Dawn Food Products

Dawn Food Products, Inc., in Jackson, Michigan, has been making bakery goods for 102 years. The company, which provides fully baked and par-baked products, as well as ingredients and supplies to bakeries and food service companies, has several manufacturing locations and distribution centers throughout the U.S. and Canada.

“We’re a 102-year-old family company, and we’re constantly improving [our] benefits everywhere and making sure they link together at all times,” says Brian Coleman, vice president of total rewards for Dawn Foods. “You’re a whole person, and we look at how we can help, in all avenues.”

The 401(k) plan is the centerpiece of a broad range of financial benefits for employees, including help with student loan repayment, debt reduction, emergency funds, home closing costs, medical expenses, financial coaching and even programs to teach employees’ kids about personal finance. When Coleman and the 401(k) team find an issue that’s causing financial problems for the employees, they search for a solution that can help. They know that any financial improvements can enable employees to contribute more to their 401(k) and reduce their need to borrow from their account, Coleman says.

There were more than 1,000 loans outstanding in January 2018, with 25% of team members having at least one loan and some having two, says Steve Town, senior communications strategist with Empower Retirement, who works with Dawn’s plan. Since then, the sponsor toughened the rule to permit one loan at a time only; it also added special programs to help employees reduce their debt and build emergency savings. The percentage of employees with loans has dropped to 15%.

The company is passionate about providing financial education for employees and family members at all life stages and from very diverse groups, Coleman says. “We try to meet folks where they are. We have manufacturing and distribution facilities, sales folks, technical folks, information technology and finance. Each one has a different story and a different need, and we’re trying to do a lot of education in that arena.”

Among the various formats it employs, the sponsor introduced a new web page and a YouTube channel; both resources are easy for workers and family members to access without having to go through a firewall.

Dawn also sends a monthly newsletter by the time clocks about the plan and other benefits, plus, to the management team, a “train-the-trainer” supplement that more fully explains the topics in the newsletter. “So when team members go to their manager with questions, those managers have all the information they need,” says Town.

Focusing on a wide range of life stages is important because Dawn employees span such a wide age range. “We have 70- and 80-year-olds who are technical[—e.g., more experienced—]bakers,” Coleman points out. The personal finance and other resources for kids could also help the company because many team members’ children and grandchildren eventually work for Dawn.

Any age employee could gain from one-on-one meetings, and Dawn recently added a virtual option. “Brian was one of the first people to get out there and promote it,” says Town. They created a simple calendar where team members could schedule the meeting with just a few clicks. “You get 30 minutes with a retirement counselor who can go through all of your financial wellness questions and make sure you’re getting guidance with all your resources.”

Team members automatically enroll at 3% and automatically increase 1% a year up to 10% of compensation. The average deferral rate is 7.3%. The default investment is the GoalMaker managed account and is where about 65% of the team is invested; about half defaulted into it and half chose it on their own, Town says.

Participants appreciate the investing guidance—and benefit of the tools. “A team member may say he knows baking but may not really understand investing,” Coleman says. “He’ll tell ‘the machine’ his age and how risk adverse or non-risk adverse he is, and it will adjust accordingly and rebalance every year.”

The human resource team conducts diversity, equity and inclusion audits of the 401(k) and other benefits to make sure it can reach and help everyone.

“We look at what’s the new idea, how can we help people from all walks of life and all situations, and how can we leverage that throughout the company,” Coleman says.

—Kimberly Langford