Wholesale hardware distributor recognized for employee engagement on 401(k) program
CHICAGO — May 16, 2018 — Professional services firm Sikich’s client United Hardware Distributing Company was recently named “Plan Sponsor of the Year” by PLANSPONSOR magazine. The magazine recognized United Hardware among firms with between $10 million to $50 million in total plan assets for demonstrating a commitment to helping employees prepare for retirement.
“United Hardware is admirably hands-on when it comes to encouraging employee participation in the company’s retirement program,” said Joe Connell, partner in Sikich’s retirement plan services practice and adviser to United Hardware. “We worked closely with the United Hardware team to design a retirement plan that increases employee savings and improves their financial outcomes. And we continue to educate United Hardware employees in an effort to maximize participation in the plan.”
United Hardware holds employee education meetings every six months to educate employees on retirement planning. Sikich leads these sessions, which focus on various retirement topics. Additionally, Sikich offers one-on-one meetings with employees to discuss retirement planning. United Hardware’s plan has a 90.3 percent participation rate and an average balance of $73,684. Additionally, 88 percent of participants save at the 6 percent company match rate or higher, and 24 percent of employees save at greater than 10 percent.
“We are honored to receive this recognition from PLANSPONSOR,” said Cheryl Braun, director of human resources for United Hardware. “Partnering with Sikich, we’ve been able to improve employee engagement in our retirement plan through education and by establishing an auto-enrollment feature. These retirement plan initiatives have helped us attract and retain talented employees and prepare them for a secure financial future.”
Sikich’s retirement plan services practice offers companies employee education services, fiduciary training for retirement plan committee members, an open-architecture trading platform, professionally managed portfolios, investment policy statement review and monitoring, comprehensive fee reviews, and benchmarking.
About Sikich LLP
Sikich LLP, a leading professional services firm specializing in accounting, technology, investment banking* and advisory services**, has more than 1,000 employees throughout the country. Founded in 1982, Sikich now ranks as the country’s 28th largest Certified Public Accounting firm and is among the top 1 percent of all enterprise resource planning solution partners in the world. From corporations and not-for-profits to state and local governments, Sikich clients can use a broad spectrum of services and products that help them reach long-term, strategic goals.
*Securities offered through Sikich Corporate Finance LLC, member FINRA/SIPC.
**Investment advisory services offered through Sikich Financial, an SEC Registered Investment Advisor.
About United Hardware
United Hardware Distributing Co. is a full-line wholesale hardware distributor providing products, retail programs and support services to independent retailers. Headquartered in Plymouth, Minnesota, United Hardware services dealers from its 400,000 square foot distribution center in Milbank, South Dakota and delivers to locations in 18 states.
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