D&H Co-CEO Dan Schwab Monday said the distributor has decided to increase its 401(k) match from 4 percent of an employee's salary to 6 percent of an employee's salary.

The increase in 401(k) matches is part of a full-court press by D&H to increase its investment in employees' "financial and physical well-being" during a difficult economic downturn, Schwab said. He said the 401(k) investment represents hundreds of thousands of dollars in new investment and helps "re-establish employee investments that may have diminished during the recent crisis."

Schwab said D&H also has maintained its health-care coverage commitment with employees not being asked to increase their per-paycheck contributions to health-care coverage in the last three years.

Both the increased 401(k) investment and health-care commitment buck a national trend of businesses cutting employee benefits and passing increased health-care costs to employees.

Tech Data, for its part, suspended its 401(k) match effective Jan. 1, 2009. The Clearwater, Fla., distributor has suspended the match and then reinstated it in years past. An Ingram Micro spokesperson said the North American arm of the company reduced its 401(k) matches for employees in 2009.

Schwab said D&H also has begun working with local banks, including M&T Bank, to conduct free financial seminars for employees at its Harrisburg, Pa., headquarters.

D&H sees the increased investment in its employees as part of a key competitive advantage. Indeed, a number of D&H VARs say they view the company as a more "personal" people-oriented partner that has sales reps that go above and beyond to be flexible and meet their needs.

Schwab noted that some of D&H's VAR customers have held ongoing relationships with the same sales reps for close to a decade, facilitating what he called "the long-term, consultative sales assistance that D&H prides itself in offering."

Schwab said the average tenure of an employee in the D&H corporate headquarters is more than seven years, which he said "lends itself to more consistent reseller programs, management and policies over the years."

One big reason for D&H's success with what it calls its "co-owner" employees is the fact that the distributor is an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) company. Schwab said D&H employees currently own one-third of the company. He said the ESOP assures that employees "share in the company's earnings for their work throughout the year."

Fewer than one-eighth of a percent of companies in the U.S. are ESOP companies, Schwab said. He said the ESOP program gives each "co-owner" at D&H a financial interest in the "profitability of the organization as a whole -- and a terrific incentive to perform, to the benefit of its customers."

"This reaffirms our commitment to the long-term health and well-being of our loyal co-owners," Schwab said. "People love working at D&H. They love being part of the D&H family. The new programs and the continuation of employee programs clearly reaffirm why D&H is such a great place to work."

Patrick Derosier, co-owner of CPU Guys, a Hanson, Mass., solution provider, called D&H a "great partner." He said CPU Guys has had the same D&H regional sales rep, Doreen Affsa, for the nearly 10 years that CPU Guys has been in business.

"With a lot of distributors, it is hard to get to the same person and get service," Derosier said. "D&H and Doreen always get things done. We never have to worry about anything. If there is a problem and we need to talk to someone, she gets it done."