DANVILLE — When Brooks Stahlnecker looked to name his two-and-a-half-year-old financial wellness and coaching business, he chose Financial Fire Drill, which seems appropriate given his background as a firefighter.
A Warrior Run High School graduate, Stahlnecker was a volunteer fireman for 17 years in the Harrisburg area, where he started a financial services business. After that, he moved back to Danville, where he is raising his family.
In 1997, he started The Stahlnecker Group, specializing in financial services. When COVID-19 hit, he couldn’t do his seminars on retirement planning.
“That was my specialty,” he said.
During that time, a friend suggested shifting his focus to planning with a firefighter mentality, like preparing for an emergency.
“Everything is pre-planned in the fire service in case of emergency fires,” Stahlnecker said. “Everything is laid out. When there is a fire, the department has everything planned — what resources are coming to help, the manpower, where are the hydrants.
“I wanted people, if there is an emergency passing, to have all that information ready and at hand. A roadmap that includes all accounts, numbers, and names at hand in an emergency.”
Stahlnecker said he developed a workbook that concisely summarizes a person’s financial situation — relevant numbers, and people to call. Everything that is needed in case of an emergency.
The company combines the ideas of financial wellness with financial literacy, and physical and mental wellness.
“Because that’s important when it comes to employee wellness,” Stahlnecker said.
The biggest challenge, he said, has been technology, but the Bucknell Small Business Development Center has been helping him out.
On Wednesday there was a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Stahlnecker’s new brick-and-mortar business office at StartUp Danville, 418 Railroad St., Danville.
For more information, go to www.stahlneckergroup.com.