Ronald F. Kruse | Chief Operating Officer
Lone Star Communications, Houston
(d) 281-846-7352
(c) 817-739-5106
January 26, 2022 Weekly Recap
A GREAT LOSS
October 8, 1987 - January 19, 2022
Reference e-mail 1/25/22
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FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT
Reprinted from an e-mail sent Tuesday, January 25, 2022
From: Raymond J. Bailey Subject: Update on profit Sharing
Hello All,
It is almost Newsletter time again but there are a couple of items I would like to update you on now. There will be more detail in this month’s Newsletter going out Wednesday next week.
Profit Sharing. Profit sharing is normally scheduled to go out on the second payroll of the month following the end of the quarter. The month following the end of the 4th quarter is January and the second payroll is on the 28th this year. However, due to the closing of the books, this has slipped to the first payroll of next month or the 11th of February. After seeing the issues that can come up at the year end, such as audits, we may be better served to move the date for future years to the first payroll of February. More on that later.
Cost of Living. Over the years we have established March as the time of the year to review the cost of living changes that have affected us and to make a cost of living adjustment, COLA, if warranted. 2020 was a tough year with Covid locking us down and out of some jobs still we did COLA increase of 2.19% in July 2020. In early 2021 inflation was low again and the adjustment made was 1.4% which was made in March, just 8 months later. In April 2021 we did merit raises as well. In November of 2021 it was obvious that inflation had hit us and we did a mid-year adjustment of 4.0%. After having our Strategic Planning Session last week and discussing inflation and wages, then seeing the news this weekend, it appears this inflationary period is likely to get worse before it gets better. Therefore, Lone Star is adjusting the pay of everyone in the company that is not on a commission program by an increase of another 5%. This 5% brings the increase in wages since April of 2021 to 10.4%. Lone Star will have to increase prices to make up for these adjustments, but so goes the cycle of business.
The SPC, Strategic Planning Committee, has identified that wages are in need of a thorough review and has created a new “Rock” to review the payroll range of every position in the company. The goal is to verify we are paying an appropriate wage for each position and make adjustments where the wage justifies an increase. This increase will be completed along with merit raises this year.
More on all of this in the newsletter but in summary, look for a 5% increase in your salary or wage rate in your check Friday.
Raymond J. Bailey | President
Lone Star Communications, Inc
OPEN VOTING
The January Employee of the Month is open.
Here is the link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3YDWYKN
There are fifteen responses as of Noon on 1/26. Voting closes 1/27/22.
NEW WORK
Cliff Switzer - New MAC Project 4130 - UTHealth HMC to UCT Relocate - [York Construction]
Julie Fisher - New Project 4131 - HMH OPC16 Wellness and Weight Management [The Trevino Group]
Cliff Switzer - New Project - Lee College Nursing Renovation [Axis Builders, LLC]
EMPLIFY SURVEY
Ron, Jamie, Marquis, Phillip and Jackson (Jaime is out on leave) were going over the Emplify results Wednesday morning 1/26/22 at the weekly strategy meeting. We will publish soon. In the interim, we are also working through the dissemination of some of the feedback left behind from the survey. There was one comment on PTO that will need a little clarification for the purposes of a possible future improvement. If you left the comment and wish to share more detail that would clarify the note, please contact Ron Kruse for a follow-up. Your input is appreciated.
NEW MANDATE
This bulletin is on the Rauland Customer Connection. If you do not have access and want a copy, drop me (Ron) a note.
January 19, 2022 Weekly Recap (late send 1/24)
NEW WORK
Julie Fischer - New project 4123 HMH Fondren 11 Office Renovation - [Letter of Intent DPR]
Gregory Propps - New project 4122 -MD Anderson Cancer Center West Houston Shell Build Out BP #5 - Contract name 21-822RV MDA West Houston SBO [O'Donnel / Snider]
STUFF
Annual Shrine Circus Three-Ring Show presented by Arabia Shriners.
Made available through the generosity of our sponsorship, coupons redeemable for 1 ticket (a $20.00 value) can be found at my desk for the Annual Shrine Circus Three-Ring Show.
Performances held at the Fort Bend County Fairgrounds April 20-24, 2022.
I have 4 tickets left!
Amy Weisinger
SHOUT-OUT
Thanks to Ramona Rook for the heads-up on the frees COVID-19 tests.
Place Your Order for Free At-Home COVID-19 Tests
Residential households in the U.S. can order one set of four individual rapid antigen COVID-19 tests free from USPS.com. Here’s what you need to know about your order:
Limit of one order per residential address
Orders will ship free starting in late January
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Thanks to Joel Orellana for travelling up to DFW last week to give his input during the Estimators Summit which took place on 1/21/22. Marquis Woodard stayed in town one extra day after the yearly planning meeting in Grapevine to offer his knowledge.
Discussion Leaders were Dan Hiett (COO Grand Prairie) taking us deep into the data, Kevin Henderson (COO Arkansas) who led the discussion on "calculation wizards", and Victor Gonzalez (COO Central Texas) who led the discussion on best practices and next steps. Jamie Selman joined us remotely and reminded me on Sunday that we spent an inordinate amount of time discussing cable pathway. That's what happens when you get fifteen people together. - Ron Kruse
AROUND TOWN
January 13 Addendum
From: Gregory Propps <gregory.propps@lonestarcom.com> Sent: Thursday, January 13, 2022 11:23 AM To: Ron Kruse Subject: Shout Out - Joel Orellana
Ron,
Joel Orellana never lets the Sales Team down.
He’s always in good spirits and gives his best on every project.
This week he has shined once again, because I know I had two large “Hurry-Up” projects and Cliff had one, and maybe more from the rest of the team….
Joel has knocked the pricing out in record time, which we all appreciate.
Best,
Gregory Propps | Technology Consultant
Lone Star Communications
January 12, 2022 Weekly Recap
From Julie Fischer
NEW PIC
Originally posted for newsletter December 20, 2021. Photo updated 1/10/22. Thanks Marquis for taking the shot.
We welcomed Regina Wysocki to the CAS team on December 20, 2021 during a quiet week when most folks were on vacation. Regina is a Board Certified Registered Nurse and in her previous position she worked at Texas Children's Hospital in their informatics department.
Regina is one of two harp players at Lone Star Communications. Can you name the other one? Maybe a jam session upcoming.
Here is the decoding of the alphabet soup:
MS = Master of Science Healthcare Informatics
RN-BC, = Registered Nurse - Board Certified
CPHIMS = CPHIMS Certification
Regina will report to Donna Montgomery and has been working with Andrew Mueller during orientation. She is spending a few days the week of 1/3/22 training with Valerie Brzykcy in Georgetown.
HEADED WEST
Sorry to see Alex Sanchez leave us last week for another opportunity. Alex was productive, responsible and well liked. We will miss him. Alex was runner-up to Roberto Lopez for Employee for the Month in April of 2021.
"Alex has shown that when needed he is willing to step up and take lead to accomplish a job."
"Great work ethic."
"Alex is doing a great job with HCA West. He has really stepped up."
"Has shown great communication skills with the customer and teammates."
"Alex, It’s been a pleasure working with you, I wish you the best of luck for your future."
- Bryan Peltier
"Alex, Thank you for everything. Sad to see you go sir, you were a great asset to the team."
- Nicole Flores
"'Alex, It was great having you as part of the team during the time you been here. Always was good to see how much energy you put to do and accomplish work. Wish you the best on your next steps. Thank you."
- Jeovanny Alvarenga
"Alex, Not exactly the news I wanted to start 2022 with. It is hard to find good employees that care about their work and are responsible. You showed that on all the projects you worked on and had very good communication with the internal and external teams. I wish you the best in your future you will be missed! "
- Justo Garza
DANG COVID
QUARANTINE & ISOLATION
What is “close contact”?
Someone who was less than 6 feet away from an infected person for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period (for example, three individual 5-minute exposures for a total of 15 minutes).
What should you do if you come into close contact with someone with COVID-19?
Everyone:
Wear a mask around others for the next 10 days
Monitor for symptoms
Get a COVID test at least 5 days after close contact (if positive, see below) If you are not vaccinated or have not had all recommended doses:
Stay home for at least 5 days
What should you do if you test positive for COVID-19 or are symptomatic?
Stay home and isolate from other people for at least 5 full days from the time of first symptoms or the first positive test
Wear a mask when around others for an additional 5 days
When can you end the isolation period?
· If you were symptomatic:
You may end isolation if you are fever free for 24 hours without the use of medications and other symptoms are improving
If you were asymptomatic:
you can end isolation after 5 full days
For more information, go to the site linked here:
- Furnished by Josh Hiett
NEW WORK
Cliff Switzer - New MAC Project 4108 - Harris Health LBJ – Discharge Lounge [Centennial Contractors Enterprises, Inc.]
STUFF
The current version of the LSC Company Safety Manual has been uploaded into Q360 for ease of review. It can be found in Q360 - File - Document Management - LSC Safety Manual - Patt Boles
ACCOUNTING WIN
Days Outstanding = was at 67.1 days on April 5, 2021 and now down to 43.7 days Outstanding on 1/11/22. Wow!
SHOUT-OUT
An AutoCad question on dimension layer problem. A quiz was posed to our engineering team. The first response came from Gus Torres.
Situation: I am on the dimension layer and issue a dimension command.
Stuck: The dimension places itself onto the wrong (Doors) layer. Can't figure out why.
Answered by Gus Torres.
Go to the Annotate tab and make sure the Dim Layer override drop-down is set to USE CURRENT.
JANUARY CALENDAR
January 21, 2022 - First Healthcare Estimation Summit in Grand Prairie.
Participants:
Chris Andrus
Dan Hiett
David Stewart
Hayden Hughes
Jamie Selman
Jeff Banks
Joel Orellana
Kevin Henderson
Marquis Woodard
Michael Lee
Prentiss Brown
Raymond Gilbert
Rich Orvis
Ron Kruse
Victor Gonzalez
January Through February 6, Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit
IN THE NEWS
January 6, 2022 Weekly Recap
LOOKING FORWARD
Some questions are surfacing about the situation surrounding the new COVID-19 spike. Look for a blast from Ray Bailey in your e-mail in box containing additional COVID-19 information this week.
NEW WORK
Gregory Propps (the second "p" is silent) - New Project 4088– Houston Methodist West Hospital – Level 6 IMU [Vaughn]
SHOUT-OUT
Shout out to our own Cliff Switzer for making our fist newsletter podcast happen. If you have not heard the square table discussion, make some popcorn tonight, kick back and click on Cliff's head to time travel back to December 30, 2021.
Shout out to Ramona Rook for the behind the scenes work getting all of our information uploaded to meet the new vaccine mandate. If this is news to you, then maybe you missed Ray's Ramblings in the January newsletter.
CHANGES
January 3, 2022 - Federal Mileage Change - Jennifer Mahan
The federal mileage rate has changed from $0.56 per mile to $0.585 per mile as of January 1st, 2022. A new expense report template as been saved in Q360 under the Document Management option with the new rate. Please make sure you are using the new template for any expense reports going forward.
RAULAND TECHNICAL SUPPORT
Look for document 6418RR Revised 12-20-21on the Rauland Customer Connection. Subject: Contacting Rauland Technical Support. The method changes January 17, 2022. This is a six page document. Page 1 shown here with link to the CC.
If you are having login issues on the Rauland Customer Connection, call me, e-mail or hit me on Teams and I will get assistance for you with Cindy Burt of our Grand Prairie office.
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