Benefit Quest Client Case Study Q&A

Tell us about your expansion journey from Israel to the U.S. and how Benefit Quest helped along the way.

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1. Can you tell us a bit about yourself, your company and your role?
   Ella Sterk, CFO, CYREBRO a cyber security company.
2. When did you expand/relocate your business from Israel to the US, and where are you based now?
   The company’s headquarters are located in Israel with operations through a US subsidiary, which primarily serves as a sales and marketing arm for North American.
3. What made you decide to expand/relocate your business from Israel to the U.S.?
   Decisions to relocate staff from IL to the US is all due to business expansion and requirements.
4. What were some of your biggest challenges you faced when expanding into the U.S. market?
   On the operational side, we set up PEO (Payroll, HR, Compliance, Benefit, 401k Services mostly aimed at SMBs) but with the Payroll, HR and Finance team being remote in Israel, we needed assistance and some handholding to set everything up, especially the Employee Benefit and 401k plans for our relocated employees, but also for our local employees. We needed benchmarks for our benefit plans in order to be comparable with other US businesses, and we needed to have a local contact help when necessary. We also needed a professional to help with onboarding assistance and plan election guidance for newly recruited employees.
5. How did you first connect with Benefit Quest?
   We connected with Benefit Quest through a referral from the Israeli local community.
6. Which services did you use from Benefit Quest, and how did we support your expansion?
   PEO, overall management of the relationship, using professional agents and benchmarking tools to set our benefit plans and our 401k investment plans. Our contact was very accommodating, giving us a lot of knowledge as we went through the process. Also being very familiar with our PEO provider, whenever we had challenges there the staff at Benefit Quest reached out and helped solve the problems. Benefit Quest reps also meet with every new recruit in the US providing local onboarding support.
7. How did working with Benefit Quest make the business expansion process easier for you and your team?
   Working with Benefit Quest has made a significant impact to our local staff (knowing they have someone to turn to on anything). Getting us the right plans and coverage for our team. The work with Benefit Quest has also made a significant improvement for the Finance and HR staff in the corporate HQ since they have a contact to work with and understand all changes.
8. Since your expansion in the U.S. market, how has your business evolved?
   Our company has more than doubled its NA business and the plans are for continued growth.
9. What other resources did you get support from prior to your expansion and when you arrived in the US?
   Insurance. Our relocated CEO secured his Personal Insurance needs through Benefit Quest, specifically Auto.
10. What advice would you give to other Israeli businesses thinking about expanding to the US?
    I would advise finding professional advisors to help with the move, having local support makes a big difference – decreasing timelines, easing learning curves for payroll, compliance and benefits.