​​Employee Benefits Member Profile

Modern Woodmen members: Larry and Heather Goff (center)

City: Davenport, Iowa

Occupation: Owners of Ace Auto Doctor and Repair, Bettendorf, Iowa

Modern Woodmen representative: Ruth Ahnen, Bettendorf, Iowa

How is Modern Woodmen helping you with employee benefits? Our small automotive repair shop is a second-generation family-owned business since 1969. We’ve grown to six full-time employees.

As a small business, we struggle with matching the benefits of larger businesses. Ruth has put together a great retirement plan for our employees that helps us be competitive with larger markets. Our employees appreciate being able to plan for their future retirement and having an employer-match program.

It’s critical in today’s economy to be competitive in both hiring and retaining employees. It gives your employees a sense of security and appreciation. It also makes us feel good that we can provide this opportunity for our employees to plan for their future needs.

What advice can you offer to other business owners? Consider offering retirement packages. When we first looked into it, we were hesitant. However, we were surprised to find out the cost was minimal. And Ruth has done a great job coordinating the plan, which has made it simple for me as the owner.

Ruth’s advice: In case of death, Larry and Heather wanted to make sure they were taking care of each other and their children. And they wanted to make sure Ace Auto and their employees’ jobs would still exist. We took care of both of these concerns with the proper types of life insurance plans.

The Goffs also believe strongly in saving for retirement. We set up plans for them and each of their employees that worked best for their specific needs.

With frequent reviews and adjustments as life events change, we’re helping make sure they’re saving properly for retirement. And we’re keeping the family and business protected.