March 12, 2025

This paid piece is sponsored by Central Bank.

It didn’t take long after Nancy VandenBerge launched her own employee benefits firm to determine who she considered her ideal business partner: her daughter, Mataya Naber.

Naber returned to Sioux Falls in 2019 from Arizona, where she went to college, and the two have grown Premier Benefit Advisors ever since.

VandenBerge brings decades of expertise in the industry, including 17 years at a large agency before forming her own office in 2012. Naber quickly found serving others through employee benefits was in her DNA, too, and the two rapidly began growing the business.

“We essentially hit our capacity and, at the same time, we knew we needed to plan for the future,” Naber said.

Without additional resources, “our growth was stunted,” VandenBerge added. “We didn’t have the time or people to go out and market new business other than accepting referrals, and we needed the technology support to ensure we were managing the growth of the business appropriately.”

When the opportunity arose to join Central Insure, a division of Central Bank, it made sense.

“We really liked the fact that Central Bank is family owned and has a small-town feel,” VandenBerge said. “They’re a good size and can support our customers’ needs while still fitting the personal way we do business.”

They’re now based out of Central’s office at 4900 S. Western Ave., alongside Luke Appel, commercial property and casualty sales executive at Central Insure. Shannon Deardoff, a life, health and benefits account executive, made the move with them.

“It’s been a really good fit,” Naber said. “Everyone here works well together, and as a small team, you can miss out on workplace culture and collaboration, so I’m looking forward to being part of more of that.”

Central Insure allows clients access to a comprehensive offering of products:

• Employee benefits
• Business insurance
• Personal insurance
• Individual life, health and Medicare
• Risk management
• Farm and ag insurance

“We’re really focused on providing these service lines at our Sioux Falls office, beginning with Luke and now expanding to add Nancy, Mataya and Shannon,” said Joe Gannon, market president of Central Bank in Sioux Falls.

“We’re very excited to bring in a high-quality robust firm like theirs and couldn’t have asked for a better culture fit. What Nancy has built and what Mataya has helped grow really fits well with us.”

VandenBerge and Naber focus on helping businesses offer employee benefits, from health insurance to dental, vision, disability and supplemental insurance.

“We’re very focused on the service side,” Naber said.

“In the benefits space, rates are often driven by group size and the health of your group. So while at times we’re able to find solutions to save on premiums, we’ve grown because of the service we offer. We help alleviate a lot of ‘pain points’ for clients, especially those without a designated HR person to handle employee benefits.”

The growing team allows Central Bank to offer a comprehensive solution to any client, including long-term banking relationships, Gannon said.

“It helps us expand how we can help business owners,” he said. “Nancy and Mataya are able to walk through things like onboarding staff and annual renewals with businesses, in addition to handling when life events come up, and they can help engage with the team.”

It’s also a level of specialization not often found within banks that offer insurance, VandenBerge said.

“Sometimes, you’ll see one agent trying to handle everything, and Central Insure has done a good job of focusing on people who specialize in different areas,” she said. “It’s a game-changer for customers.”

Offering employee benefits along with many other forms of insurance creates a further seamless approach for businesses, Gannon added.

“We’re used to conversations about banking and treasury management, but now we’re able to have a separate conversation about employee benefits, and it allows us to serve as more of a trusted adviser,” Gannon said. “It’s a level of expertise you don’t often find at a local branch level.”

 To learn more about Central Insure, contact Mataya Naber at 605-607-6152, [email protected] or click here.

Central Insure products: Not a Deposit. Not FDIC Insured. Not insured by any Federal Government Agency. Not guaranteed by the bank. May go down in value.