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Member Services

The Carolinas Food Industry Council (CFIC) provides its members with a variety of valuable member services and programs specifically chosen to help grocers save money and streamline their operations. CFIC is committed to providing members with valuable services that far exceed membership costs!

Insurance Services

First Benefits Insurance Mutual

First Benefits Insurance Mutual, Inc.  – The First Benefit is Customer Service

For over 25 years, First Benefits Insurance Mutual, Inc. has delivered the customer service, professional underwriting, competitive pricing and efficient claims management needed to help injured workers return to work as quickly as possible. Today, First Benefits insures 2,200+ businesses and is proud to partner with CFIC to provide quality service to grocers, wholesalers and distributors across North and South Carolina, Virginia and Georgia. What sets us apart is our ability to deliver superior workers’ compensation coverage with a local, hands-on feel. First Benefits’ underwriters and claims adjusters are accessible and easy to work with and their loss control department will go above and beyond to help policyholders mitigate injuries.

The grocery industry is one of First Benefits’ preferred classes so, call your insurance agent to request a quote or contact First Benefits for an agent near you at (888) 393-2667.

*If you have 3 or more employees you are required by law to carry workers’ comp insurance.

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Retirement Plan for Small Businesses

Transamerica Retirement Plan Exchange

The Retirement Plan Exchange (the Exchange), powered by Transamerica, allows small businesses to provide a retirement plan to employees without having to take on all the administrative and fiduciary responsibilities that come with it. The Exchange  can help reduce the administrative burden, transfer certain risks, and potentially reduce costs. With the Exchange, a team of professionals works together on your behalf so you can focus on running your business – not your retirement plan. When you offer a plan through the Exchange, you become a participating employer. Participating employers in the Exchange do not have to share a common association or industry.

Learn more!

Get Your Website ADA Compliant Today!

UserWay – Avoid Lawsuits and Lost Sales

UserWay’s widget tool automates and bridges gaps in web accessibility – providing a low-cost, high-caliber tool for companies to make their websites accessible, ensuring customers with disabilities are not leaking from your market share and securing a legal defense against litigation and complaints.

The UserWay web accessibility widget can support any platform, including top hosts such as Shopify, WordPress and Wix. No matter what your site creation preference, their widget will be able to function within it. The UserWay overlay widget allows web hosts to set and match the UserWay control panel to their website design and brand. You will have the ability to change the overlay’s color, icon, placement and more.

While there are other solutions out there and UserWay themselves offer a free version of their widget, the old adage “you get what you pay for” is true. Here is a link to UserWay’s comparison of their free widget vs. their paid widget for you to review: https://userway.org/compare/

If you are interested, please contact Ann Edmondson at NCRMA anne@ncrma.org and she will help answer your questions and/or get you in touch with NCRMA’s UserWay representative.

Employee Background Check Services

Background Direct powered by First Advantage

Background Direct’s comprehensive employment screening system is a simple-to-use tool designed specifically to meet the hiring needs of smaller companies. By choosing Background Direct, CFIC members receive a 75% discount on their set-up fee.

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Banking Services

Coastal Federal Credit Union

CFIC members are eligible to join Coastal Federal Credit Union. Coastal offers a full range of banking services, from checking and savings accounts to auto loans, credit cards, mortgages, and much more. Because Coastal is a member-owned cooperative, they can offer better rates, fewer and lower fees and several unique programs that traditional banks simply don’t.

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Credit Card Processing

Heritage Payment Solutions

Heritage Payment Solutions serves thousands of merchants in the Carolinas. Heritage leverages their experience to maximize the solutions that best meet retailers’ payment processing needs.

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Payroll Services

Flexpay Payroll Services

Flex-Pay Payroll Services offers a complete payroll processing service and human resources database to employers of all sizes, with the flexibility to meet each business’s needs. They specialize in discovering improved processes for each client to provide the necessary employee wage payments, tax remittance, report creation, customer support, etc. All Flex-Pay clients receive unlimited training and support. CFIC members receive a waived setup fee, free first payroll process, discount in the standard payroll base fee, and free direct deposit.

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Insurance Provider

Hodges Insurance Agency

Hodges Insurance Agency, Inc. was founded in 1951 and is a full-service employee benefits firm. Hodges has a dedicated, experienced staff to assist with all administration and serves over 250 group insurance clients and more than 1,000 individual clients. Hodges has been a member of CFIC for over 10 years and works with small- to medium-sized businesses.

Carriers available: Aetna, Assurant, BlueCross BlueShield, Cigna, Coventry, Guardian, Humana, MetLife, Principal, United Healthcare, and Unum.

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Commercial Security

Sonitrol Security Solutions

CFIC members can receive 10% off of equipment and installation, and two months free monitoring and maintenance with Sonitrol Security Solutions.

If you are interested please contact Jeff Debonzo (919) 848-3611.

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