From Empower

When Gary Maddox was hired as a corporate benefits specialist at Gray Television, Inc. in 2021, he had to learn the nuances of a complex 401(k) plan at a fast-growing company in an industry where people change jobs frequently. Gray TV is a publicly traded broadcast company with 180 stations in 113 markets and about 11,000 participants in the 401(k) plan. The company has gone through several mergers and acquisitions over the past decade.

Maddox asked Phil Behling and Scott Snyder of Empower to take some extra time to teach him about the plan. He now has bi-weekly meetings with Behling, who has worked with Gray TV for 15 years. The plan’s assets have grown tenfold during that time.

“We continue to have bi-weekly calls where we discuss any issues, concerns or the sharing of general information,” says Maddox. “Phil was a huge factor in my success of knowing about the 401(k) and how it works. He is a tremendous asset to the Empower Retirement team.”

He also appreciates Snyder’s expertise. “Scott Snyder has provided excellent leadership as Gray Television’s relationship manager,” says Maddox. “He is extremely responsible and helpful to Gray, especially in very difficult situations. He also has a great sense of humor, which helps lighten the load sometimes.”

The TV business tends to have a lot of movement as employees seek jobs in larger markets. “There are transfers between stations, rehires and employees moving to different companies within Gray TV,” says Maddox. “It can be a daunting task to keep up with all these changes administratively. Thankfully, there is a strong partnership and great collaboration between Gray TV and Empower to expedite corrections, update changes within the system and provide clarification on how to navigate certain complex situations. Phil has provided expert direction to help me in these sometimes-complicated situations.”

Each acquisition has its own special issues. For example, one included some union groups that were entitled to an enhanced company match that other groups did not receive due to their bargaining agreement. “Empower partnered with Gray TV to set up another pay group to accommodate the union group members not receiving the enhanced match,” says Maddox. “There was an initial testing phase involved to make sure that the files being received from Gray TV to Empower were matched with the proper fields to capture and distinguish both union populations.” Empower also helped them create two separate automatic enrollment notices with specific language about the company match.

Since the plan has auto-enrollment, they take time to educate new employees about the plan up front even in less complicated situations. “They’re very clear on making sure we’re doing everything we can for participants in the right way,” says Snyder.

“It is a joy to work with both Phil and Scott,” says Maddox. “We would not have it any other way.”