IRO (Intel Retiree Organization) is now 15 years old. Our mission continues to be “To make a meaningful and positive difference for Intel retirees, the Company, our local communities, and current employees planning for retirement.”
IRO has always been a volunteer-based group in which Intel retirees have offered up their diverse talents, skills and decision-making to make retirement for our members better. Over the years the organization has evolved from being initially focused on social interaction between our members to one that also tries to assist members in maximizing their retirement benefits earned from Intel.
IRO is the only retiree group that is an official Intel Employee Group with Intel Vice President level sponsorship and annual funding (albeit, very small funding).
Originally the effort grew out of retirees’ interest at the Oregon/Washington site. Those initial leaders (with Intel’s support) conducted a road show and quickly garnered interest from retirees at the Santa Clara/Bay Area and Arizona sites. Today IRO also has formal representation from Folsom, New Mexico and Massachusetts.
IRO offers limited support for Intel retirees from international locations. Benefits that are listed on the IRO website are primarily for U.S. retirees, but International retirees are welcome to join the organization, receive the monthly newsletter and announcements, access the Facebook group and take advantage of the dedicated mailbox for questions.
IRO’s structure is driven through various committees. Those committees – such as the Health and Benefits Committee, Volunteer and Donations Committee, and Discounts Committee – monitor any changes to Intel’s programs and work with the company to keep IRO members needs and concerns “front and center.” Other IRO committees such as the Communications Committee, the Website Committee and with the Newsletter and Facebook Administrators work tirelessly to make sure that all the information is quickly and accurately distributed to members. Our organization also has designated site representatives for the larger sites that coordinate informal luncheons and other activities to keep Intel retirees connected to their local colleagues.
It is a structure that has yielded some impressive results. One such example is how retirees can use their retirement healthcare fund (SERMA). When IRO was formed, SERMA funds could only be used for paying premiums to the Intel Retiree Medical Plan (IMRP). IRO members wanted more options. The Health and Benefits Committee worked with Intel and in June of 2010, Intel announced a major change on how SERMA could be used. Prior to the change if you didn’t use your SERMA funds to pay for IRMP, those funds weren’t usable for anything else. That means now you can use SERMA for reimbursement for Medicare (it all its forms), long term care, as well as pre Medicare healthcare plans.
Our local communities have been a major beneficiary of the IRO. The organization coordinates and communicates volunteer opportunities locally and encourages volunteers to use their unique Intel learned skills to help existing non-profits. Over the years, Intel retirees have donated thousands of hours to make our communities better. In addition, Intel retirees have been tremendous supporters of Intel campaigns donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to help communities that have experienced some type of disaster or critical situation.
Our support committees have built a phenomenal communications infrastructure to keep our members well informed via a multitude of channels including a monthly newsletter, a website and email blasts for time sensitive information such as disaster response volunteer opportunities. The Communications Committee also maintains a dedicated email mailbox for retiree questions and issues. They track down answers or show the retirees where they can find the Intel answer in writing or facilitate a contact within Intel for further assistance.
Along the way, this group has created a database of Intel retiree email addresses to ensure a line of communication to all retirees who have joined the Intel Retiree Organization.
15 years of service for Intel retirees. Wow. This anniversary and these achievements wouldn’t have been possible without the work of talented volunteers from our IRO community. Of course, the work is not yet complete.
We currently need a site coordinator for Intel largest retiree site – Oregon/Washington – where the idea of an Intel Retiree Organization began. We are also looking for those of you who have technical skills for our website team. If you like to be “in the know” and keep everyone informed, the Communications Committee is always looking to new talent. And what better way to understand your benefits than becoming a part of our Health and Benefits team?
Your colleagues need you and your talents. IRO needs you and your talents. Please consider contributing a couple of hours a month to make IRO even better in the upcoming 15 years. If you want to help, please send a message to the IRO mailbox!
For all of our IRO community, happy 15th anniversary.