by Joseph RADDER
Joseph P. Michael is the founder and president of The Dental Shop, an umbrella company for
Dental Pay, Dental Pay Direct, and Dental Pay Plus. These companies provide self-funding
of dental insurance for larger companies, insurance products for smaller companies with
150 or fewer employees. There's the membership program, Dental Pay Direct, which is
national and has 22,000 dentists enrolled. Dental Pay and Dental Pay Plus are insurance
programs while Dental Pay Direct is really a discount program. Michael compared Dental Pay
Direct to BJ wholesale, where the member pays an annual fee in return for a discount on
each dental visit or procedure. This is primarily for people who can't get dental
insurance, for example retirees. "This is actually a very fast-growing part of our
business," Michael said. "We actually get more people calling us from Florida
about this than we do from our own backyard here in western New York."
The company has really had fabulous growth in the seven years since its inception in 1997.
Sitting behind his desk in luxurious offices at One Corporate Parkway, Michael looks like
the classic successful young executive that he is.
We were curious about this great success in such a short time. Joe Michael told us "I
got into the insurance business in 1977 with Mike Flynn and Bill Cochrane. I learned from
Mike and Bill about the business, specifically the benefits part. They really trained me
well, teaching me good work habits along the way. About 1983, I felt comfortable enough to
start my own company in benefits administration. Over the course of six years, we got into
pension administration and health administration."During this development of his
business, Joe became a district manager for Mass Mutual Insurance Company. "Then, in
1994, I bought a company called Dental Pay." He sold off all his other companies and
"bet the farm on this one." Clearly, Michael is a true risk-taker. He says,
"My wife looks at me and just shakes her head."
In time it was clear that to be successful in dental insurance, "you really have to
specialize in it, keeping costs lower than your competitors, and offer superior service.
The Dental Shop does a lot of work outside the local area, in Long Island and Baltimore,
for example, and, of course, Florida."
Joe Michael wasn't always in insurance. He taught business subjects for six years at
Riverside High School and was Chairman of the Business Department until he left to join
Cochrane-Flynn in 1976.
His education qualifies him well, not only as a teacher, but as the president of a growing
business. Joe graduated from Canisius High School in 1964 and then attended the University
of Dayton for two years, transferring to the University of Buffalo where he earned a BS
degree in Business Administration and Education. He went on to earn an MBA in 1976 from
Canisius College.
Over the years he has been very active in community service, but business pressures have
dictated a reduction in this work. He is still active as a member of the Board of
Transitional Services, an organization that provides residences for developmentally
disabled people. He is also chairman of the advisory committee to author Father John
Sturm, "the Downtown Priest".
In the past he earned a Distinguished Service Award from the Riverside Jaycees, was
President of the Riverside Athletic Club, was honored as the Man of the Year in 1974 by
the Riverside Kiwanis Club, was named outstanding Key Club Advisor by the Buffalo District
Kiwanis Club, and received the William O. Hamilton Award as the Outstanding Key Club
Advisor in New York State.
Joseph P. Michael was born on June 29, 1946 in Buffalo. His parents, Gabriel Michael, and
his mother, Matilda Salim Michael are both deceased. He has a younger brother, Larry, who
is Assistant Dean of the School of Business at the State University at Buffalo.
Joe Michael and Anne Schneider were married on July 8, 1972. They have two children,
Katie, a graduate of John Carroll University, and presently a college counselor at St.
Ignatius High School in Cleveland. She is married and has one son. Gabe is graduating from
Xavier University and spent the last year as a student assistant on the Xavier basketball
staff. Joe and Anne have one grandson who Joe calls "Nate the Great." Very much
the family man, Joe says, "I always put family first, business second, and community
third."
When you talk to Joe Michael, the conversation always comes back to family. "My dad
had a deli," he said, "and he would always give me work. But he didn't pay by
the hour, he paid by the task. What I really learned from that was don't waste time, no
matter what you're doing."
"People kid me about my work ethic," he says. "I have a faucet in my head.
When I turn it on, I'm at work. When the work is done, I turn it off, and then I can enjoy
a game of golf, watching the Bills, or whatever."
In addition to work at the deli, a summer at Bethlehem Steel helped form Joe Michael's
work ethic. Actually, he was reprimanded by his boss for working too hard! That says
something about the attitudes of some workers in those days, and perhaps helps explain the
reason why American steel companies couldn't match foreign competition.
As we listened to Joe Michael's story, we couldn't help but think that here is another
successful Buffalo/Niagara entrepreneur that you never hear much about. The same is true
of his companies. People lament the loss of manufacturing companies in this area, but too
many don't know about the successful service companies that bring important dollars into
western New York….companies like Joe Michael's Dental Shop.
Joseph H. Radder, a frequent contributor to Living Prime Time, is author of a
new book, Young Jesus, the Missing Years. For more information, phone 1-888-280-7715 or
visit www.istbooks.com