Westfield Bank FSB

NOMINATOR COMMENTS

When Westfield Bank spun off from a larger organization, Amy French and the benefits team took the opportunity to reshape the retirement program. Their goals were twofold: 1) to give the retirement plan a competitive edge to aid in employee recruitment and retention initiatives, and 2) to create a framework designed to support the bank’s needs and objectives as an institution that employs members of the community it serves.

The bank added several design features that motivate employees to save, including automatic enrollment at 5%, automatic increases to 10%, immediate vesting and a match on top of a larger nonelective contribution.

One of the bank’s core values is helping individuals achieve financial freedom, and the retirement plan certainly aligns with that value. This focus has led Westfield to maintain a participation rate of 98%, with just four employees not participating. It’s a remarkable accomplishment from a team focused on ensuring that no employee is left behind, regardless of age or other demographic.

Katie Spahnie (left), Amy French (middle), Rebecca Moore (right)
Photograph by Matt Kalinowski

PLANSPONSOR: How would you describe your company? Is there anything unique about its demographics?

Westfield Bank: Westfield Bank was founded in 2001 and is very proud of its culture of caring—caring for employees, customers and the communities we serve.

PLANSPONSOR: What are you most proud of as it relates to your retirement plan offering?

Westfield Bank: The flexibility it provides to participants. Westfield Bank’s plan offers immediate vesting, a nonelective company contribution and an array of strong investment options.

PLANSPONSOR: Please cite any noteworthy initiatives you have taken in the past 24 to 36 months that have produced results to improve your plan, and describe the results.

Westfield Bank: To keep up with the defined benefit plan and other programs that a much larger organization could offer presented challenges, from a cost and plan design perspective. When the bank spun off, our focus was not only on maintaining the level of benefits employees were used to, but also on enhancing our benefits programs. To better understand our employees’ needs, a benefits survey was administered during the transformation process.

As a result, a comprehensive benefits package was designed to include plans the employees deemed valuable, such as paid parental leave, pet insurance and 401(k) matching contributions. In the retirement planning area, it was decided to freeze future participation in the parent company’s defined benefit plan and convert that same level of benefit into a defined contribution plan that allowed employees more control over their investments at the same level of corporate contribution.

In 2023, we increased the nonelective safe harbor employer contribution to 5% from 3% and introduced our employer match. In addition, we implemented individualized financial coaching sessions—our Money Coaching program—for employees, free of charge. Money Coaching is a fabulous resource that we hope to see better utilized.

Throughout the process, we managed to not only maintain, but also drastically improve, the benefits offered across the board, while continuing to attract and retain top talent. Our voluntary turnover remained low in 2023 and 2024—9.4% and 6.9%, respectively. In addition, according to the subsequent employee experience survey, 87% expressed their satisfaction with the benefits programs, citing the 401(k) plan—specifically the employer contributions—as the “best around” and “unheard of.”

PLANSPONSOR: Please explain the ongoing governance efforts of those involved with the plan meant to ensure its compliance and effective operation.

Westfield Bank: We have quarterly meetings with our financial advisers, who closely monitor investment performance; we follow those advisers’ recommendations and best practices. We also review plan document(s) on a regular basis for accuracy and relevance and remain in full and timely compliance with all plan administration regulations and requirements. We engage with highly qualified third-party vendors—e.g., an audit firm—for services related to the plan’s administration.

PLANSPONSOR: What does winning Plan Sponsor of the Year mean to you and your employer?

Westfield Bank: Winning the award is a tremendous honor. Westfield Bank is proud to be recognized for providing an outstanding retirement savings benefit to its team members.

This year, for our Plan Sponsor of the Year profiles, we are publishing Q&As based on the finalists’ applications and nominator comments. Responses are edited and may be paraphrased. In cases where the finalist self-nominated or, on its application, referred judges to the nomination for the answer, we have attributed those nominator answers to the plan sponsor.