Engagement
Two sponsor slots, reviewed every December.
The roster today: eleven sponsors; ceiling, fifteen. Each December the partners confirm the following year's shape — who rolls off, who renews, and how many of the ceiling's four open chairs we elect to fill. A prospective sponsor enters the review when an existing sponsor's benefits advisor, a counsel we've worked with, or one of three broker desks we know writes on their behalf.
What to expect
When capacity permits, the engagement process proceeds through four stages. The full sequence from initial conversation to program launch typically spans four to six months. The firm does not maintain a public intake channel, and we do not respond to unsolicited procurement inquiries.
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Preliminary review
A confidential conversation with one of our principals to assess fit. We discuss workforce profile, existing benefits architecture, regulatory exposure, and the outcomes the sponsor expects to influence. No commitment is requested or offered at this stage. If the conversation suggests misalignment, we say so plainly and suggest, where possible, a better-suited firm.
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Scoping assessment
If both parties wish to proceed, we conduct a structured assessment of the sponsor's current health and safety landscape. This includes review of existing vendor relationships, five-year claims history, workforce demographics, any applicable collective bargaining language, and prior program evaluations. The assessment concludes with a written scope memo and a fee estimate.
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Program design
We produce a written program design document specifying practice areas, protocols, reporting cadence, governance structure, and the draft master service agreement. The document is reviewed jointly and iterated — typically three cycles — until the sponsor's benefits committee or equivalent body approves it. Counsel review by the sponsor is expected and welcomed.
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Launch and transition
Program launch follows a documented transition plan, with parallel operation alongside any incumbent vendors where appropriate. A formal handover review is conducted ninety days after full cutover. The first quarterly Lantern Report is delivered at the end of the first full calendar quarter of operation.
Who we work with
Our current and prior engagements include regional shipping and logistics operators, inland and coastal port authorities, seasonal and year-round hospitality groups operating coastal properties, and a small number of specialty manufacturers whose workforce profiles align with our practice — shipyards, boat builders, and cold-storage operators most often. Sponsor workforces typically range from eight hundred and fifty to just over six thousand employees.
Prospective sponsors are welcome to ask existing sponsors or their benefits advisors for an introduction. We treat every introduction as a professional reference on the introducing party, and we decline inquiries we cannot trace to a known source.
What we are unlikely to be the right fit for
- Employers under 400 or over 7,500. Our governance cadence and unit economics are calibrated to mid-sized organizations. Below four hundred employees, the fixed overhead is difficult to justify; above seventy-five hundred, the integration work typically calls for a larger firm.
- Sectors outside our focus. We have declined, respectfully, every inquiry from employers whose work does not take place on, alongside, or in support of the water. We expect to continue doing so.
- Sponsors seeking a primary-care clinic. We are not a clinic operator. Where an on-site clinic is warranted, we collaborate with a clinic vendor under separate contract and govern the clinical protocols; we do not staff the exam room.
- Engagements whose scope is principally procurement compliance. We are not well-matched to programs whose purpose is to satisfy a contracting requirement without operational intent. We say this directly because we have learned to.
The governance committee
Partners meet, in person, on the first Thursday of December each year to confirm the following year's roster, review the ceiling, and vote on any changes to this engagement framework. The framework has been amended four times since 2014, most recently in December 2024 to add the parallel-operation requirement in Stage 4. The minutes of that meeting are available to sponsors on request.