Hudson Investing, an Indiana based real estate investment company, is a multifamily syndication firm, focusing on unlocking the hidden value in mismanaged and undercapitalized multifamily properties throughout the Midwest. Based in Carmel, Indiana, a suburb just north of bustling Indianapolis, the Hudson Investing team is lean, with four full-time employees, a virtual assistant in the Philippines, and one fractional CFO.
Curtis Edwards, Vice President of Investor Relations, handles business decisions alongside founder Kent Ritter. In addition, he takes care of existing investors, marketing functions, and raising capital. He also manages the finance and admin for the company, including payroll, HR, and accounting.
You don’t need a big team to do a lot. Our whole ethos is that you don’t need a big, corporate office to make an impact.
They do plan to scale, however, hoping to grow to 20 to 40 employees in the next five years. As they were ideating their ideal five-year plan, it was apparent that the level of growth they anticipated would necessitate an ability to offer competitive benefits for the right talent.
As we really start to grow, it’s critical to hire talent. You have to be able to offer benefits.
Stepping into group benefits for the first time
Since their company is small and relatively new, with just the founder and one other employee, Hudson Investing wasn’t initially offering health insurance. They had to start from the ground up in terms of setting up payroll and creating processes and functions to support a growing team. They shopped around for a payroll provider and chose ADP above the rest.
Then Hudson Investing needed health insurance. Without much experience in administering health benefits, they weren’t sure where to start. Group plans were difficult to manage with employees in multiple states and across the board, the Indiana group health insurance market was incredibly expensive with limited options.
After some research, Curtis and Kent chose to reimburse for individual health insurance by offering everyone the same amount to go toward the plan of the employee’s choice. It sounded like an easy, hands-off solution that would allow them and the rest of their team to just choose what’s best for them.
We realized that with ICHRA, you don’t have to have an HR department to offer great employee benefits.
After making this decision, it was time to consider an HRA administrator to manage their health benefits. In quick survey of friends, Kent got Take Command’s name from a friend and had immediate trust with the brand. He asked Curtis to look into it more and ensure that it was the right fit for their company.
In his due diligence, Curtis worked with Take Command to get all his questions answered before signing up. He wanted to make sure that this new benefits solution would work well for his company. Whether through email or on the phone, the Take Command team made sure to get him the information he needed to make a confident decision. They then worked with him to design his ICHRA to best fit the company’s needs, complete plan set up, and onboard employees.
Since it was different than anything they’d ever done, Curtis acknowledged that it was slightly confusing in the beginning, but Take Command’s team helped them each step of the way. Curtis shares that it’s easier now than a year ago since the team now understands what to expect and how it works.
A seamless shopping experience
The employees of Hudson Investing had to shop for their own health plans in their respective locations. For some, this was a new experience—previous employers had chosen their plans for them. They now could choose whatever plan worked best for their budget, their preferred doctors, their prescriptions, and their unique needs. This past year, Curtis chose a CareSource plan and it’s been great.
I’ve never had to shop for health insurance on my own, but it was seamless.
Managing the day-to-day
Splitting up the traditional “HR” roles, Curtis manages the company health insurance through Take Command, and Kent manages payroll through ADP. This helps to protect their schedules to have time for the many other functions they own. Syncing reimbursements with ADP has helped keep the process streamlined and simple.
When asked how long it takes Curtis to manage his company’s HRA, he replied with, “Literally zero hours.”
For small businesses, it’s crucial to be able to effectively hand off the administrative burden of benefits administration. ICHRA has delivered that and more for Hudson Investing.
