Editor's note: This story was published in June 2015.
The vice president of marketing and public relations at Little Rock's Affirmative Risk Management is a real dog.
As in, he's an actual, mixed-breed shepherd who barks at staff meetings and earns his keep in Milk-Bones and co-worker head pats and chin scratches.
Harley Pollack is a 6-year-old adoptee from the Humane Society of Pulaski County who made the unlikely transition from the kennel to the cubicle.
And he's not alone on the four-legged executive front: Also on the Little Rock insurance firm's roster are Vice President of Bordereaux Lucy Carrone, a beagle-terrier mix; Vice President of Administration Catastrophe "Cat" Roberts, a feline who can sometimes be found curled up on human colleagues' desks; and Vice President of Claims London Nelson, a calico cat believed responsible for the dead birds that occasionally show up in the company dining room.
Each furry VP has a short biography on the company website like all their human counterparts, complete with their official positions, phone numbers and email addresses. And while their day-to-day duties may fall somewhat short of their prestigious titles, their presence in the workplace is not without merit.
"They go a long ways to relieve stress, we think," says Mark Pollack, the human chief executive who founded Affirmative Risk Management, or ARM, in 1987. "It gives people something to laugh at, give dog treats and somebody to cuddle with when times are bad. So it's a good stress reliever. Cats are the same way. So we just brought them in, and that's how they evolved into what they are."
It started nine years ago when a tiger-striped cat showed up unexpectedly as Pollack was first renovating ARM's current headquarters in a former Masonic Lodge on Stannus Street across from Wilson Elementary School.
Somewhat enamored by the feline visitor, Pollack instructed the workers to treat it well and decided if it kept coming around it would be anointed the "company cat." It did, and the employees welcomed it in and even voted on its name, ultimately choosing "Risky" in a nod to the firm's name. Pollack, fearing it might give birth to a whole litter of new company cats, then took it to get fixed.
The veterinarian called back the same day to inform Pollack that the animal had already been fixed but couldn't have had kittens anyhow since it was a boy.
"The office manager downstairs found out about it and sent out a companywide email that said 'mandatory meeting downstairs, 2 o'clock this afternoon, everyone must attend, topic: sex education' and Risky was going to be the display cat," Pollack recalled with a laugh. "So I caught the dickens over not knowing the difference between a tomcat and a female cat."
When the laughs died down, an unofficial new policy had been cemented: ARM would embrace the notion of a company pet, granting it both an honorary job title and free range through the office to beg for treats, nap at an adjuster's feet or just hang out. Prospective employees are even warned of the pet policy before they interview.
Pollack's wife, ARM Chief Financial Officer Patricia Pollack, has seen the benefits the cats and dogs bring in what can be a stressful field.
"If they're feeling bad or if an adjuster has just had a horrible conversation with people, it calms them down," she said. "And it just kind of breaks up the monotony. We just have all kinds of laughs."
It's most humorous, Pollack and other workers said, when an email or even an occasional phone call comes in for one of the dogs or cats. The biographies on the website have apparently landed them on various mailing lists that included only their job title and name and not their non-human status.
"People will call and want to speak to Harley Pollack," says Vice President of Claims Chantal Roberts, who also is forwarded the four pets' emails. "I'll say Mr. Pollack is very busy, but if you want to set up an appointment you can come see him."
It's typically a telemarketer and no one has yet taken the bait. But Roberts hopes someone does one day, just so she can see the look on his face when he realizes he has arranged a meeting with a dog or cat.
The firm over the years housed two dogs and two cats before its current collection. Harley, who goes home at night with the Pollacks, came from the Humane Society, and Catastrophe was adopted through the Little Rock city pound. The other two — London the cat and Lucy the beagle-terrier — each just showed up outside the office.
Lucy's after-work caretaker, ARM bordereaux manager Lisa Carrone, remembers a co-worker beckoning her outside the morning her soon-to-be new dog showed up.
"She was sitting at the back door, and I kind of fell in love with her," Carrone said. "We put up fliers and we waited a few weeks and nobody ever claimed her. So she's been coming home with me since day one."
ARM's building has a pet door installed so the animals can go back and forth inside and out, a policy that largely goes smoothly except for Harley's occasional attempts to run off UPS or FedEx deliverymen. And they also are free to wander inside across the two floors of cubicles and offices.
On a recent morning, Harley traipsed around a large conference room while the company's several dozen employees gathered for a staff meeting. Perhaps sensing the excitement as employees applauded for the naming of a new managing partner, Harley joined in and let out two loud barks.
Lucy was in the meeting, too, sitting in Carrone's lap. The cats, while welcome, didn't participate on this day. London lay asleep in a cat bed in an upstairs office, and Catastrophe was spotted by one employee outside, perhaps stalking some bird feeders alongside bushes he's known to frequent.
When the meeting ended and Mark Pollack walked out, Harley was right behind him. The CEO stopped in the kitchen to give his VP the leftover cat food from that morning — a favorite treat — and then knelt down to give his K9 coworker and friend a few vigorous cheek rubs.
"They just come up and weasel their way into your heart and you hold on to them," he said. "And of course you fall in love with them and you carry on."
