Our History | Northwest Group Services

Northwest Group Services (NWGS) has supported employers and brokers with employee benefits and related services since 1988, when the company’s work began in Toledo, Ohio.

 

From those original roots—including early contributions from Phil Roeder, Jeff Smelcer, and Dave Smelcer—NWGS was formed as a third-party administrator in 1991. In 1993, the organization launched Tri-State Benefits to market products from multiple insurance carriers.

 

In the mid-1990s, NWGS began supporting Fortune 500 employers through third-party administration, enrollment services, and ancillary benefits. Around the same period, the Toledo office represented more than 30 insurance producers.

 

As the company continued to grow, headquarters moved to Maumee, Ohio, in 2003.

 

Today, NWGS continues to grow through locations and partnerships across the United States—including California, Iowa, Tennessee, Florida, South Carolina, and many other states too numerous to list—while helping employers and brokers with third-party administration, enrollment, voluntary benefits, and services such as identity theft benefits.