Ingram Micro Plans Benefit Program For VentureTech Network Members

Ingram Micro negotiated a contract with Pension and Benefits Insurance Services, a Lake Forest, Calif.-based benefits company, to help solution providers lower their costs of doing business, said Bob Stegner, vice president of channel development at Ingram Micro.

"One of the things we can make a difference in is helping them with their fixed costs by leveraging the size of Ingram Micro or VentureTech," Stegner said. "In many cases, there's no way they can keep track of all the benefits changes every year--that's an infrastructure thing and it's usually the owner's wife or a CPA doing it."

Stegner hopes solution providers could save 25 percent to 30 percent on their benefits costs, he said. "It depends how it fits into their business," he said. "This takes VentureTech beyond a marketing program. It is a business function. We're running VentureTech like an association."

Ingram Micro does not expect to generate any revenue from the program, but hopes increased loyalty will yield more sales with the distributor, said Pat Collins, senior vice president of sales at Ingram Micro.

"It takes the distraction of managing a complex piece of doing business and simplifies it. It allows the reseller to worry about what they do well," Collins said.

The program includes reduced health insurance and benefits premiums through VentureTech Network group plans, human resources management installation and three hours of human resources consultation annually.

Additional fee-based services include creating an employee handbook, a salary survey, an HR audit or a safety program.

Solution providers at Ingram Micro's VentureTech Invitational here last week said they would compare the program against their current plans.

"After salaries, health care is my biggest cost," said Jane Cage, owner of Connecting Point, Joplin, Mo. "As an operational expense, it increases 15 [percent to 35 percent in a single year."