TRADE NAMES: Insurance agency focuses on benefits

Steven Parent took notice when small-business owners complained that their human-resource administrators were juggling multiple responsibilities they weren't properly trained to handle.

"They were doing payroll, benefits and COBRA administration in addition to supervisory duties," Parent said. "Responsibilities were thrown onto these people. They didn't understand everything that was involved in employee-benefits plans."

To fill the void for these employers, Parent and a business partner decided to create Richmond-based B&P Benefits Solutions in 2004.

The multiline insurance agency focuses on individual health, dental and life insurance as well as group health, dental, life and disability insurance. It also offers voluntary insurance products, 401(k) plans and retirement plans.

"When I opened the company, I wanted to make sure I could do everything for group administrators to help them completely understand their employee-benefits package," he said.

The company works with firms that employ between two and 250 people.

"That's our niche," Parent said. "A company with thousands of employees would require us to have a large staff. We'd rather offer excellent service to smaller companies."

Daniel Butler, office manager for Envelopes Only Inc. in Charles City County, asked Parent to help create an employee-benefits plan for the 40 employees at the company.

"Steven was willing to come all the way out here to Charles City to talk to us," Butler said. "A lot of people don't do that. They try to handle things on the phone. He goes out of his way to personally take care of things. He's very helpful."

Parent's father, Walter Parent, introduced him to the insurance industry. The father had headed up reimbursement for Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Virginia (now Anthem) before becoming head administrator at Southampton Memorial Hospital in Franklin. The father now owns a local health-care-consulting firm.

"I've been around health care all my life," Parent said. "It was a natural progression."

Parent, 36, began his own nine-year career with Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Virginia in 1993, working in customer service. He had progressed to the central Virginia major-account unit when he was recruited by Virginia Group Benefits, a large insurance agency in Henrico County.

"That's how I started to get into this side of the business," he said. "I became an agent/broker."

Parent worked at Virginia Group Benefits until he founded B&P with his former business partner, Wade Belote. Belote is still a broker for B&P but sold his share of the company to Parent in 2008.

Since opening B&P, Parent has added several services, including COBRA and flexible-spending-accounts administration as well as compliance and human-resources services. COBRA stands for the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act that allows certain former employees and others the right to temporary continuation of health coverage at group rates.

Parent offers payroll services through a partnership with PayTime, a company in which he is one of 16 shareholders.

Nicholle Anderson, controller for J. King DeShazo III Inc., a commercial roofing and sheet metal firm in Hanover County, has been using B&P's services for five years.

"Steven never leaves any questions unanswered," she said. "If a coverage issue arises, I have had him go to bat for me against the insurance company."

Parent does little marketing of B&P. He relies on networking opportunities and referrals. He attributes part of B&P's growth to his staff.

Since opening, the company has seen a 50 percent increase in sales each year.

"I remember when we first opened, and I was ecstatic when I got my first $1,000 check from an insurance carrier," Parent said.

Recently, Parent has noticed that some companies are cancelling health-insurance policies because of rising costs, causing employees and owners to purchase individual policies.

According to the 2008 Employee Health Benefits Annual Survey by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, premiums for employer-based health insurance rose by 5 percent in 2008. In 2007, firms with fewer than 24 workers experienced an increase of 6.8 percent.

"We are maintaining our sales because of the increase in individual sales," Parent said.

Wanda Simpson, president and CEO of Premiere Colors in Ashland, asked Parent to assess the commercial printing company's employee-benefits plan three years ago.

"Steve is a very conscientious businessman who really looks at your business and tries to match the product with the company," she said. "He's not someone who tries to oversell, which is something I appreciate."