I’ve never been a smoker, so I can’t speak from experience, but from what I’ve seen, quitting cigarettes is hard. I will always remember a conversation about cigarettes with my grandfather. He said, “I haven’t smoked in 30 years. I still get cravings for them. If I knew I was going to die in 6 months, I would start smoking again today…”
Lifeplex in Plymouth sent out a sign up program for a smoking cessation program. It is an 8 week program. The cost is only $40. As an additional carrot, the program included two free months of membership in Lifeplex.
I thought the Lifeplex program was a good one. One I was willing to promote with ECC employees, of which we had four smokers that I knew of. To sweeten the pot, I added the following incentives:
I had the opportunity to hear State Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Tony Bennett, speak last week at the State Board meeting of Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) in Indianapolis. It was interesting to hear the changes that he and Governor Daniels have made in the Indiana school systems over the past few years. While it had a campaign speech theme, I was pleased and impressed with a lot of the questions and answers that followed. Through my association with the Marshall County Economic Development Corporation, MCEDC, I constantly hear that educating the workforce is the number one request from the business community. Dr. Bennett said that graduation rates are up 4%, and 10% more students are participating in Advanced Placement in preparation for college from 2009 to 2011.
As it affects our industry, I was more interested in how schools can earn credit for vocational education. This has long been a frustration of mine. I’ve often felt that high schools have divided the students into two tracks, 1) College Prep and 2) High School Graduation. Track 1 kids are prepared for higher learning and are made to understand that high school is just a step along the way. Less than three months after high school graduation they will be back in school and expected to continue their career path education. Track 2 kids are given the goal of getting their high school diploma. I feel that it often hasn’t been explained to them that they will still be expected to “learn” in order to make whatever job they take into a career. Kids that we hire are often shocked and almost offended that we would suggest that they need to participate in Apprenticeship programs and continue their education in order to advance with our company.
For years now, ABC has offered a program to our schools that allows high school students participating in the Building Trades programs to earn their first year of apprenticeship. The program is Bureau of Apprenticeship Training (BAT) approved, meaning that they could continue their training through union or merit shop training after graduation. I think this accomplishes a three things: 1) It fosters the idea that construction workers need to be educated in order to make their job a career. 2) It gives the students a leg-up on the competition when they enter the job market. 3) It elevates a graduate’s pay potential. (They would still need to complete On the Job Training (OJT’s) hours to complete their first year, but the programs are set up with graduated pay increases with each year of apprenticeship successfully completed. At Easterday Construction, we generally require a year of service before we would consider sending someone to Apprenticeship Training, but if someone came out of a high school building trades program with a year of apprenticeship under their belt, I would seriously consider sending them for year two the following Fall.) I have approached the Culver and Plymouth Schools regarding this opportunity in the past and I have been rebuffed. Hopefully they will reconsider this in the future since it would now count favorably in the school’s overall assessment by the State.
All in all, I was impressed with Dr. Bennett and the programs he has put into place. I think Indiana could do worse than giving Dr. Bennett another term to further his programs and give the ones currently implemented a chance to bear fruit.
Euel Birge was a long time Easterday Construction Co., Inc. employee, working with us from 1968 until his retirement in 1999. Thirty one years with our company is something we’re proud of. Hopefully he was as well. Unfortunately Euel passed away last Saturday. There will be visitation from 5-8pm this evening at Zimmerman Bros. Funeral Home in Rochester. Services will be at the funeral home Thursday, September 6th at 10:00 am. Friends may visit 1 hour before the services as well. Memorial contributions may be made to Hope Hospice of Fulton County. His obituary can be found at The Rochester Sentinal here.
I personally worked with Euel on job sites during summers and holidays when I was home from college. He had a quiet sense of humor and was always caring and helpful. I remember working with him at the Kingsford Waste Water Treatment Plant uncrating equipment when an overly tight piece of metal banding broke loose, slicing my hand quite badly. I still remember his concern with getting me proper first aid quickly.
Years ago, before I started this blog, I wrote a company newsletter, The Easterday Parade. Below is a reprint of an article that I wrote on Euel back in 1991.
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Euel Birge was hired by Everett Easterday to be a machine operator for Russell L. Easterday Construction & Supply Co. in February of 1968. Euel was our main operator for our crane, Sandford, when we had it, and our various backhoes and front-end loaders over the years. He has a talent for handling equipment, which makes it look much easier than it is.
When he isn’t running equipment, Euel has utilized other talents as a skilled laborer and a carpenter. With the exception of the “Kangaroo Incident” at CMA, he has always been a reliable worker…
As the story goes, Euel was using the Trojan Backhoe on a project at the Academy when he spotted a kangaroo. Euel gave chase, but the Trojan, not being a piece of equipment known for stealth, scared the ‘roo away. Unfortunately, no corroborating witnesses to this sighting were available.
Euel was born in Glasgow, KY and moved to Frankfort, IN at the age of 4. He grew up in a family of 11 children. He spent two years in the Army (1953-54), and married Pat, also from Frankfort, on August 11, 1956. Euel and Pat have two children, Kevin and Dan, and five grandchildren.
Euel and Pat live on a small farm and raise grass. The kind you mow, not the kind you harvest! (But honestly, doesn’t this make you wonder about that Kangaroo story?) Euel spends most of his free time on his riding mower. Otherwise, his main hobby is woodworking.
Euel plans to continue woodworking and watching the grass grow when he retires. After 23 years with ECC, he has become someone we rely on. Thanks, Euel, for all your efforts.
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Follow up 9-6-12: I attended the funeral with my father today. It was a nice service. His time at Easterday Construction was mentioned and I learned that Euel’s son, Kevin, also worked for Easterday’s for a short time. It was interesting to hear the stories the family shared of his life outside of the company as well as his life in retirement. Euel was always fairly quiet, so it was good to hear what was shared.
Easterday Construction was apparently well represented as Leroy Bean, Norm Coby, Dave Osborn, all of them Easterday Construction retirees, were at the funeral or the visitation. Current employee, John Singleton, also attended the visitation last night. We all wish Euel’s family the best in their time of grief.
Whether you employ sewing machine operators or software developers, teachers or technicians, CNC operators or CNAs, finding and developing talent is mission critical. It’s also mission critical for the future growth of our region, and that is why your participation in this study is needed.
Marshall County Economic Development Corporation, the Corporate Partnership for Economic Growth (CPEG), and other regional economic development and education stakeholders are partnering in an effort to better understand the workforce needs of local business and industry.
This collaborative Regional Workforce Initiative has three goals:
You can be a part of this initiative by completing the workforce survey located here.
The goal of the survey is to quantify the number of open positions, assess skills gaps, and identify barriers to company growth related to workforce issues.
The survey will take approximately 15 minutes, and should be completed by business owners, managers, human resource managers or someone with in-depth knowledge of your company’s current and future hiring needs. The survey requests information about current full-time openings and anticipated openings over the next 6 months, including salary, skills, and education requirements. You cannot save your responses and return later.
All information will be kept confidential.
The survey will be open until Friday, July 27th. Results will be compiled to inform work sessions focused on identifying solutions to address the barriers to filling existing positions. Only companies in Marshall, Kosciusko, Elkhart, St. Joseph and Fulton Counties that complete the survey are eligible to participate in these work sessions.
Additional details about the Regional Workforce Initiative, including a list of the regional partners supporting this effort, can be found at www.cpeg.org.
Thank you for your time in completing the survey, and for helping to be a part of the solution!
Easterday Construction Co., Inc. is once again participating in Red Shirt Fridays this summer to show our support for our troops. The field crews reinstated this on their own this year. We’re happy to support them with new shirts as they need them.
The pictures herein show John Singleton and Murgurel Stephan in their red shirts at our Deborah Road remodel project. They’re installing siding as we prepare to wrap up this project. Dave Epley (not shown) was also on site in his red shirt today Thanks guys! Way to go!
Any past or current clients that would like a shirt to show your support, stop by our office and we’ll hook you up. Support the Troops!