Risk & Business Magazine JGS Insurance - Fall 2020 | Page 7

SEA BREEZE SYRUPS
halls, and more. Pre-pandemic, a
majority of sales were to restaurants and
bars, which included the installation of
specialized custom-designed dispensing
equipment.
Sea Breeze prides itself on attentive
and dependable service, top-of-the-line
products, and Safe Quality Food (SQF)
certification. Quality is a given for Sea
Breeze, and the company has all of the
certifications to back that up. Having
dedicated service staff on call 365 days
a year is deemed essential to operations.
From restaurants with little tolerance for
change to nursing homes where fullfunctionality
at all times is crucial, Sea
Breeze is always there.
THE COVID-19 CRISIS
LED A MAJORITY
OF THE SEA BREEZE
CLIENT BASE TO FACE
CLOSURE, REDUCING
SEA BREEZE’S SALES
SIGNIFICANTLY. SO
SINCE THE ONSET OF
THE PANDEMIC, SEA
BREEZE HAS FOCUSED
MORE HEAVILY ON
THE PROVISION OF A
NEW HANDWASHING
PRODUCT CALLED
BIONEAT.
Bioneat is a waterless hand wash made
particularly for outdoor dining. As
reopening strategies continue to move
forward, Bioneat will be a valuable
addition to Sea Breeze’s standard product
offering for bars, restaurants, schools, and
more.
Essential to operations are the valued Sea
Breeze staff and the JGS medical, dental,
and life insurance policies they rely on.
Historically, Sea Breeze Associates have
been covered at 100% for employee-only
coverage, which is above and beyond the
industry average.
Josh was originally introduced to JGS
programs via the newsletter that we
sent out each week. The transparent
information on changes to government
regulation and helpful best practices
drew Josh’s attention as he found
himself consistently reading through the
newsletters each week.
The shared family background of JGS also
appealed to Josh because it meant that,
like all of the clientele at Sea Breeze and
JGS, their company would be treated like
family.
Over time, Josh had become disappointed
with his company’s, and then his
insurance broker’s, service and attention
to coverage. Sea Breeze was finding their
partially self funded medical program
to be costing significantly more out of
pocket than expected.
When the time came to make a change,
talking to JGS made sense because we
had already been providing Sea Breeze
with so much useful information over the
last number of years. We had that initial
meeting, and the stars aligned for JGS to
become the broker of record for all of Sea
Breeze’s policies. The company and our
benefits department worked to seamlessly
make the switch from self funded to the
fully insured medical program that Sea
Breeze enjoys today.
The staff at JGS—especially Christy,
Ify, and Brittany—have been extremely
knowledgeable and responsive.
Particularly with medical insurance, Josh
says it’s a huge asset to have seasoned
professionals in your corner making sure
you are getting the coverage you need at
the fairest premium.
Josh commends the ability of JGS to dive
into issues and to follow up without
having to remind them. He’s also been
very happy with the collaboration of JGS
and his own administrative staff on the
completion of enrollments. Additionally,
when there’s paperwork that needs to be
filled out, the JGS staff will prefill forms
before sending them to Josh for review.
This is time that goes directly back into
company management.
Josh notes that the JGS hotline has been
invaluable for handling staff queries. If
there’s a question or a problem related
to a claim, Sea Breeze employees can
contact the hotline directly instead of
going through internal processes. The
dedicated phone line takes the stress of
handling insurance-related matters off
of human resources, freeing up time and
staff.
In the wake of COVID-19, Sea Breeze
was forced to furlough some of its staff.
This made formalities for insurance
coverage particularly tricky. The team at
JGS made themselves available for rapid
responses to queries around the clock,
which relieved pressure for management,
existing employees, and furloughed staff.
Even at the height of the pandemic, Josh
recalls the JGS team was able to get them
answers very quickly.
Last year, Josh had the opportunity to
attend the JGS 100th anniversary gala at
their offices in Holmdel, New Jersey. Josh
enjoyed meeting the staff and their family
members and seeing the faces that make
up their organization. He looks forward
to working with JGS for many years to
come. +
BY: BARRY E. FIELDS
VICE PRESIDENT OF EMPLOYEE BENEFITS
JGS INSURANCE
Barry Fields has over 30 years of employee
benefits experience advising clients in a
wide range of industries, professional and
industrial, public and private, throughout
the United States and worldwide.
Barry specializes in providing full-service
benefits consulting to clients including
program design, compliance, plan funding,
underwriting, wellness programs, employee
communications, benefits administration,
employee advocacy and the use of effective
strategies in benefits management.
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