Recently the MTM Board and staff lost one of our founders and longtime Board members. Doug Mack passed away December 8th. Doug although retired from his shop a few years ago, he was a long time shop owner, MTM member and Board member. Our longest term staff member, Glenda Moyle – 38 years, says Doug was HERE when she arrived. So his MTM history and support go back over 4 decades.

While Doug was battling cancer for a couple years, he always seemed to be winning and never missed a meeting. In October he attended the Annual Members’ meeting and Board meeting. At the meeting, he was ready to jump in for 2020 Board pictures. I was close to Doug. He was my Board contact for all Board and Board Committee nominations. For the last 6 years Doug and I worked together to complete interviews for every potential MTM Board and Board Committee member. We had many soup lunches around the state together. Doug was friendly, grounded in history and life experiences – I will miss him.

For 6th straight year – MTM Board declares members dividend – $3,500,000

By the time you get this the holidays should be winding down. I enjoyed some skiing time with my kids and like all of us with kids, they passed the parents long ago on athletic abilities. Since the kids could easily out ski me, I took break time to be the babysitter. I had several discussions with my 7 month old grandson about insurance company challenges. He did not seem to care much about Grandpa’s business issues.

Even during this fun break, MTM goals were front and center. On December 20th the MTM Board approved the Board Finance Committee’s recommendation for a $3,500,000 member dividend to be paid March 1st. While we do not yet know the exact MTM profit for 2019, if we declare a dividend BEFORE 12/31 it reduces MTM taxes. On $3,500,000, the tax savings is almost $750,000. This savings goes back directly to our members. Last year after the 2018 profit was confirmed up in January, the Board in February added $950,000 more dividend monies to the provisional declaration in December. We are hopeful to do the same thing this year.

So while Christmas has passed, like the last 5 years, a present is coming from MTM. We will be delivering member checks in March. Our delivery as usual includes pictures of members with their MTM check. As soon as I know the final dividend amount, I will let you know.

In the meantime, know that your annual MTM dividend is already in the works.

By Chris Doebler, CPA, MTM Chief Financial Officer

On December 5th, the MTM Board Finance Committee will have their year-end meeting. The Committee is made up of 6 MTM member representatives. This meeting is to put in place a couple items for 2020, the MTM 2020 Budget and most importantly an early look for available 2019 profits to be used for 2020 member dividends. To clarify timing, the Finance Committee and Board declare an MTM dividend based on an “early look” of 2019 profits. The details of the member dividend and exact amounts are confirmed at the February Committee and Board meetings. We declare a dividend amount in December to avoid paying taxes on the dividend amount. If we did not declare the dividend in December the amount of money available for member dividends would be reduced by taxes. Our declaration in December reduces (but does not eliminate) MTM taxable income for 2019. So December is a busy time in the MTM finance department. Our goal this year is the same as our prior 43 years. Bring as much value and financial rewards to MTM members as we possibly can.

Here is the MTM dividend history for the last 5 years:

• 2014 (paid March 2015) – member dividend – $2,500,000
• 2015 (paid March 2016) – member dividend – $3,500,000
• 2016 (paid March 2017) – member dividend – $3,500,000
• 2017 (paid March 2018) – member dividend – $4,000,000
• 2018 (paid March 2019) – member dividend – $4,437,920

I will have more to report after the Board Finance Committee.

Every October the MTM Annual Members’ Meeting is held. This October was no different. On Thursday, October 17th, 120 MTM members gathered at the Inn at St. John’s in Plymouth. The annual meeting starts at 11 A.M., includes an excellent lunch put on by the St. John’s staff and then 90 minutes of presentations. The goal of the meeting is to bring timely information to the members. This year’s topics were: Maintaining a Safe and Drug Free Workplace presented by Lori Schuck Barresi from Allied Safety Consultants. The second presentation was Creating a Safety and Security Plan for your Business by Darcy Leutzinger and Lindsay Gietzen from Premier Safety Group. Lots of questions from members about drug policy and situations were received. And the Safety and Security issues of the day kept the members’ attention.

The program also included a 5 minute update on MTM financials and outlook for member dividends payable in March, 2020. So far, so good was the message on 2019 loss results. One other congratulatory honor was announced, Karen Schluckebier, Director of Human Resources for StageRight is retiring and looking forward to spending much more time in Florida. She has been a valuable MTM Board member for 5 ½ years. We are sad to see her leave. Of course no meeting is complete without door prizes. Here’s the list of prizes given to attendees:

• Airline tickets w/ suitcase
• iPad
• Gift Card Tree
• Inn at St. John’s stay with breakfast
• $100 Gift Card
• Amethyst Bracelets
• $100 Gift Card for early registration
• And 13 attendees won $25 Gift Cards

As tradition has it the meeting closes with a music video and picture montage of pictures from the past year. Many from the MTM dividend deliveries from March and April 2019.

Staff celebrates the success of the Annual Members’ Meeting for a day or two, then we critique – what could we improve and the planning starts for next year. So mark your calendars. October 15th, 11 A.M. at the Inn at St. John’s, Plymouth will be the time and location of next year’s meeting. Hope you can attend.

October 17th, 2019 | Inn at St. Johns, Plymouth, Michigan

For a change of pace, let me share an MTM project with you that I have been working on. And I will warn you that it includes some insurance geek. You buy insurance to provide financial reimbursement in case of loss. You do this to protect your building, your cars, your health, your life and in the case of MTM – your workers for workplace accidents. All of us do not want large financial surprises if one of these loss events occurs. Like us, insurance companies buy insurance too. When an insurance company buys insurance it is called reinsurance. While insurance companies retain financial reserves to pay losses, what happens if we had a plant explosion with 20 or 50 employees injured? What if an MTM member had a building fire that injured a group of employees? Or a car accident with 5 employees seriously hurt? You get the picture. While this type of loss probability is low, it can (and will) happen. It is prudent for MTM to have protection for these possible shock losses.

At MTM we buy reinsurance for catastrophic events. Your MTM pool has plenty of financial reserves to cover losses. This is proven by our financial reserve evaluations by the Michigan State Insurance Department, independent outside actuaries, the MTM Board made up of members and verified by an outside insurance rating agency, Demotech which rates MTM financial stability as A’ – Unsurpassed. Still, we would not want MTM’s financial condition (or our member dividend program) hurt by a shock event. We would never want our Member dividend program harmed because of a low probably, but significant single loss event. Conservative management of your company requires us to buy this type of insurance protection.

So with that background, now is the time of year to search, evaluate and purchase MTM reinsurance effective 1/1/2020. Over the last two weeks I have met with 9 companies to get competitive bids for MTM reinsurance. Due to the expense of this coverage and effect on MTM’s members, several MTM officers are involved. They include VP of Sales, Megan Brown, Chris Doebler, CFO, Glenda Moyle, Premium Accounting Manager, Donna Motley, VP of Claims and Ruth Kiefer, VP of Loss Control. Showing the quality of MTM management brings the price down for this reinsurance coverage.

Reinsurance cost is one of our highest expense items after claims payments. And like you with suppliers, I have to negotiate hard with present vendors and look for new vendors to reduce expenses. It’s part of our job. For me, saving money on reinsurance goes straight to the bottom line and into the MTM member dividend program.

Now you know about insurance company insurance, reinsurance.

Until next month, enjoy the beautiful fall weather.

Normally in the summer MTM has a slight slowdown from the rest of the year. Here’s the high level annual MTM plan: In January we are wrapping up details/printing documents for our members largest renewal month. February we are working hard to finalize 12/31 numbers and the required actuarial work to present to Board Committees and the full MTM Board. These meetings are where the important member dividends are discussed. Then in March and April we prepare and deliver member checks. In May once again we have Board Marketing/Underwriting Committee, Board Finance Committee and full Board meetings. It’s busy. June we are prepared for another busy member renewal month – July. In July and August staff will take vacation and we get ready for the normal year-end sprint. September is when we plan reinsurance (insurance for possible large MTM member losses) meetings, our annual member meeting in October and send out individually tracked ballots for the annual Board member vote. October is a month when all Board committees meet as well as the full Board and the Annual Members Meeting. Finally in November and December we are preparing all the studies and documents for January renewals. Each renewal push involves Claims staff, Loss Control, Accounting, Underwriting and Marketing staff.

That’s the year in summary. But this summer has been different. Several projects took over July and August. Let me cover them for you.

Beta testing of a new out-of-state coverage option for our members. Beta test #1 in January found several flaws. Much was learned. Beta test #2 went/is going well. We plan a full rollout for January 1, 2020.

Loss Control 3 Day MIOSHA 10+ Hour General Industry class for our members as well as individual Stop the Bleed trainings and kits.

Reinsurance program revamping (seeing if we can save MTM insurance cost – which goes back to our members).

Office buildout going on this summer, moving in September. We got more space and saved money too.

Loss Portfolio marketing and out-of-state option. Still deep in this project, but on target.

When you tell me how busy your shop is, I now have more empathy. It is a busy time for all of us. Hope you are getting some time to enjoy the last of our summer days.

If you are a January 1st renewal, please be on the lookout for your payroll renewal form. Payroll renewal forms have been sent out to all insureds that have an effective date of January 1st 2020. We are asking for your estimated annual payroll for 2020 which assists in reducing that chance for additional audit money due at the end of your policy. Please complete the form and return it to Glenda or an additional copy can be requested by emailing glenda.moyle@mtmic.com/blog.

As of September 30, 2019 our new address is:

39500 High Pointe Blvd. Suite 260
Novi, MI 48375

Please continue to mail all correspondence to:

P.O. Box 9150
Farmington Hills, MI 48333-9150
Phone: 800-274-5606
Fax: 248-488-1980

On Thursday, October 17, 2019

AGENDA:

• Welcome & Introductions: Megan Brown, ARM, CWCP, CAWC, Vice President of Sales & Marketing
• Company Overview: A Year in Review: John R. Karlen, CPCU, APA, ARe, President
• MTMIC Dividend History: An Early Look at 2019: Chris Doebler, CPA, Chief Financial Officer
• Maintaining a Safe and Drug Free Workplace: Lori Schuck Barresi, Allied Safety Consultants
• Creating a Safety and Security Plan for Your Business: Darcy Leutzinger and Lindsay Gietzen, Premier Safety Group

Well, after having no spring, summer has finally arrived and it’s in full force. Hot, humid, mosquitos – the summer we all know in Michigan. With July here, the first six months of 2019 of MTM loss results are now in the books. During my recent visits to MTM members, the most common question is how does it look for our next dividend. Here’s my answer on that subject with the caveats: 1) things can change good or bad. 2) we still have half of the year to complete. With that said, the first six months of 2019 were good. The results if this was the whole year would be a nice member’s dividend to distribute. 2019 losses are lower than expected both in frequency and severity. As an example on the severity side, last year, in 2018 we experienced two fatalities. So far in 2019 (knock very hard on wood) we are at zero. On this one metric, over the last six years: 3 of the years we have had one fatality per year, two years at 0, and then last year, at 2. Even with “regular” claims, frequency this year is looking good. Congratulations to our members for their Loss Control efforts and a special shout-out to the MTM Loss Control team.

My goal/hope is that the second half of 2019 is as good as the first half of 2019. This would make delivery of member dividend checks early in 2020 a lot of fun. This would be the sixth year in a row of owner dividends.

Lastly, every October we have the annual MTM members’ meeting and lunch. As in past years this lunch is held in the delightful location/facility of The Inn at St. John’s, Plymouth, Michigan. The date has been set for October 17th. A “Save the Date” notice was recently mailed out. Last year’s presenter was “active shooters”. This was a very interesting presentation and our members gave it high marks. This year the topic is “MTM is providing tools to a safe, secure, and drug-free workplace”. MTM’s own Megan Brown, Vice-President of Marketing and Sales does a great job finding outstanding speakers on hot topics. I hope you can join MTM staff and another 100 MTM members.

Until next month, enjoy the summer. — John

Be on the lookout for the 2020 Election Ballots that will be mailed to you in the next few weeks. The nominees for re-election are:Jack Accardo – Haller InternationalKurt Heuser – Tooling Solutions GroupJoe Keppler – Shuert Industries, Inc.The results of the election will be announced at the Annual Meeting in October.

Did you know that you could be rewarded by referring business to MTMIC?

If a policyholder or their staff makes a referral they are eligible to receive a $100 gift card when the referred company binds coverage with MTMIC.

Please contact Megan Brown for more information.

We are excited to announce that we have enhanced our customer portal so that you will now have the ability to upload medical documents as a means to get them to the claims adjuster that is handling your claim. This can be done by following these simple steps:

MTM members are well acquainted with their Loss Control representative and the services they provide. MTM Loss Control focus has been the same for 44 years. Last year we conducted in excess of 950 site visits. Given that we have 921 existing members, almost all members see their Loss Control rep in person regularly.

Every weekday MTM loss control representatives work to improve the safety of our member’s shops. Sometimes that work involves safety recommendations, sometimes safety presentations, and sometimes research for a member on a new system, rule, or procedure.

At the annual MTM member’s meeting last October, we had a presentation on “Active Shooter” in the workplace. Given the headlines this topic has garnered recently, it was no surprise that the October, 2018 annual meeting had its largest member attendance in company history.

Over the last month, I have delivered 152 MTM member dividend checks. As you can imagine, I have seen many interesting shops, met great people and each delivery has a story. From those visits, there were a few that I would like to share. Let me tell you about one. Mollertech, LLC.

Mark your calendars now so you do not miss our 2019 Annual Meeting! Join us October 17, 2019 at the Inn at St. John’s in Plymouth, Michigan.

Meet Two of our Annual Meeting SpeakersDarcy Leutzinger and Lindsay Gietzen “Creating a Safety and Security Plan for your Business”

On February 21, the MTM Board of Directors with management reviewed 2018 financial results. This meeting took place after the Board Marketing and Board Finance Committees had weighed on this issue two weeks earlier. At the end of the Board review, they approved three member dividend declarations. The first dividend was $1.6 million to be shared by all MTM members.

The second declaration was an additional $2.4 million dividend to be shared by MTM members that had a loss ratio lower than the company’s average loss ratio for three years. In the third declaration, the Board approved a new dividend of about $450,000 to newer MTM members to bring them into the dividend cycle sooner than has been in the past.