Cmsv’s Top Award to Applied’s Steve Menzies

Today, Applied Underwriters remains the only US Workers’ Compensation insurer—ever—to hold an A+ rating for performance, security and stability…and the capacity to provide real care.

The College of Mount Saint Vincent continued its tradition of honoring leading financial services executives as the 171 year old Bronx, NY based College presented its top award to Steve Menzies, President and Founder of Applied Underwriters, Inc.. Also honored was New York Super Broker Dolly Lenz, CEO and Founder of Dolly Lenz Real Estate LLC. The two were feted at CMSV’s annual Scholarship Tribute Dinner, Monday, April 23rd at Cipriani, 25 Broadway in New York. The annual event drew 400 guests and resulted in the raising of $500K for the College’s many scholarships and academic programs.

Steve Menzies is a recognized national insurance and philanthropic leader who founded Applied Underwriters in 1994 and serves as the company’s president. Mr. Menzies began the startup company to focus on providing several value driven options for workers’ compensation insuring and is responsible for better than $2B in revenues, insuring thousands of businesses across the country. After years of rapid growth, Applied Underwriters opened an operations center in Omaha, Nebraska, which further established the company as a leader in the insurance business. In 2006, the privately held company partnered with Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., and sustains that relationship to this date.

“Through care for injured workers and through high standards of service, Mr. Menzies has led Applied Underwriters to offer customers a unique and successful blend of financial and business benefits for over three decades. His extensive business experience allows Applied Underwriters to continue to offer the highest quality insurance services, including workers’ compensation claims, flexible risk financing, and efficient payroll processing services to a national clientele, “according the President of the College, Dr. Charles Flynn, adding: “For these achievements and for his active philanthropy, we selected Steve for our top accord.”

Mr. Menzies, who is Vice Chairman of the San Francisco Opera, has bolstered its worldwide leadership status  in the cultural world and has led several arts and cultural initiatives across the country. In commending Mr. Menzies for the award, Steve Acunto, Publisher of the Insurance Advocate and a Trustee of the College spoke of Menzies’ accomplishments: “Since the great age of America’s business Titans in the 1800’s, there has developed a steady commerce between great acumen in the corporate world and dedicated philanthropy. To that tradition, we may add the name Steve Menzies, a leader who has added a distinctly new, intellectually creative edge to his businesses here in the US, in China, and South America and, who, conversely, has brought an experienced CEO’s perspective to the arts and educational institutions he leads. Steve has been called “a bold intellectual in the CEO’s chair”, “one of the most generous and giving people in the Corporate world” and simply, “The wizard” by Bloomberg. He is a serial entrepreneur whose  achievements include the creation of Applied Underwriters 24 years ago, providing a unique insuring format for Workers’ Compensation that favors the safety and well-being of millions of US businesses’ employees.  Today, Applied Underwriters remains the only US Workers’ Compensation insurer—ever—to hold an A+ rating for performance, security and stability…and the capacity to provide real care. As a CEO, Steve has been all about setting and advancing standards in the workplace and for giving business owners and operators a financial “dividend” —a real incentive—for their observance of best practices. While growing Applied, Steve’s cornerstone support of cultural institutions has made a substantial, concrete difference in the future of the arts. Through his stewardship- as Chairman of its Capital Fund and Vice Chairman of the Board, the San Francisco Opera has grown to be one of the world’s leading cultural institutions, plain and simple, with an $85MM year budget and the attraction of the world’s leading performers. At the same time, looking ahead to the future of the art form itself, Steve has taken under his wing Opera Parallel, the avant garde opera company that is captivating younger, enthusiastic audiences. Fellow native New Yorker, Steve Menzies has created a success formula that includes compassion for the injured worker, devotion to the delivery of meaningful help to those who suffer, passion for the future of the arts and dedication to the quality of life – all, as an ideal example of responsible corporate leadership and a devoted cultural and social citizenship. It is thus my great honor to commend Steve Menzies to the favorable attention of the College of Mount St. Vincent.…and to our guests’ applause.”

 In accepting the award, Mr. Menzies observed that the College selected a Broadway location for its Gala:. “I was raised in New York and, although I live in San Francisco, hearing “Broadway” brought back for a moment that great New York State of Mind. From the Financial District, up to Herald Square, Times Square, the Theater District, up further to Lincoln Center— the Metropolitan Opera— and up to my alma mater, Columbia, on 116th Street, and then all the way up to the northern tip of the Bronx in Riverdale, home to Mount Saint Vincent —it feels great to be on Broadway…..and on a stage and in a starring role!”

Mr. Menzies praised the Sisters of Charity who founded the College, calling it an extraordinary place with an abiding mission and a long history of providing transformative educational experiences for students from New York, neighboring states and from several countries around the world.” The mission of the College and the mission of Applied Underwriters, share some commonalities: each serves a higher societal purpose through our endeavors, each centers its mission on care, each betters those we touch and each stands on the firm ground of high standards and principled action. Applied was born some years back as I worked upon a rethinking of the role of insurance in caring for injured workers. I believed that, with a higher purpose in mind, a fresh, newly styled insurance company would be able to develop a new way for risk to be transferred so that businesses could confidently and better than adequately compensate injured workers and care for them responsibly. Today, we have realized that goal and we are proud to give economic benefit to our clients’ businesses all across America who share that goal: giving injured workers the respect and fair compensation they deserve. Insisting, as the College does, upon meaningfully high standards of performance and upon an unremitting focus upon the social importance of our mission, we join in a success formula. Like the College, we sustain a commitment to excellence beyond the letter of our contracts and beyond our basic obligations.”

Mr. Menzies recounted an experience as a leader that paralleled the experience of the College’s leaders: “One of our Company’s great gains came about through personal involvement, just as with the College. Dr. Flynn and I have shared our experiences that go beyond the usual. An example: ten years before the opioid crisis was written or spoken about, we thought we’d discovered a trend by examining our patient records, so I went out to Omaha and visited our in house pharmacy only to find that we had plenty of white coats working hard for sure, but in a rather sparse pharmacy that had basically two things:  a supply of antibiotics and a huge barrel sized inventory of Oxycontin. Today we operate an MD managed pharmacy that actually helps patients and  gets them into the productive side of the social and workforce equation. The College does that kind of service every day as a result of personal involvement and has been cited for its amazing results in advancing its graduates to higher socio-economic levels. These are not accidents; it takes personal commitment at every level.”

He concluded by addressing graduating students:  “May I conclude by addressing the students here tonight, many of whom will be graduated in a few weeks. It was only when I saw the potential for a sound societal outcome in my work,  that I was truly inspired to look past the paycheck and the routine. It allowed me to come up with an idea that changed workers’ compensation insurance and that served real people in real ways, giving that much more meaning to our work, as well as the work of my company. Please don’t ever lose sight of that. This College has great aspirations and hopes for all of you. Your education here has prepared you well for your future. Do always remember to look to the examples of the College, your devoted faculty, and the Sisters of Charity for your inspiration in promoting the common good …and please do seek to be associated with companies and institutions that have a good “soul.”

Dolly Lenz, long considered one of the highest-producing residential brokers in New York, has managed the sales and marketing efforts of many of New York’s most illustrious properties. Known as the “Queen of Real Estate,” Ms. Lenz has sold an unprecedented $10 billion in property, including her record-setting sales of a $57 million triplex penthouse and the New York Foundling’s $45 million West Village Mansion. Named one of the top women in real estate by Fortune magazine, she worked at various agencies before establishing her own ultra-luxury sales and marketing firm in 2013, including Sotheby’s International Realty and the former Prudential Douglas Elliman, where she served as vice chairman.

Ms. Lenz majored in accounting at Baruch College and received a master’s degree in managerial auditing/accounting from The New School. She serves on various charitable boards including the NYC Police Athletic League and The Chopra Foundation. She is also a member of the U.S. Trust-Bank of America Business Advisory Board and Lincoln Center’s Women’s Leadership Council. Scholarship Tribute Dinner honorees are recognized for their personal, professional, and civic achievements that uphold the College’s mission—to foster an understanding of our common humanity, a commitment to human dignity, and a full appreciation of our obligations to each other, according to Dr. Charles Flynn, President of CMSV.

Founded in 1847 by the Sisters of Charity, the College of Mount Saint Vincent offers nationally recognized liberal arts education and a select array of professional fields of study on a landmark campus overlooking the Hudson River. Committed to the education of the whole person, and enriched by the unparalleled cultural, educational, and career opportunities of New York City, the College equips students with the knowledge, skills, and experiences necessary for lives of professional accomplishment, service, and leadership in the 21st century.

Past honorees include insurance professionals and leaders such as: Pamela Newman (AON), Arcadio Casillas (Preferred Compensation), Donald T. DeCarlo (AmCOMP), David Walsh (Amalgamated Life Insurance Company), Bill Fishlinger (Wright Risk), Raul Rivera (NBL), and many others.[IA]