Rancho Mesa Welcomes New Year at Annual Kickoff Meeting

Author, Lauren Stumpf, Media Communications Coordinator, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc. held its annual Kick Off Meeting on Friday, January 10, 2020 at the Brigantine seafood and oyster bar in La Mesa, CA. President and CEO Dave Garcia spoke about the company’s success in 2019 by reaching impressive goals.

The room was filled with a positive energy, as Dave praised the team for their hard work and dedication while reviewing the team’s 2019 achievements. He addressed one goal after another, as they were all met or exceeded expectations.  

Dave expressed his enthusiasm for the 2020 year, as he highlighted some very exciting projects coming to life in the new year. With the opening of the La Mesa office, 2020 should be an exciting year of growth and achievement for Rancho Mesa.

During the kickoff meeting Dave announced Rancho Mesa’s theme for 2020, “Above and Beyond.” This covers two categories: the customer service we provide to our clients and the tangible services we develop to help them identify and manage risk. Above and Beyond 2020 video, produced by Rancho Mesa’s StudioOne™, premiered at the meeting; outlining how Rancho Mesa is going above and beyond the level of expectation and continuing to provide OneofOne® solutions. The video can be viewed below.

Rancho Mesa Treats CompWest Underwriter to Basketball Game

Author, Lauren Stumpf, Media Communications Coordinator, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

Kevin Howard and Christina Haake took Jeraldine Hartson, CompWest Insurance underwriter for Rancho Mesa, and her boyfriend Jim, to a San Diego State Aztecs basketball game at Viejas Arena located on the San Diego State University campus in San Diego, CA on December 28, 2019.

The Aztecs played the Cal Poly Mustangs, taking another win while keeping this season’s undefeated streak!

About CompWest Insurance Company
CompWest Insurance Company, part of the AF Group, is a dynamic provider of workers’ compensation insurance in California and select Western states, targeting customers in health care, hospitality, manufacturing, professional services, retail and wholesale services, and artisan contractors, ranging in premium up to $1,500,000 (maximum of $500,000 for artisan contractors). They provide leading strategies to small and mid-market employers who desire to achieve long-term cost savings. To learn more, visit www.CompWestInsurance.com.

Rancho Mesa Opens 2nd Office

Author, Lauren Stumpf, Media Communications Coordinator, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

Rancho Mesa Insurance Service, Inc. is delighted to announce that the construction of the La Mesa, CA office is complete! As of Monday, December 16, 2019 the branch has been fully up and running.

“This is an exciting time for us, we’ve been looking for over a year and it’s amazing to be returning to La Mesa where it all started back in 1998” said David Garcia, President of Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

The office is formatted very similar to the Santee location, so transferred employees feel right at home.

It is our pleasure to serve you from our new location with the same quality and service we have become known for!

Rancho Mesa Gets Festive for the Holidays

Author, Lauren Stumpf, Media Communications Coordinator, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

On Friday, December 19, 2018, Rancho Mesa staff gathered to celebrate the holidays at the company's office in Santee, CA.

The team got out their Christmas sweaters and enjoyed an array of homemade food, baked goods, and an amusing game of White Elephant Gift Exchange.

Rancho Mesa hopes you are having a joyful Holiday Season!

Employee Spotlight: Rancho Mesa Welcomes Account Executive, Rory Anderson

Author, Lauren Stumpf, Media Communications Coordinator, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

Rancho Mesa Insurance Services is pleased to announce the hiring of Rory Anderson, an Account Executive in the Landscape Group.

Rory’s background in sales, marketing, and customer service make him an ideal fit for Rancho Mesa’s growing Landscape Group. He specializes in Risk Management for tree trimmers and landscape professionals.

Rory was born and raised in San Diego, and currently lives downtown in East Village with his Fiancé Alex and their golden retriever puppy, Asher. Rory grew up playing sports, surfing, and playing guitar – all of which he still loves to do in his free time. He also enjoys great food, so him and his Fiancé are always checking out new restaurants; and they are big Laker and Padre fans!

Rancho Mesa is excited to welcome Rory Anderson to the RMI team!

2019 Closes With a Grand Holiday Celebration

Author, Lauren Stumpf, Media Communications Coordinator, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

Rancho Mesa had the best time celebrating another amazing year with our team members, friends, and family!

Our annual holiday party was filled food, spirits, music, dancing, games, prizes and holiday cheer at the Estancia La Jolla on December 7, 2019.

Rancho Mesa hopes you have a Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

Are You Ready for 2020 Employment Law Updates?

Author, Emily Marasso, Media Communications Assistant, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc. hosted a 2020 Legal Updates workshop on December 2, 2019 at the Boys & Girls Club of East County.

Thomas E. Daugherty, a lawyer with Klinedinst Attorneys, led the workshop and discussed the employment law changes that will go into effect in 2020 and how you can be prepared.

Some of the key elements discussed in the workshop are:

• Independent contractors must meet all 3 elements of the ABC Test to be classified as such and not an employee.

• Mandatory arbitration agreements are no longer acceptable.

• The minimum wage amount is increasing again; affecting salary thresholds. 

In addition to these updates, the statute of limitations has increased from 1 to 3 years, and additional time has been given to employers to complete company-wide harassment prevention training. Alongside these changes, discrimination outlines have been extended to include perception against natural hairstyles including afros, braids, twists, locks, etc.

New parents can be thankful that workplace lactation accommodations have been updated and Paid Family Leave is now 8 weeks in lieu of the previous 6 weeks standard beginning July 1, 2020. Domestic partnership now includes any two adults over the age of 18 instead of the previous age of 62. Domestic partners are granted the same rights, protections, benefits, etc. as married spouses.

Construction employees, in certain counties, are required to be trained on Valley Fever and the dangers of being exposed to the fungus. The counties included, but not limited to, are Fresno, Kern, Madera, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Tulare and Ventura to name a few. Gun violence restraining orders now expand availability to employers, co-workers (with employer approval) and employees or teachers at a secondary school.

For clients who missed the workshop, a video of the presentation will be available to view on-demand in the Risk Management Center within the next few weeks. An update will be sent when it is ready to view.

Employee Spotlight: Emily Marasso Joins Rancho Mesa's Media Communications Department

Author, Lauren Stumpf, Media Communications Coordinator, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

Rancho Mesa Insurance Services is pleased to announce that Emily Marasso has joined the Media Communications and Client Services department as a Media Communications Assistant. With a background in marketing, web design, and customer relations, Emily’s energy and expertise make her an ideal fit for the Media Communications and Client Services department and Rancho Mesa team.

Emily was born and raised in Poway and now lives in El Cajon with her husband, two sons, and three dogs. She enjoys taking the trailer camping with her family and everything motorsports.

Rancho Mesa is excited to welcome Emily Marasso to the RMI team!

The Spirit of Giving Continues with OneofOne® Legacy Gift Drawing Winners

Author, Alyssa Burley, Media Communications and Client Services Manager, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

Rancho Mesa Insurance Services is pleased to announce the winners of this year’s OneofOne® Legacy Gift Drawing on Thursday, November 7, 2019.

For the second year, Rancho Mesa has asked its clients to identify what makes the company OneofOne®. What actions have Rancho Mesa employees done to go above and beyond their normal duties? For every response, clients were entered into a drawing for a chance to win one of ten $250 donations to the nonprofit of their choice or the grand prize, the naming rights to an examination room at Family Health Centers of San Diego.

This drawing is a win-win for Rancho Mesa and our local nonprofit community. Rancho Mesa gathers feedback from clients and in return, monetary donations are made to nonprofits that our clients care about in our community.

Within San Diego, Rancho Mesa works with and supports about 40 non-profits, one of those is the Family Health Centers of San Diego. They are one of the largest community clinics within the United States, offering a wide range of health care services that provides care to over 190,000 unique patients a year. They provide these services through 23 primary care clinics, 8 behavioral health facilities, 7 dental clinics, 3 mobile medical units, a teen health center, an outpatient substance abuse treatment program, vision and physical therapy, and a pharmacy.

Grand Prize Winner

Fuller Electric

$250 Donation Winners

Peek Brothers Painting
Custom Installations Inc.
NEWest Construction Co.
Rancho Del Oro Landscape
Apex Mechanical

Bert W Salas Inc.
New Wave Electric
South Bay Salt Works
American Sheet Metal
Minegar Contracting Inc.

Some of the 2019 OneofOne® Testimonial Entries:

About Family Health Centers of San Diego

For nearly 50 years, Family Health Centers of San Diego’s (FHCSD) mission has been to provide affordable, high-quality health care and support services to all people, with a special commitment to the uninsured, low-income and medically underserved. Annually, our staff provides care to more than 210,000 unique patients—a third of our region’s low-income patients—through more than 935,000 encounters. For more information, visit www.fhcsd.org.

Client Spotlight: Rancho West Landscape Uses a Simple Newsletter to Drive Safety

Author, Lauren Stumpf, Media Communications Assistant, Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc.

To say Rancho West Landscape (RWL) is proactive in safety would be an understatement. They have made safety a top priority in their company. Their newsletter is among a variety safety initiatives they‘ve embraced. Each month, RWL is able to compress incredible content into a one-page company publication available in both English and Spanish. With the fast-paced schedule of daily business activities, maintaining the level of consistency in generating the newsletter is an achievement in and of itself.

Drew Garcia pictured with Christy Flores.

“Rancho West is always looking for a way to improve safety, training, process and communication,” says Drew Garcia, Vice President Landscape Group at Rancho Mesa Insurance. “This newsletter is a small example of their company’s culture that is rooted in safety. I always admire consistency in people and organizations. It has been a pleasure to work for Rancho West and watch activity like this continue with regularity.”

In the November 2019 issue, RWL announced their new safety program with Greenius. Greenius is an online safety platform designed to provide educational safety training to landscape professionals. To learn more, read Rancho West Landscape’s November 2019 newsletter Issue 16.

If you are interested in creating your own safety newsletter, Christy Flores, the writer, editor, and publisher of the RWL newsletter, broke down some of the key concepts she thinks about when generating the monthly issues:

• Look to make one key point and center the rest of the information around that point.

• Incorporate current events: time of year, weather, holidays, etc.

• Include company pictures to make it more personal.

• Recognize an employee or group of employees.

• Have fun with it (see the word search and incentive for participation).

• Keep it to one page, too much information is overwhelming.

• English and Spanish (hint: use Google translate and have someone read it over for clarity).

• Be consistent (Christy publishes monthly, but you can start off slow. Try publishing quarterly).

• Distribute newsletters with pay checks, post them in company common areas, and email if possible.

• Provide key contacts.  Christy keeps the area mangers phone numbers on every issue.

• Find the right person to own and enjoy creating the document.

• Find content online, in the news, through your association, and from your insurance broker/carrier.

• Newsletter templates are available on multiple websites and platforms. Christy uses Microsoft Publisher.

“I’m really proud of Christy for sticking to it. Without any recognition, she continued to create the newsletter to help make Rancho West a better company,” expressed Greg Duncan, President of Rancho West Landscape.

Rancho Mesa Insurance thanks RWL for allowing us to highlight their company in an effort to promote safety within the landscape industry.

About Rancho West Landscape
Rancho West Landscape has been servicing Southern California since 1990. As a local landscape contractor based in Murrieta, they have upheld the highest standard of service and continue to raise safety standards.