About Us
Kyle Kollmorgen | President
Kyle Kollmorgen was born and raised in Lincoln Nebraska. He is a graduate of Lincoln Southeast High School and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. A football scholarship athlete, Kyle was a four-year football letterman and was a member of the 1997 Cornhusker National Championship football team. From this exceptional experience, Kyle has applied the same work ethic and discipline to his professional career. In 2003, Kyle joined his father’s business, Kollmorgen & Associates, where he helped grow the group health insurance side of the business. For 16 years, he has built trusting relationships with insurance carriers and businesses to craft, implement, and service the most effective employee benefits package tailored specifically for each business based on their needs.
In 2018, upon his father’s semi-retirement, Kollmorgen & Associates became Kollmorgen Benefits, Inc. With the experience and knowledge that Kyle has gained from the years spent working alongside his father, businesses within the community, and learning the intricacies of each insurance carrier and product, Kollmorgen Benefits, Inc is not a “new company” but a continuation of insurance expertise. Today, Kollmorgen Benefits oversees 150 business accounts in which he manages their group health, disability, vision, and dental insurances.
Kyle and his wife Kristy, live in Lincoln and are the proud parents of their daughter and son, Payton and Brecken. As a family, they enjoy spending time together poolside as both kids are active competitive swimmers. Kyle and his family enjoy all youth sports, being active within the community and are members of Messiah Lutheran Church.
Karl L. Kollmorgen | Senior Sales Executive
Karl Kollmorgen is a Lincoln native and a graduate of the University of Nebraska-Kearney. Karl is a retired career agent for New York Life in which he earned the honor of “Agent of the Year” in both the life and security sales divisions. In 1990, Karl founded Kollmorgen & Associates in which he has been recognized for his expertise and experience within the insurance industries. For 39 years, Karl has been a qualifying and life member of the “Million Dollar Round Table.” He is a member and past officer of the National Association of Financial Advisors-Lincoln Chapter (NAFA) and was a course moderator for Life Underwriter Training Council (LUTC) Insurance Consultant. Karl is an active member of the Lincoln Independent Business Association (LIBA) and LIBA Foundation, a member of Messiah Lutheran Church, and is involved in various community services and organizations.
Outside of his professional life, Karl enjoys everything family. Spending summer vacations with his wife, children, and grandchildren at Big Cedar Lodge in Missouri is a highlight every year. A high priority for Karl is his grandchildren and he enjoys attending their activities and spending quality time with them. Karl also enjoys working out regularly, hunting and watching “The Huskers”.
Dave Meyer | Senior Sales Executive
Dave Meyer has extensive experience and expertise in the insurance industry. In 1976, he became an agent with Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Company of Iowa of which he is a member of the Million Dollar Club. Due to the seasonal nature of the crop hail business, Dave also owned and managed his residential construction business for 24 years. Drawing on his experiences in the construction industry, Dave can see the challenges facing today’s business owner from a unique perspective. His focus is to create value for businesses by striking a balance between employee benefits and the bottom line. Dave specializes in employee benefits in the south-central Nebraska area.
Dave is an active member in church, family and community activities. Dave and his wife Dianne reside in the Ruskin, Nebraska area. They enjoy spending time with their three daughters: Brittany, Brianna and her husband Cuyler and their three children Crew, Brynn and Coen, and Bethany and husband Tanner.
Kerry Butzke | Sales Associate
Kerry was born in Staplehurst, NE and graduated from Seward High School in 2006. Kerry was an outstanding athlete and broke 5 records in basketball in high school. She attended Midland Lutheran College on a basketball scholarship where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in Accounting & Business Management with a minor in Coaching.
After college, Kerry moved to York where she took a job with AFLAC in 2011. She has grown her business as an independent with AFLAC for the past 8 years by creating relationships with business owners in the Lincoln and surrounding communities. Kerry decided to join Kollmorgen Benefits, Inc. in 2019 as the ancillary benefits specialist. With her ancillary benefits experience, Kerry can advise our clients on their additional needs that health insurance may not cover during an unforeseen accident or illness. Kerry is very active in the Lincoln community as a board member and volunteer for A Warmer Day Non-Profit, Vice President of East Lincoln Business Association, an active member in LIBA, Ambassador of the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, and a member of the Lincoln Home Builders Association.
Kerry enjoys spending time with her son, Rhett, and their animals on their acreage outside of Seward, NE. Kerry lives very close to many of her family members and enjoys spending time with them as well. She also enjoys being active in co-ed sports (volleyball, basketball, and softball), working out, and listening to podcasts.
Blake Zinn | Investment Advisor
Blake was born and raised in Auburn, Nebraska and after attending UNL and receiving a teaching degree he decided to put the tools he’s gathered at the university to educate people on the different ways they can save money for future goals and the importance of saving and planning. He started his career as an investment advisor with Northwestern Mutual and after a successful 6 year run with them he decided to start his own independent Financial Planning Firm.
John Clare | Director of Operations
John was born and raised in Lincoln, NE. A graduate of UNL, both undergraduate and MBA. John’s various industry experiences has led to a successful career in sales, development and leadership. His sales and leadership approach has remained consistent with a consultative mindset and team first, mentality.His last position he held was a medical device sales representative for Stryker Corporation. John loves working with people. Whether it’s assisting in accomplishing goals, both personally and professionally, getting the best out of individuals and businesses is his passion. In becoming the Director of Operations, John is dedicated to ensuring quality professional service to both our clients and personnel here at Kollmorgen Benefits.
Kristy Kollmorgen | Office Manager
Kristy Kollmorgen was raised in Ruskin, Nebraska and graduated from Nelson High School. Kristy graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Family and Consumer Sciences from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2001.
After graduating, she started a commercial and residential cleaning business, which she owned and operated for 10 years. The service industry was a perfect fit for Kristy and she strived to provide an exceptional product and made customer service her top priority. Along with her cleaning business, Kristy’s most important work has been her role as a homemaker. Caring for her family is something that is very important to her and she continues that role today.
In 2015, Kristy received her Life and Health Insurance license and started her customer service role at Kollmorgen Benefits. She has been involved in both the life and health insurance side of the business. Kristy is dedicated to helping clients with enrollments, terminations, and various customer service details.
Kristy and her husband, Kyle, daughter Payton, and son Brecken, live in Lincoln and enjoy spending time together. Whether it is at a swim meet, with friends and family, or just together at home. Kristy can typically be found in the kitchen, getting lost in home projects, or enjoying her daughter’s and son’s activities.
Chris Hageman | Account Services
Chris is a recent transplant to Nebraska after residing in northern New Jersey for 35 years, where she raised her family, but she is happy to have returned to the Midwest, where she was born and also attended junior high school. Chris is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and has worn many hats, including technical consulting and biological field science in the environmental field, chairing many commissions and committees, handling inter-agency coordination at many levels, coordinating large scale outdoor events, teaching environmental education at the elementary and Pre-K level and managing the office of a startup video drone company.
Chris is the client care specialist at Kollmorgen Benefits and brings a high level of dedication to professionalism, problem-solving, organization, attention to detail, and focus on client satisfaction to our team.
She enjoys spending time with her family and friends, the children’s ministry at her church, the great Nebraska outdoors and her menagerie of four-footed critters.
Lacey Gabig | Account Services
Lacey Gabig was born in Wayne, NE and grew up Laurel, NE. She moved to Lincoln, NE in 1999 where she attended the Lincoln School of Commerce and graduated with an Associates Degree in Business Administration. Lacey’s held a variety of positions including restaurant manager, client services, and office manager. All these professional experiences have assisted her with refining a unique view of client services. Her motto is: “treat others as you would like to be treated”. She is elated to join the Kollmorgen Benefits team and provide excellent client/account services to our customers.
Lacey and her husband, Jacob, sons Kyle, Logan, and Holden, all reside in Lincoln, NE. When not at work she enjoys watching her boys in their various sporting activities.
Samarah Johnson | Account Services
Samarah was born in Lincoln, NE in 2003 and has lived here ever since. Samarah is a 2020 graduate of Lincoln East High School. She is also taking classes from The Career Academy in the Criminal Justice track. Samarah plans to major in Psychology and is looking forward to new experiences and challenges in her college career.
Her first work experience was as a cashier at Hy-Vee, where she learned customer service skills, at the age of 15. She worked there for two years before joining Kollmorgen Benefits.
In her free time, she enjoys drawing as well as reading and watching movies.
