Pat Heffernan is a partner at Wheeler Associates and has been with the firm since 2003. He specializes in the employee benefits area and also works with individual insurance. Pat’s greatest joy and passion in his work is forging relationships with the incredible Wheeler team, clients, strategic partners, and many others as he firmly believes in building partnerships everywhere. A proud “Employee Benefits Nerd,” Pat looks to stay on top of the ever-changing industry and understand and forecast what is coming by reading, listening to, and attending just about anything he can find relating to the industry. Pat received the Certified Employee Benefits Specialist (CEBS) designation from the Wharton School and has the Certification in Long-Term Care (CLTC®) designation.
Pat is very involved in the community, currently serving on the board of directors at St. Luke’s Hospital and the Duluth East Foundation and as a trustee for The Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation. In 2013, he served as board chair of the Duluth Area Chamber of Commerce and led a flash mob at the annual dinner. Pat participated in both the Leadership Duluth and Leadership Minnesota programs and was recognized by the Duluth News Tribune for the 20 Under 40 award in 2010. Pat also served as spokesperson for Hockey Day Minnesota 2016, held in Duluth.
In his spare time, and really as much as possible, Pat likes to move and be outdoors, ideally with awesome people including his treasured immediate family—wife Carrie, three teenage boys, Ben, Nick, and Ashton and pup Maple—as well as a pack of wonderful friends collected over the years, some since age 4. Pat has run seven Grandma’s Marathons but now prefers to get on a trail for a shorter run, bike, ski, snowshoe, hike, or wake surf – or even just float- on a lake. A believer in building strong traditions, Pat treasures time on many annual family outings and an annual ski trip with his college buddies that has been going strong since 1999.