Josh Halonen spends his days in the financial planning and analysis department at Prime Therapeutics/Magellan Rx Management (Prime/MRx) as a senior financial analyst. Outside of his work, Halonen is a member of the U.S. Army as a reserve officer. Earlier this spring, he returned from a nine-month deployment to Kuwait and was welcomed back by his team. 

Halonen appreciated how supportive his manager, Phil Hedlof, was before, during and after his deployment. He knew that his experience was special, and not all service members receive that level of support from their organization — or their managers. Because of this, Halonen nominated Hedlof for the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve’s (ESGR) Patriotic Employer Award. The U.S. Department of Defense award “reflects the efforts made to support citizen warriors through a wide range of measures including flexible schedules, time off prior to and after deployment, caring for families and granting leaves of absence.” 

“There’s so much going on when someone is getting ready to be deployed,” Halonen said. “Trying to balance work and life can be challenging, so having a manager that is understanding and flexible is very helpful. From a work standpoint, I didn’t feel stressed. I did the best to get everything I could done, knowing that Phil and my team could cover everything.” 

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“What I love about Prime is that we treat people as human beings — it’s not always all about the work. There will be times in every employee’s life where there’s a lot of things going on outside the office. Josh was doing the heavy lifting by serving our country. As his supervisor, the least I could do was help manage the burden on the work side.” –Phil Hedlof, manager of finance and analysis

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Hedlof also shared that he viewed this as an opportunity to pay it forward. “Seven years ago, I lost a brother to ocular melanoma,”  he said. “Naturally, there was a journey of support that Prime provided me during that difficult time. I wanted to reflect that same mindset and show the same level of support I received.” 

Halonen virtually presented Hedlof with the award earlier this month. Both said they are proud to work for a company that supports its military employees and families.  

“Service members and veterans add unique and valuable perspectives to a workforce,” Halonen said. “I’m thankful to work for a company that supports me both inside and outside of work.” 

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Prime has been recognized for supporting its military families, earning a Beyond the Yellow Ribbon (BTYR) designation in 2021.