May 2020

Page B4 MAY 2020 FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS S ec t i on B DESIGN l PRODUCTS l VENTILATION 7 2 0 . 5 8 3 . 1 8 8 6 l V I S I T OU R I D E A G A L L E RY l D U N C A N S T UA R T TOD D . COM (800) 4-HEARSE 4hearse.com 4 more visit Alleghany Capital Corporation increases Ownership in Wilbert Funeral Services Tom Hisle joins American Enterprise as Regional Manager of Preneed Sales Tom Hisle DES MOINES,IA— American Enterprise Group, Inc . (AEG) is pleased to announce TomHisle has joined the company as Regional Manager. In this role, Hisle will oversee Preneed sales in Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia by building relationships with funeral homes and generate sales growth for AEG’s Life business un- der the Great Western Insurance Company (GWIC) brand. Hisle, a Kentucky na- tive, has over 38 years of funeral service experience. Prior to joining AEG, he worked for a casket com- pany, managed a large funeral home, oversaw Preneed staff, and sold Pr- eneed extensively. Hisle earned his Bach- elor of Science degree in Business and Marketing from the University of Kentucky and his MBA from Averett College. He also graduated from Mid America College of Funeral Service . Kenn Peterson , Vice President, National Sales – Pre- need at AEG, said, “We are excited to have Tom join our growing Preneed sales team and look forward to the im- pact he will have helping funeral homes help more fami- lies make the worst day of their lives a little easier.” American Enterprise Group, Inc., has multiple insur- ance company subsidiaries under the American Repub- lic ® , Great Western Insurance Company (GWIC ® ), and Medico ® brands. COVID-19 INDUSTRY RESPONSE NEW YORK,NY— Alleghany Capital Corporation , a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alleghany Corporation , an- nounced that it has acquired a majority interest in Wilbert Funeral Services, Inc ., a leading provider of products and services for the funeral and cemetery industries and precast concrete markets. Alleghany Capital has owned a 45% equity interest in Wilbert since 2017. Headquartered in Overland Park, KS, Wilbert operates through compa- ny-owned locations and a network of nearly 200 licensees that manufacture and distribute Wilbert ® branded prod- ucts throughout the United States and Canada. David Van Geyzel , President and Chief Executive Officer of Alleghany Capital, commented, “Having worked closely with Wilbert for almost three years, we have developed a deep respect for the entire team. Wilbert has a solid business model with numerous growth opportunities and Alleghany Capital looks forward to assisting the company, its employ- ees, and its licensees as they continue to build on Wilbert’s long and impressive history. Since its founding in 1880, Wilbert has persevered through periods of macroeconomic uncertainty and we are committed to working with theWil- bert team to successfully navigate the current environment.” Joseph U. Suhor, III , Chairman of the Board of Di- rectors of Wilbert, stated, “Alleghany Capital has exhib- ited a strong commitment to the long-term growth and particularly our focus on serving families with dignity and our emphasis on innovation. I look forward to continuing in my recent role as Chairman of the Board and providing strategic support to Alleghany Capital and Wilbert’s man- agement team.” Dennis Welzenbach , President and Chief Executive Officer of Wilbert, added, “We want to thank our Wilbert team and licensees for contributing to Wilbert’s long-term success. I would also like to recognize the Alleghany Capi- tal team and the outside professionals who assisted in the completion of this transaction. Alleghany Capital has add- ed another exceptional brand to its family of companies and we are confident that we have made the right decision for the future of Wilbert and the licensee network. We be- lieve that with the ongoing efforts of the Wilbert team and the support of Alleghany Capital, the company and the li- censee network will both continue to be in good hands.” Udi Toledano , Chairman of Alleghany Capital, stated, “We are pleased that Joe and Dennis will remain active- ly involved with the company, along with Mark Bates, a long-time Wilbert Board member and licensee, who re- cently joined the company as Chief Operating Officer.” Rob Hulick , Principal of Alleghany Capital, added, “Consistent with Alleghany Capital’s operating model, Wilbert’s day-to-day operations will not change following the closing of the transaction. We believe the company is well-positioned for long-term success and we look forward to providing patient capital and resources to help Wilbert execute its organic growth plans and add-on acquisition strategy in the years to come.” Established in 1880, Wilbert Funeral Services, Inc. is a licensor of, and supplier to, independently owned con- crete burial vault manufacturers that are licensed to man- ufacture Wilbert brand burial vaults under an intellectual property license agreement. Wilbert’s Company Store di- vision manufactures and distributes vaults, caskets, lawn crypts, monuments, and other precast concrete products as a licensee. For more information about Wilbert, please visit www.wilbert.com. Alleghany Capital Corporation owns and manages a di- verse portfolio of middle market businesses for its parent company, Alleghany Corporation. For additional infor- mation about Alleghany Capital Corporation, please visit www.alleghanycc.com. success of Wilbert and its licensees since our partner- ship began. I am pleased that we have found a long- term owner for the compa- ny that shares our values, to view it, and your video can’t be taken down by Youtube or Facebook (something that is happening to many funer- al homes because of music licensing). Families can spread the word about the live stream directly with their friends via Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, email, text messaging, and many more. And best of all, Gather’s approach keeps the funeral home at the center of that larger community. In addition to live streaming, Gather has also announced push-button video conferencing, you simply click a button to start a video call with families who can’t make it to the ar- rangement. The family gets a text and an email and simply clicks a button to join, without any software to download or fees to pay. Funeral homes can then use Gather’s industry- only digital showroom to walk families through the arrange- ment conference after which families can sign all paperwork remotely and even make payments remotely. Gather keeps the funeral director at the center of the rela- tionship with families. Zach continues, “Gather doesn’t aim to replace funeral directors, our tag line is actually ‘we love funeral directors’, rather Gather aims to give funeral direc- tors a simple yet powerful tool to meet the needs of families during these difficult times.” Gather launches the industry’s only integrated, all-in-one, out-of-the-box Live Streaming and Video Conferencing Solution BOISE,ID— Funeral homes are racing to find solutions to COVID-19. The Gather team has spent the last seven years racing to build that solution. And they are excited to be able to offer two additional game-changing features that will help funeral homes navigate the difficult situation caused by CO- VID-19: Live Streaming and Video Conferencing. The company has been working for years to build Gather into the leading funeral home software platform, but Zach Chatterton , the CEO of Gather, reports that last month a Gather employee sent out an article about a family not be- ing able to say goodbye to their loved one because of CO- VID-19, “Our team read this article and it broke our hearts and more importantly, it kicked us into overdrive. Our com- pany’s name is Gather because we believe families need to gather to say goodbye to a loved one. We knew we could do even more to help funeral homes offer a better solution to grieving families and that is exactly what we’ve done.” The Boise company has devoted all resources to build- ing a simple, effective solution for funeral homes to offer live streaming and video conferencing with the click of a button. Zach reports, “What we’ve built is nothing short of amazing. We send you a box in the mail and the day it COVID-19 INDUSTRY RESPONSE arrives you are streaming in HD with the click of a button. We handle all of the configuration, setup, training, and support so you can continue to focus on what matters most.” Gather’s solution will also automatically record the live stream for later playback. There are no ads on the live stream, you don’t need a Facebook account