A whirlwind of a first year

Things have been so busy this week, I completely missed that Tuesday officially marked my one-year anniversary as President of PAI.

For those who aren't aware, my predecessor, David Huntington, led PAI for 37 years but tragically passed away last November just as he was about to announce his well-deserved retirement. Since many of our employees have been here 10, 20, 30 years -- and worked closely with David -- my immediate focus was obviously on our team and the sadness we all felt at his passing. Not exactly the way I wanted to start my new role, or the way we wanted to close out what had been another success year for PAI, but we handled it and came back after the holidays ready to jump into 2022 with both feet.

My focus coming into this role has been to take this wonderful company that David really built from nothing and help position it as a national TPA power. Our strategic plan for 2022 was very ambitious in terms of the number of objectives we focused on, but I believe that they have laid a foundation for our future success. Our 12 strategic objectives were grouped into three main categories: Growth inside South Carolina, Growth outside South Carolina, and Investments in People & Technology. We did have to push three of the technology investments to next year (thanks CAA mandates!) but successfully accomplished the others. As a result, our employee engagement is stronger, our turnover has remained consistently manageable, and we have seen positive growth both inside and outside South Carolina across all three of our lines of business.

None of those successes would have been possible without the amazing team I get to work with every day. First and foremost, I have to recognize my senior leadership team: Amanda Gantt , PJ Rescigno , Kerri McMahan Flowers , Tosca W. , & Scot Dawkins. They have indulged me when I want to try new things, given me honest feedback when they disagree, and offered wise counsel when needed. I could not ask for a better team, and I would not want anyone else in their positions. Being part of a large corporate enterprise, I have the benefit of having a boss and peers that inspire me with the way they lead their organizations, and I have learned so much from watching them. Damon Bates has continued to push me to be a better leader by improving those aspects that are outside my comfort zone. Finally, we have 300+ PAI employees who have shown a commitment to our mission to Make Benefits Better. They understand that every position, either directly or indirectly, plays a part in our ability to positively impact our clients and members, and they have continued to perform at a world-class level as we redefined how and where we work.

This first year has been quite the whirlwind, but I wouldn't change a single day!