of 7.5% on total healthcare costs during their first year alone, and the savings grow with time.
It’s Time to Explore How to Spend Less and Get More from your 401(k)
Every business owner wants to feel confident that their retirement plan is working the way they expect and that they’re seeing value for money spent.
That’s where a plan checkup comes in.
It’s the best way to dig into your plan’s design and performance, get a complete picture of fees and expenses, and uncover opportunities to save.
It can also help you explore when it’s time for a change.
We make it easy.
As a BLUE HAWK Member, we’ll do the heavy lifting for you through our partnership with Andrew Thompson, The Capital Group/Lincoln Financial.
Your BLUE HAWK group 401(k) with Lincoln can be a cost-effective option.
- Low administrative cost
- No annual audits for Members with 100+ employees
- Economies of scale
- More value, services and individual attention at a competitive group price from an award-winning retirement plan provider
- Regular reviews for price reductions as plans grow
Schedule time with Andrew Thompson to review your plan and see how the BLUE HAWK Retirement can benefit your business. And check out this video to learn more about the value of group 401(k) plans.
For more information contact:
Andrew Thompson
The Capital Group
andrew.thompson2@lfg.com
How much track is left on this gravy train?
Despite a deceleration in sales growth, historically high-profit margins are holding. Though this may not last, a return to cost management in 2023 may be required to sustain the “new normal” of high bottom-line results.
- Starting in 2020 and continuing through the third quarter of 2022, we’ve witnessed a step-change in EBITDA as a percentage of sales.
- This boom in profitability has been fueled by the following:
- Rapid sales growth: 19.4% thru Q3 2022 (vs. ~3% to 8%, historically).
- Higher gross margins,
- And expenses that are growing, but growing much slower than sales.
- Balance sheets appear strong, with inventory growth exceeding sales growth while cash reserves and accounts receivables continue to grow.
- Days Inventory is at an all-time high: an average of 120 days for the first three quarters of 2022 (vs. ~100 to 105, historically)
- Today, interest rates appear to be a minor factor for BLUE HAWK members: median spend is ~$15k to 20k per quarter (<0.2% of sales). This may change if distributors continue to carry more inventory and require more access to capital.
How did you do in the third quarter? Did you achieve a double-digit EBITDA margin? If not, check out the CoMetrics platform to see if you might be missing something. Or reach out to Paul Giudice, CoMetric’s CEO, for a personalized tour of the data: Meet with Paul. To remind you, Benchmark BLUE is available to all members for no additional fees.
