EB Services grows fast after being acquired by POMCO

CNY Business Journal (1996+), Aug 05, 2005 by Tampone, Kevin

SYRACUSE - Since being acquired by Syracuse-based employeebenefits firm POMCO in 2004, EB Services has taken off.

EB Services is POMCO's benefits-statements arm. The division was previously a Rochester-based independent-statements company called EB Statements.

The division now has more than 70 clients, more than a three-fold increase since last year, says Elsa Steo, vice president for EB Services. Revenues have more than doubled in the past year and the division is on track for 40-percent growth this year.

Steo declined to discuss financial details of the acquisition or the division's finances.

EB Services has clients throughout the United States. The average client has 700 to 900 employees. Some customers, however, have as few as 25 workers and as many as 5,000.

Firms like Adidas and Publishers Clearing House are among EB's clients. The division works in numerous industries including health care, finance, education, manufacturing, and pharmaceutical.

"The whole purpose is obviously to help communicate to the employees not only their take-home pay and what their base salary is, but all the other benefits the company provides and the company's contribution toward those benefits," Steo says. "Most employees don't even realize that the company's matching their Social Security contribution, which is huge."

Steo attributes the division's growth to alliances with insurance brokers throughout the country.

"They have a national presence and we are their vendor of choice," she says. "It's really through marketing and as you can imagine, developing these relationships takes time. Now, that is starting to come to fruition."

Steo declined to identify any of the companies with which EB is allied. She did say some of them are among the largest brokers in the country.

She had been working to establish relationships with them before POMCO even acquired EB. The brokers function is a complete, independent marketing force, she says.

The relationships are not necessarily formal agreements sending all statements business to EB, but the brokers' customers are directed to the division easily, Steo says.

"We're on their internal intranet sites," she says. "If a broker is looking for benefits statements and they're searching on their internal sites, up pops EB Services. It's not formal, but it's pretty solid."

Some of the growth is also due to the state of the economy, Steo says. The cost of benefits has been rising rapidly, meaning more and more companies must pass some of those expenses to their employees, she explains.

"They recognize the importance of communicating what it is they are doing for employees," she says. "That way, [employees] can better appreciate why [the company] is having to pass some of the costs on."

Currently, the division employs three people, in addition to Steo. She plans to add another one or two people before the end of the year.

Steo founded the company as an independent firm in 2003, She has been working in benefits communications for 15 years.

She founded EB Statements with an eye toward becoming part of a larger organization.

"POMCO was a great fit. They were looking at expanding their client base as well as their product offerings," Steo says. "POMCO is in a growth mode, which is very exciting. It's hard to find that."

Being acquired by POMCO has given Steo access to resources and support that she says would have been difficult to muster on her own. POMCO already has a broad client base, which gives EB ready access to a new pool of potential customers.

Hiring has also been easier as part of a large organization, Steo adds. All of the division's employees are internal hires, she says.

POMCO is an employee-benefits firm specializing in self-funding. The company has more than 300 workers and manages more than $500 million in client assets funding employee benefits.