We’d like to recognize our Lemoine Wellness Champion of the Month for June – Erika Fortenberry!

For those of you who don’t know, Erika started working at Lemoine in October of 2017 as our Chief Financial Officer. She is about to celebrate her three-year anniversary with Lemoine!

To stay healthy, Erika made a commitment to herself in January of this year to get healthier. “I’m not sure I can make a comment on ‘staying healthy’ but rather ‘getting healthier’”. Erika consistently walks a minimum of 3 miles a day and closely monitors what she eats each day. She has seen success over the last five months and recommends using the “Lose It” app.

In March, Erika implemented an intermittent fasting method (5:2). On Tuesdays and Thursdays, she fasts using a smoothie product which keeps her calorie intake around 700 calories while helping to keep her energy levels up. She says, “I actually enjoy the fasting days and the freedom to not focus on food which has given me more willpower on the days I do have to make decisions about what I eat”.

When asking Erika what motivates her to stay active and healthy, she says “My motivation was sparked by an old college friend who challenged me to help her through her weight loss journey. But even before that, I had already made the decision to focus on my diet and exercise after the results of my annual wellness screening last year”.

Erika’s advice about living a healthy lifestyle is to put yourself in the right frame of mind. “Over the years, I can look back and I now realize that I set myself up for failure. I had the idea that I had to be perfect and make all the right food decisions every single time, and not allow myself to miss a workout EVER! That is impossible! So, when I made a bad decision or missed a workout, I essentially self-sabotaged myself and called it quits! I know that sounds crazy – but it is true. I FINALLY came to the realization and mindset to address the immediate decision before me in an effort to make progress, not achieve perfection. It’s been working for me the past few months and I look forward to see the benefits in my annual wellness screening in August of this year.

Awesome job, Erika! We are so proud of you! Keep striving to be a healthier version of yourself every day!

Congratulations to Lemoine employee, Dominique J., who received the June RISE award from the Acadiana Society for Human Resource Management (ASHRM).

The Rise Award recognizes professionals who Reach, Inspire, Succeed, and Elevate thru Human Resource development, activities, knowledge, or expertise.

Learn more about the RISE award HERE.

Lemoine is honored to have been selected as the Top Winner in the Best General Contractor Category of New Orleans CityBusiness‘ 2020 Reader Rankings awards.  CityBusiness’ survey generated responses from 5,927 business professionals from across the New Orleans area.  The survey included a nomination round, followed by a voting period that determined three winners in each subcategory with one of them being the top winner.  We extend congratulations to all of the other winners and look forward to continuing to serve our community with the best construction services and the most talented personnel.

To view the entire list of Reader Rankings recipients, please visit https://neworleanscitybusiness.com/blog/2020/06/19/announcing-the-2020-reader-rankings/.

Lemoine has earned a STEP Diamond certification, the highest safety designation achievable by ABC. STEP Diamond designated companies are an astonishing 827% safer than the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics average.
Founded in 1989 as a safety benchmarking and improvement tool, ABC’s STEP has evolved into a world-class safety management system that dramatically improves safety performance among participants regardless of company size or type of work.
You can read more about Lemoine’s Commitment to Safety and our long-standing achievements thru the STEP program here: https://lemoinecurrent.wpengine.com/about/commitment-to-safety/

We’d like to recognize our Lemoine Wellness Champion of the Month for May – Jennifer Castille!

 For those of you who don’t know, Jennifer worked with Lemoine from 2011 to 2014 as an Accounts Payable Clerk. During that time, she transitioned into the Project Management Assistant role for Lemoine’s Healthcare Business Unit until her family relocated to Beaumont, Texas for her husband’s job.

Jennifer return to the Lemoine family in December of 2019 as a Senior Staff Accountant and says, “I am SO glad to be back on the team!”

To stay healthy, Jennifer exercises each morning to start her day, which consists of stretching, core workouts, walking, and combat/flow classes once a week. She prioritizes eating a healthy breakfast and drinking water in the morning and throughout the day. She consistently takes a 15-20 minute walk at lunch as a source of exercise but also to give her mind a break, get some sunshine, and re-charge for the afternoon. Jennifer enjoys meal prepping every weekend to have a healthy lunch option along with fruit for an afternoon snack and she limits carbs at dinner. Jennifer shares “I function better in every aspect when I’m consistent and on schedule”.

When asking Jennifer what motivates her to stay active and healthy, she says “As a working wife and mother, I recognize how important it is to take care of myself so that I can be the best version of myself for my family and fulfill my obligations at the workplace. I have been very blessed with health. However, I don’t expect my body to be good to me if I’m not good to it in return. I keep my health at the forefront of several decisions that I make daily in hopes that it will continue to carry me happily and healthily for many years to come!”

Jennifer says she always been active but has had to get more and more creative as life happened. “Being sedentary is terrible for your health and before coming back to Lemoine, I was working 10-hour shifts with a 2-hour daily commute.  At least 12 hours of my day was spent sitting down.  So, I started parking a ½ mile from the site office to get as many steps in to and from my car, then I would walk to and from my car during lunch to get 2 miles of walking a day.  I’ve kept up the walking at lunch and replaced the time I used to spend commuting in the morning with exercise.”

Jennifer’s advice about living a healthy lifestyle is to adjust your perspective. “Don’t look at it as a chore. The benefits of a healthy lifestyle outweigh every reason or ‘excuse’ that may get in your way! We are all guilty of it, but at the end of the day – I assure that you will never regret the decisions that you make with your health in mind.”

Awesome job, Jennifer! We are so proud of you and are lucky to have you back on the Lemoine team!

Lemoine has landed at #313 on Engineering News-Record‘s 2020 list of Top 400 Contractors Nationwide.

---

From ENR:

The construction industry is cyclical, riding the ups and downs of economic trends. When 2020 began, the industry was on the upswing. Many large contractors were confident that they could ride out any possible downturn that may come along, using large backlogs to get them through possible future tough times.

But the current COVID-19 pandemic is unlike anything the industry has experienced in generations. There was no warning, and rather than a tapering off of markets from economic troubles or even natural or man-made disasters, the epidemic hit hard and fast, leaving a heretofore healthy industry in chaos.

We’d like to recognize our Lemoine Wellness Champion of the Month for April – Tim Burdette!

 For those of you who don’t know, Tim started in October of 2004 as an Office Engineer on the Opelousas General Expansion Project. Now he serves as an Operations Manager for the Healthcare Group.

To stay healthy, Tim strives to perform some physical activity daily, in addition to watching his diet. He emphasizes it can be as simple as daily stretching, bike riding, or jogging. He also has a goal to complete at least 100 push-ups daily.

When asking Tim what motivates him to stay active and healthy, he says “My family, especially my wife! They motivate me to be more active and healthy”.

Tim began his journey last October when he made the decision to take his health more seriously leading up to his family vacation. “Once I started to see results and feel better, I became more motivated and ultimately lost 35 pounds!”

Tim’s advice about living a healthy lifestyle is to stick with it and not get frustrated.

Awesome job, Tim! We are so proud of you! Keep striving to be a healthier version of yourself every day!

We’d like to recognize our Lemoine Wellness Champion of the Month for March – Todd McKee!

 For those of you who don’t know, Todd started as an Assistant Superintendent back in 2008. He is currently a Project Superintendent.

To stay healthy, Todd tries to eat foods high in protein, get 8 hours of sleep every night, and complete a workout with weights three times a week.

When asking Todd what motivates him to stay active and healthy, he says “Staying healthy and active are some of the ways to fulfill my obligation of being the best husband and father that I can be. I feel we are called to the best version of ourselves.”

Todd was involved in sports and outdoor activities since he was a child. He stays motivated by his three sons that keep him active and engaged with wrestling, weightlifting, and backpacking.

Todd’s advice about living a healthy lifestyle is “A healthy lifestyle is maintaining a balance between mind, body, and spirit. All three must be trained and disciplined”.

Awesome job, Todd! We are so proud of you! Keep striving to be a healthier version of yourself every day!

We have been closely monitoring the spread of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic. We have followed the guidelines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the World Health Organization (WHO), and other public health organizations.

Information regarding the virus is changing rapidly. This week, the WHO formally declared the coronavirus a pandemic. Here’s what that means. “All countries can still change the course of this pandemic.”

We are an organization with risk management and safety at its core, and as such, we have decided to err on the side of caution. First and foremost, we want to maintain a safe workplace and encourage and/or adopt practices protecting the health of employees, customers, visitors or others. We also want to ensure the continuity of business operations.

This communication includes guidelines on the following specific areas of concern:

Face to Face Meetings – Non-essential face to face meetings are strongly discouraged and the recommendation is to use technology to conduct meetings whenever possible. This has been communicated internally to our employees and may impact any meetings associated with your services.

3^rd Party Vendors – All non-essential visitors to our offices and jobsites are strongly discouraged. If you or any of your employees are exhibiting symptoms related to COVID-19 or have visited COVID-19 affected areas, they will be unable to enter our offices and jobsites. All vendors must contact a Lemoine employee in advance of visiting to seek approval that an in-person face to face meeting is required. Again, we strongly discourage this practice and recommend you use technology to conduct this meeting.

Jobsite Protocol – We are taking measures on our jobsites to ensure hand sanitizer is provided onsite along with wash stations as required. We have also started to enforce all policies in place by our Customers all of which currently exists on our active healthcare projects such as Children’s Hospital in New Orleans, Lafayette General Medical Center and West Jefferson Hospital.

Social Distancing – When possible, please practice social distancing which means remaining out of congregate settings, avoiding mass gatherings, and maintaining distance (approximately 6 feet) from others when possible.

We ask all vendors to cooperate in taking steps to reduce the transmission of communicable diseases in the workplace.

• Stay home when you are sick.
• Wash your hands frequently with warm, soapy water for at least 20 seconds.
• Use hand sanitizer.
• Cover your mouth with tissues whenever you sneeze, and discard used tissues in the trash.
• Consider not shaking hands in large gatherings.
• Avoid people who are sick with respiratory symptoms.
• Clean frequently touched surfaces.
• Watch accredited news sources constantly to be aware.
• Be aware of your potential travel plans to countries/states affected by the COVID-19.

We appreciate all that you do for our organization and your support in helping us continue to live our #1 Core Value in Safety!

If you should have any questions or concerns related to this correspondence, please contact our Human Resources Department at human.resources@lemoinecompany.com.