FEATURE STORY
Upon His Retirement, the Western Growers Family of Companies Celebrates David Zanze’s 38 Years of Service By Michelle Rivera W hen you start a new job with a company, the last thing you’re thinking about is the legacy you’ll be leaving behind. Rather, you may be thinking about how you’ll fit in with your new colleagues and hoping you’ll be successful in your new role, among others. When David Zanze joined Western Growers Family of Companies (WGFC) in the mid-‘80s, he was just excited to jump at the opportunity to be a key player in the health benefits sector and use his expertise to help lead the organization to further success. Well, it has been nearly 38 years of dedicated service, and David’s endless contributions have helped shape Western Growers Assurance Trust (WGAT) and Pinnacle Claims Management, Inc. into the flourishing organizations they’ve become today.
After I joined the company several years ago, one of the first things I noticed very quickly was the impact and influence David had not only on our members and bottom line, but also our employees. Serving as the hub for all things WGAT and Pinnacle, David was everyone’s first choice when they wanted to find solutions and gather industry insight. When talking to several colleagues about their professional experience with David, he was repeatedly described as a leader, an entrepreneur and someone who thinks outside of the box.
“I have been working with David for the past 28 years and have always had great respect for him and his unrelenting creativity. Once in a while, David breaks down his thought process to share some of his wisdom, and these moments are the ones I’ll cherish the most,” said Raquel Lugo, Senior Director, Client Services & Mexico Operations. Whenever I had a question (and boy, did I have many!), David always had the answer. I’m not ashamed to admit that I’ve always managed to walk away learning a number of things about our industry and
our organization after every conversation. Did that mean I was bad at my job? Definitely not. What it meant was that David was exceptionally good at his. Strengthening Operations David’s breadth and depth of knowledge in agriculture and health care gave him the ability to innovate in areas where our organization could better serve companies in need. David has been an ardent supporter of not only the ag industry, but also other industries seeking health care solutions. Impressively, after only 10 years with WGFC, David spearheaded the formation of Pinnacle in 1996. This move enabled the company to diversify and expand its offerings into a suite of health benefit services for self-funded employers. “Diversifying ourselves and expanding our services also allowed us to avoid financial difficulties similar businesses were facing in the industry during this time,” Zanze said. David had a clear and solid vision for Pinnacle, which has allowed Pinnacle and all of its divisions to grow significantly into what they are today: Pinnacle Health Management, Pinnacle Rx Solutions, Pinnacle Print and Transaction Solutions, Pinnacle Risk Management Services, Pinnacle Insurance Solutions and our successful partnership with Covered California for Small Business. These additional entities helped to further
Pinnacle team building lunch
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JANUARY | FEBRUARY 2023
Western Grower & Shipper | www.wga.com
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