Adworksop & Inphorm Team
By Gordie Little
Adworkshop & Inphorm, based in Lake Placid, is touted as “the North Country’s largest, full-service market communications company.” Adele and Tom Connors formed Adworkshop in 1977, starting out in a tiny office with a gigantic dream.
Thirty-two years later, they are one of the largest advertising and public relations firms between Albany and the Canadian border. And to celebrate National Employee Ownership Month in October, they announced the formation of an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) that the company and its 30 professional employees insist has created a win/win situation.
Those involved say the ESOP is a wise financial move for the company and bodes well for its future in the region.
General Manager Darcy Norfolk explained, “This ‘small’ business has grown to become a pretty sizable employer in the North Country.” One of the reasons Adele and Tom decided to transition to an ESOP was to ensure that the business remains in the community. If the business were to be sold or liquidated, the jobs might be at risk. Tom and Adele decided on the ESOP as a succession plan. They continue to remain principals and 66 percent owners in the company. They’re not retiring and do not plan to do so for some time.” With the ESOP, the employees now own 33 percent of the company.
They have purchased shares of stock as part of their retirement in the program, which is almost unique in this region. The plan was established in July of 2007; however the stock was finally purchased at the end of April this year.
Norfolk says one of the greatest benefits of an ESOP is, “It allows employees to participate and share in the agency’s growth and success. This will assist us in attracting and retaining the best marketing professionals in the area.”
She says another important benefit is that “it sets up a succession plan for the agency. In instances when businesses are purchased in upstate New York, they are often closed, and staff relocated out of the area. Tom and Adele wanted to avoid that possibility and help secure a future for the Adworkshop and its employees.”
Norfolk pointed out that another plus of the ESOP is the tax benefit. She describes it as “an incentive” and added, “…if it were eliminated, that might jeopardize the viability and success of Adworkshop as an ESOP.” She says there are some negative vibes on Capitol Hill as pertains to this benefit and they are urging Congress to “stand against any proposals negative to ESOPs.”
Founder Tom Connors says he is thrilled with what the ESOP is doing for Adworkshop. He said, “Employees now have even more incentive to excel in their jobs because they are working to provide for their own financial security.”
Adele added, “Among our proudest accomplishments is the acquisition of clients throughout the northeast and the creation of jobs in the North Country. We would like to see the company continue to grow for years to come.”
The Adworkshop’s mission statement is as follows: “Adworkshop and Inphorm provides integrated, results-oriented marketing expertise to the travel and hospitality, active outdoors, healthcare, education and financial sectors in Upstate New York. Layered with talent from different backgrounds, brought together by a choice to live the Adirondacks lifestyle, Adworkshop channels that energy, wrapped with passion and experience for marketing, to build successful brands.”
Norfolk said, “Each employee has a unique story of what brought them to the area and Adworkshop. My husband and I are both originally from Watertown. We moved to the Adirondacks by choice six years ago from Long Island. We escaped the rat race for a better quality of life and haven’t looked back. We work just as hard, yet now we don’t have to sit in traffic and experience a long commute.”
She shows facts and figures, “constituting overwhelming data that ESOP companies consistently outperform non-ESOP companies.” She says that bodes well for her company far into the future.
A news release for the ESOP creation explains, “Adworkshop is an employeeowned tragidital (yes, it’s a real word) marketing communications agency headquartered in Lake Placid, New York. Since 1977, the agency has been effectively producing creative ideas and delivering custom marketing communications strategies and tactics for its clients. Services include brand strategy, development and execution, web site design, development and content management systems, online newsrooms, search engine marketing, e-newsletters and interactive tools, social media marketing, public relations, creative production of print, outdoor, radio, video, and TV, as well as media planning and placement. The agency’s integrated marketing capabilities allow it to stand out among larger agencies, while its intimate size allows for a true market partnership.”
It further explains that Inphorm, the public relations division of the agency, “specializes in media campaigns and monitoring, search engine optimized content, multi-media online newsrooms and digital relations.” It started in 2002.
The agency’s theme has always been “Quality of Life Equals Quality of Work.” Further, the company line indicates, “Every member of the Adworkshop team could live and work anywhere. All of us choose to live in the Lake Placid area. While we are layered with diverse talents and we come from different backgrounds, we are brought together by our passion for marketing and our choice to live an active Adirondack lifestyle. We channel this unique energy and passion for marketing to build successful brands for our clients.”
Another line that catches the eye is, “Marketing is our nature.” The word passion appears often in print to describe the motivation of Adworkshop employees. For example, one agency statement says, “Our process is distilled from our passion. The way we communicate is based on simple human truths. You will see us begin every meeting with something that is irrefutable. Just let us prove it.” How’s that for an upfront challenge? For this article, we spoke with principals Adele and Tom Connors, General Manager Darcy Norfolk, Finance Director and ESOP Trustee Sandra Gagnon along with Marketing Strategist/Media Director and ESOP Trustee Jon Bouman.
Chuckling about their humble beginnings in 1977 just before the Olympics, Tom Connors said, “The two of us worked for a year and a half before we had our first employee— Kathy Ford—who is still with us.”
Adele added, “We didn’t envision Adworkshop as it is today. Our biggest passion was to live in the Adirondacks. We were going to do whatever it took. We started out slow and grew over time.”
The group agrees that agencies their size cost them considerable business during the recent economic downturn; but Tom said, “We’ve managed to hold our own. Other agencies have lost quite a few clients and thus have needed to release employees.”
He pointed out that search engine marketing has become a sizable part of what they do these days. Connors described it as “adjusting web sites to be more search engine friendly to ensure better results for people who do specific searches. For many of our tourism clients that compete with other destinations or other resorts, we help them get better search engine results and better ranking. That’s become a primary focus for a lot of companies nowadays. We kind of jumped on this early.”
Adele said, “Our services are tremendously diverse, because the business has changed tremendously. We’ve been keeping up with that since the day we started. With the dawn of the Internet, we started really early and we’re very thankful that we did so.”
Her husband added, “Web site development is huge for us—application development and web site development. There is a strategy behind it to make sure it’s effective once it’s developed.”
Sandra Gagnon explained that the new ESOP plan, in basic terms, is a “qualified retirement plan wherein there is a trust. At this time, one third of the company’s stock is owned by the trust. Each participant of the ESOP has an allocation of stock within the trust. Each year the company makes a retirement plan contribution.”
She added, “ESOP motivates the employees now that they have a stake in the company. We hope that they will take pride in it and will work for the betterment of the company and the benefit of themselves.”
Norfolk said, “We’ll be doing some fun things for our employees, such as an employee of the quarter and a box where they can ask questions and get educated. As part of the education process, employees will now see our financials so they can obtain a better grasp of the company. It’s making a difference. One of our public relations managers, Rebecca, asked one day how much a long distance call to Belgium would cost. She was just thinking proactively to learn how she could save us money if she called during a certain time of the day. Employees are now interested in things like our electric bill. We are using energy efficient bulbs, shutting off lights, printers, monitors and the like more often. We even post the bill for everyone to see year to year.”
Jon Bouman used UPS as an example, saying, “That company has been employeeowned for some time. You always see them running in and out of the trucks. I think part of that is because they have a stake in the company themselves.”
Tom Connors said Stewarts and Kinney Drugs in the North Country are also ESOPs and he believes that is a big part of their success here.
Bouman added, “Every year the business is valuated. The employees get their annual statements around the holidays and that’s a good indicator for everyone as to the state of the agency. The value of the company determines the value of their stock, so that’s a real tangible asset at the end of the year.”
Adworkshop is a member of the National ESOP Association as well as of the Vermont Employee Ownership Center.
Will ESOP make for a better company? There is a universal “YES” from the group we interviewed and they say their answer reflects total acceptance from all their employees at the time ESOP was instituted. They insist that it will make theagency stronger, better and more effective in the long run so they will be able to even better serve their clients. Toward that end, they say, they are fine-tuning all their processes and building in better systems for great efficiency.
Adworkshop works closely with Fort Drum Regional Liaison organization (FDRLO) as well as businesses in the Watertown region. They are presently working on a project to re-brand Fort Drum. Four years ago, they assisted the FDRLO with a communications strategy to “keep Fort Drum off the BRAC closure list,” according to Adele Connors.
She said they are also producing DVDs to be distributed nationwide to attract soldiers and their families who want to come to Fort Drum. She added, “It will be for all incoming soldiers so they can see what it’s like in Drum Country. A lot of them only know that it’s really cold and snowy up here. Our objective is to show them how supportive and beautiful the Drum County is.”
Tom Connors says he is proud of the work the agency does with tourism organizations in the Adirondack Region, Thousand Islands, Cooperstown/Otsego County, Franklin and Hamilton Counties and others. He added that the company also handles healthcare and banking accounts as part of their diverse offerings. He explained, “We’re about 50 percent destination marketing, 25 percent healthcare, ten percent finance and ten percent education.”
Account executives and members of the team regularly travel three or four hours to meet face-to-face with their clients across the North Country whenever possible. They work with businesses and municipalities and many other groups.
Tom says they actually work far outside this area through their Internet business. They currently are designing and marketing web sites for clients in several other states.
The group agreed their vision is to build their reputation nationwide and they firmly believe they can achieve that end with their diverse skills, particularly in tourism.
Adele said, “We’re only as good as our biggest idea, so I think creativity is what we hang our hat on at the end of the day, although we’re not really image-based. We’re much more return-on-investment-based in our strategy style.”
They have full departments in eachmedium, according to Tom. When asked what kind of employees they look for, he said, “We look for people who want to live in the Adirondacks. We want them to come here and become in tune with the area. That’s how they become creative. People want to get out of the city and move here. They want to get out of the long commute with its related hassles. So, we get highpowered talent in spite of the fact that we can’t quite match the city pay. But they love our quality of life.”
Adele further explained the continued growth of the company over the years, “We adapt to new technology and new marketing areas such as the social media space with Facebook and Twitter. We’re successful because of our totally integrated approach.
Clients can get it all here under one roof.” Adworkshop & Inphorm in Lake Placid–yet another of the North Country’s great success stories. You can take that to the bank.
By Tom Williams
Medical practice outsourcing has come into its own over the last few years. This is especially true for private practices of physicians, podiatrists, chiropractors, and physical therapists to name a few.
Two people who started their own outsourcing business are Dr. William Pena and Shannon Sullivan, CPC. Four years ago, they started a medical practice management company, Atlantic Billing and Coding, LLC, when they saw a real need for providers to have another option for their management needs. “Some health care practices simply have difficulty finding qualified staff, while others want the benefit of a professional company that specializes in the sometimes complex business of coding for services, billing those codes to third party payers (insurance companies), and ensuring that the provider of services gets reimbursed appropriately,” Pena said.
He went on to explain that a side benefit of this arrangement is that the provider and office manager do not have to deal with the day to day staffing issues that go along with employing their own personnel.
Pena said, “We wanted to provide a better way to make sure claims were being paid in a timely manner and, more importantly, we wanted to ensure that payment denials were being worked on diligently.”
Pena knows that treating patients is a full-time job, not to mention the administrative processes of compliance with Federal and State laws, billing, and staffing issues.After they submit claims with regard to the service performed on their patients, physicians, for instance, receive an Explanation of Benefits (EOB) from an insurance company. When an insurance company denies a claim, some busy providers just put the denials aside and never get paid. It is money lost. S
ometimes, the solution is simple. For example, further documentation from the provider needs to be submitted or the insurance company just made a mistake. Atlantic Billing follows up on these denials and frequently gets them paid. When these wrinkles are ironed out, it results in less of a burden for the patient and appropriate payment for the provider.
Due to the success of their approach, Pena and Sullivan have added staff with solid expertise. Tammy Carbino, a Certified Professional Coder (CPC), was hired to make sure that all claims are completed properly before they are submitted to insurance companies. Almost immediately, the number of denials went down, which resulted in increased reimbursement. Recently, Karen King, who is also a CPC, was added to the staff.
Insurance companies are responsible for paying providers according to the contractual relationship in effect. Occasionally, providers’ staffs have difficulty maintaining these contracts, as a result of the time demanded by issues of compliance, staffing, billing, etc. Unfortunately, as a result, according to Sullivan “Many dollars can be lost by providers and that’s not good. Health care providers, like other businesses, have significant overhead expenses to be concerned about.”
One example Atlantic Billing has seen is that some practitioners have been using outdated fee schedules, not realizing that reimbursement amounts have increased. As a result, they may be receiving less than they are due. Fee schedule amounts are updated annually, but if practices don’t update their computer software with these new prices, correct payment can be lost.
Atlantic Billing and Coding has proven its worth by showing a positive difference in its customers’ reimbursements. Its clients have seen increased growth in reimbursement, while denials have decreased dramatically.
However, Atlantic brings more to the table than just working on claims and denials. Atlantic Billing and Coding will do in-house or out-sourced services to include: on all denials;
• electronic and paper claims submissions;
• analyze and update Current Practical Terminology (CPT), the diagnostic codes (ICD-9) and the medical inventory codes for braces, canes, walkers, etc. (HCPCS codes);
• analyze and use correct modifiers to increase reimbursement dollar amount;
• accounts/receivables management;
• customized monthly financial reports; and • monthly patient statements and receivable collections and reductions.
Additionally, their consultation services include:
• internal audits;
• on and off site training;
• comprehensive credentialing services;documentation training;
• review and development of compliance manuals; and
• per-diem services, including vacation coverage and maternity leave.
When a provider commissions the services of Atlantic Billing and Coding, a specific person is assigned to the account. As a result, this account ‘point person’ knows and understands the entire office and its procedures. Sullivan said, “It is like having a biller in their own office. It also means the provider needs fewer personnel on staff, which saves both time and money.”
She added, “We are a local company and local people will still be employed.”
Sullivan, who serves as Atlantic’s office manager, started a local certification chapter of the American Academy of Professional Coders in Canton and was its president for the 2008-2009 term. The chapter focuses on education and conducts classes to certify personnel seeking to become professional coders.
According to Sullivan, continuing education is the best thing a practice can do for its employees. She said, “Every day there are changes in the medical field and, if you fall behind, your practice will fall behind. As we move forward, the medical field will continue to face big changes when it comes to third parties processing their claims. We all have to look forward to ICD-10, mandatory EMR and the continuing issue of changing health care plans effecting all Americans.”
She continued, “If your practice doesn’t have a practice management system that can keep up to date with these changes, transitioning can be a real problem. These are big, big changes that will affect small and large practices. The lack of experience and knowledge by personnel doing the claims can result in money being lost. In the end, if a person is not code-certified, it usually affects the doctor’s bottom line in a negative way.”
All Atlantic Billing and Coding personnel are certified and are required to take continuing education classes to maximally maintain their certifications.
Due to the economy, doctors and other health care providers are seeking help in ensuring they are receiving the appropriate reimbursement to which they are entitled. That is where Atlantic Billing and Coding, LLC can really help. Pena said “As things start going downhill, that’s when the yellow light comes on and the physicians start asking, ‘what is going on?’”
Atlantic Billing and Coding identifies with each practice and its unique needs, and, in doing so, helps each practice make sure it’s not just meeting payroll deadlines but making sure the business is staying afloat.
Every doctor and/or office manager can use some ‘outside eyes,’ said Sullivan, “What is the harm in getting some outside advice on how to make your office be more profitable and run smoother. The revenue cycle is everyone’s responsibility in the office, not just the billers. Without change, you will lose money. We can help make sure you don’t.”
The Atlantic Billing and Coding advantages are: it is efficient, all of its personnel are certified coders, and they are local. When a physician or other provider calls Atlantic, he or she can speak to one of the owners and the person that is dealing with their practice. That’s a big plus.
Pena stated the company has helped providers improve their business knowledge and identify lost opportunities lost. They are here to stay and he looks forward to helping more practices.
Atlantic Billing and Coding, LLC bills for all specialties. If you think they may be of help to your practice, please visit their website at www.atlanticabc.com or call them directly at 315-379-9659.
by Gordie Little
They say good things come in threes. If that’s the case, Fuller Insurance Agency, Inc. should be really good. They have North Country offices, in Carthage, Canton and Malone and their sterling reputation over the past 28 years seems to bear out that image of “goodness.”
Their web site proclaims that they have “Local service, local knowledge, combined with a variety of products for all your insurance needs.” It continues by listing insurance for “Home, auto, boat, business, cycle, sled, life, ATV and health,” and says they are “protecting what’s important to you without forgetting what’s most important…YOU!”
Another paragraph explains further who they are: “Fuller Insurance Agency, Inc. provides local service and local knowledge while delivering the highest quality insurance products to our customers in Northern New York. Wilfred T. Fuller founded our Agency in 1980 as ‘the insurance professionals who care.’ Today, we continue as the insurance professionals who care.”
According to members of the family who remain with the business, these are not just hollow advertising slogans. Sharing ownership and the top management spots in the corporation these days are the late Wilfred T. Fuller’s sons, Adam and Aaron, who say they are working hard to continue the guidelines set by their dad who passed away three years ago.
In a recent interview, Adam outlined the Fuller Agency history. His dad, who had a career in the United States Air Force, had worked previously as a life insurance agent and decided to launch his own business in a rented space on State Street in Carthage on September 1, 1980. Adam was born five days later.
At first, the elder Fuller worked with farmers and a few personal lines of insurance. As time went on, the business grew and moved in 1987 to the present locationat 110 South School Street. The building was renovated to accommodate the Fuller Agency and other professional offices.
In 1991, Wilfred Fuller purchased an agency on Court Street in Canton and expanded his business to that community. That was the year Fuller became incorporated. The next major move came in 1994 when Fuller began marketing life and health insurance products to individuals and business.
Also that year, the first of two agencies was purchased in Malone. A second Malone Agency was acquired in 1996 and both were consolidated into their present office at 368 West Main Street.
Adam Fuller explained, “When my dad started in 1980, it was primarily personal lines of insurance. In the early 90s, he got more involved with commercial lines, including service to businesses and municipalities. There was a big focus on that as well as branching out into health insurance.” He went on to say, “The year we started in Malone was also when we got more actively involved with life and health insurance here in Carthage.”
Fuller said he cannot stress strongly enough the importance of his company’s connection with the military presence at nearby Fort Drum. And, he added, “It’s not necessarily just the active duty folks, but also people who work there. A lot of our commercial line customers have contracts at Fort Drum. Many are running sub-contracts for larger contractors who are now picking up work at that facility.”
Fuller added that, at this point in time, they are seeing “guys who are part-time handy men, now coming to the point where they’re really needing insurance because it’s not just side work any more. It’s becoming their business— their livelihood. We’re seeing a lot of requests from people who are entering business— not just construction—but are looking to provide services to the military.”
Adam Fuller says that the insurance business is in his genes. His mom is also a licensed insurance agent, but never actually worked for Fuller. Adam joined the Agency in 2001. He and his brother Aaron work together every day at the Carthage office, along with their sister Diana Clement. Aaron is six years his senior and Diana is older than Aaron.
They also have a brother Jurgen who is known as “Jake.” Jake was previously in theinsurance business with them, but decided on a career change and left the area in the 90s.
When asked to enumerate some of the ways his business is set apart, Adam said, “What’s important to us is that we’re an independent agency. We’re not tied down to one company. We represent many.” Some are very well known, such as Allstate, Progressive and Travelers. “But,” he added, “there are many others that are smaller, New York State-only companies that offer a tremendous variety of insurance from homeowners to landlord policies, to commercial and contractors. For example, New York Central Mutual is the largest, regional, personal lines insurance company in New York State. We also do a lot of business with Dryden Mutual. For health insurance, we work with Excellus and GHI.”
Adam said that insuring municipalities is a large part of their commercial business and reported that the total number is probably close to 50. Long-time employee Michael Gillette focuses on the municipal work and Adam indicates that he is working more and more with regional fire departments.
Needless to say, the Fuller insurance business goes hand-in-hand with real estate in Northern New York. Adam said, “When the Fort Drum boom hit, it was a no-brainer that all the agencies in the area got busy. There were new people coming into the area that needed homeowners’ insurance. We weren’t aggressively marketing it. A lot of it was done through connections made with lenders and real estate agents. A few of them had done business with us before and liked us.”
He went on to say, “We started to market more toward the homeowner because of all the new people at Fort Drum. Construction boomed. 2005 saw a lot of growth coming from Fort Drum and it wasn’t just military people involved. That’s when local people were perhaps selling a home they had been in for some time and were capitalizing on rising real estate values.”
During that period of time, there was sustained growth in insurance business with homeowners as well as landlord policies. 2006 was probably the peak year, but growth continued through 2007. By 2008, it had diminished somewhat. According to Adam, that’s when more of the on-base housing came on line, causing the demand to slow. The so-called ‘housing bubble’ was good for the Fuller Insurance Agency and it set the tone for much that they are doing today.
Adam said during that three-year boom period, the agency began seeing people moving into real estate speculation, buying property, building houses and buying older buildings to renovate for multi-family use.
Now that on-post housing has come on line in greater quantities, that sustained growth has diminished somewhat and the Fuller insurance business is constantly changing direction to accommodate the market. Adam commented that deployment on Fort Drum is still ongoing with people leaving and more people coming in. He added, “As home values began to rise, insurance values followed—not just because of what was happening locally, but across the country and world, as building materials skyrocketed. Our clients were now paying more for their homes, new houses were costing more, and that sometimes made our job of explaining the difference of replacement costs and actual cash value a bit easier.”
As for the recent recession’s impact on his business, Adam said the major difference is that people have become a lot more cash conscious. That means they’re shopping around and looking for ways to save money. He added that his company is doing more re-marketing as they try to save money for their customers by giving them options they might not have considered.
He was quick to say, “We’ll never fail to offer you the coverage you need just to save you the premium cost. We’re probably not going to give you the cheapest rate. Other places will do that. They’ll quote you the highest deductibles and the lowest coverages and perhaps will not fully explain the repercussions.”
In summing up, Adam explained, “What happened here during our growth period and subsequent leveling out, would correlate with what you will hear from bankers and real estate agents. There was a huge shortage of housing at one point. More and more came on line and now it’s beginning to flatten out again. However, there are still lots of people out there who are busy building, and that’s a good sign for the recovering economy.”
Adam Fuller had high praise for all 14 employees in the company’s three offices. Experience is important for every aspect of the business and the total service years represented is impressive. Nadine McIntyre has worked with them for 27 years, starting at the Watertown location. Penny Ellis has tallied 20 years. Michael Gillette boasts 15. And the rookie at Fuller Insurance, Erin Gebo, has been with them five years, but came on as a licensed broker. The two brothers and their sister have been exposed to their dad’s business since childhood.
The Fuller family has always been very much interested, committed and involved in their community and their agency was selected as the Carthage Area Chamber of Commerce “Service Business of the Year” in 2007.
Aaron serves as secretary of the Carthage Area Hospital Board of Directors. He is a trustee and past exalted ruler of the Carthage Elks Lodge. Adam is treasurer of the Carthage Area Hospital Foundation Board of Directors. He is also president of the Greater Watertown Jaycees and is a member of the Carlowden Country Club’s Board of Directors and of New York Central Mutual’s Agency Council.
Their staff is also committed to their community with other employees active with the Carthage Lions Club, local churches, and the American Legion Auxiliary. Long-time employee Mike Gillette is a councilman for the Town of Rutland.
One of the main mottos is: “Fuller Insurance Agency—Local Service, Local Knowledge.” Adam said, “When you call any of our offices, you speak to a person and not some recording. We will always work to do our very best to find the right product that meets your needs. You don’t have to make dozens of phone calls to compare. We’ll do it all for you.”
Adam said, “We’ve built a name for ourselves serving new homeowners and those investing in rental properties. We’ll continue doing that, but we’ll also focus on insuring recreational products. Outdoor recreation is becoming more and more popular with lifelong residents courtesy of Fort Drum. It’s also requires significant investment that needs insurance protection.”
Fuller Insurance Agency, Incorporated— their theme song could be, “We are family.”
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