Rockland Stone is a family-owned business owned by Ashia and Nate Passmore since 2018. They are a dimensional stone quarry in central Kansas providing large limestone blocks found in landscaping, patios, retaining walls, and on the outside of homes.  

Like many small business owners, Ashia wears many hats doing the bookkeeping, payroll, office tasks, and all the human resources work. It is a full-time job for her in addition to a raising a family.  Needless to say, she keeps very busy! 

When they first started the business, Nate and Ashia were just working part time.  Nate was working two weeks out of state, then he would come home and work on this as a side gig. In 2019, he quit his other job to commit full-time to Rockland Stone. Due to high demand, they knew they needed to start the business when they did. If they waited any longer, they would be behind the game. 

Once they started, they kept growing—and fast. In the beginning of 2021, they had 3 other employees besides themselves. Today, they have 9 full-time employees, in addition to seasonal and part-time workers. 

From personal experience, Ashia knew how important it was to find health insurance when looking for a job. She just knew they needed to offer insurance to their employees. Knowing health insurance is a significant expense, Ashia really did her homework when it came to purchasing insurance for their employees. Being new to this, she had a lot of learning to do.  

Ashia got their first quote in early 2021 from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas. She also talked to and received quotes from several different brokers. She diligently compared all the premiums, benefits, deductibles and out-of-pocket costs. Ashia is a questioner, so this was a lengthy process for her. “I wanted to make a smart choice. I wanted to be sure the coverage was actually going to work, too. I didn’t want to have problems down the road, with people needing care but not having the coverage,” Ashia explained. 

Later in 2021, Ashia really dove into the process and started working with Cole Huerter, a Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas sales consultant. Cole had done his own research and told Ashia about Level-Funded Plans. “These types of plans were the difference-maker for us. It really dropped our premiums and made it more affordable overall. There were some hurdles to get through, such as having our employees fill out health forms. But overall, these plans just really made sense for us,” said Ashia.  

Ashia had a ton of questions for Cole during that time. “If Cole didn’t know the answer to my question, he would go find out. He was so helpful. There were hiccups along the way, yes. Certain employees dragged their feet, and even I began questioning if we should move forward. But Cole really got us through the hard parts. We started the process in October, and by December, we had coverage.” 

According to Nate, “Health insurance is one of our most important recruitment and retention strategies at Rockland Stone. We don’t want to lose our employees. They mean too much to us. Health insurance is a must if we want to hold on to them.” 

“We really like the lower premiums and deductibles we got with these health plans from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas,” Ashia added. “We like that we’ve heard no complaints from our employees, and that the coverage is solid.”  

See how the power of Blue can help your business. Get a quote online today or talk to our small group sales consultants at (866) 403-1514.