Renfro Brands, founded in 1921, has been a leading designer and manufacturer of quality socks and legwear products for over a century and has over 1500 domestic employees.
Sarah Maxwell, Renfro’s Senior HR Manager of Benefits, is proud to recognize the company’s recent 100 year anniversary and credits its longevity and success to being “obsessed with every detail in sock making,” being “built on trusted relationships,” and to the “dedication and commitment of our employees.”
To mark 100 years of business, Renfro recently launched Project Footprint, a corporate social responsibility program focused on three areas: Our Planet, Our People, Our Communities. Renfro’s CEO Stan Jewell said, “Project Footprint is not only our way of growing what our founders started but continuing our commitment to living our vision of helping people get back on their feet to achieve a life well-lived.” With benchmark goals and new initiatives, Renfro is increasing its commitment to sustainability, diversity, equity and inclusion, and giving back to the community.
As part of these commitments and Renfro’s large scale vision of a “a life well lived,” Sarah Maxwell describes the company’s increased focus in recent years on a holistic approach to wellness, including physical and emotional wellness, but also expanding to consider ways of supporting “aspects of social, spiritual, intellectual, and occupational wellness.” Understanding the interrelated nature of these different aspects of wellness led Renfro’s benefits team to recognize the role financial wellness plays in this holistic model.
After making improvements to medical plans and coverage as well as retirement plan benefit options, Maxwell says Renfro found some employees were still struggling to meet unexpected bills and expenses. Fortunately, Renfro recognized that having an option to help alleviate these burdens without having to rely on expensive credit cards or needing bank approval for loans would be a benefit to employees. In November of 2019, Renfro added Kashable’s financial wellness program, which includes low-cost loans and financial support services to their employees.Since then, Renfro has seen significant reductions in hardship withdrawals from employee 401(k) accounts and has successfully implemented a financial safety net for all their employees. Maxwell is enthusiastic about Kashable’s offerings and their impact on Renfro’s benefits package saying, “I am a huge advocate of Kashable. Our experience utilizing Kashable’s program has really exceeded our expectations. It’s quickly become an important aspect of our benefit offerings to employees.”
Kashable’s online loan application, credit monitoring tool, and financial literacy library make accessing that financial safety net simple and empowering for both employees and benefits teams. Maxwell is emphatic about how seamlessly Kashable was able to be implemented by Renfro’s HR and payroll teams stating, “I don’t know why any other employer wouldn’t offer this kind of benefit for their employees.”
Whether it be manufacturing, IT and software services, educational institutions or government and quasi-government agencies, companies are focused on enhancing DE&I in order to add to the well-being of their teams. Companies are looking to the future by providing benefits that help with all facets of wellness – physical, mental, emotional, and financial. Kashable’s financial wellness program is an innovative way for companies to provide their employees with a financial safety net that facilitates and supports the well being of employees and long-term goals of employers.