Presented by CEI Group

Author: Joaynna Cook (Page 3 of 11)

Hard Hats Against Hunger: National Roofing Week 2018

The NRCA’s 2018 National Roofing Week, encourages companies in the roofing industry to give back during the week! CEI chose to host a charity event over the week. Hardhats Against Hunger was CEI’s food drive during National Roofing Week. By teaming up with Gleaner’s Food Bank, CEI collected and donated 450lbs of food and $100 in donations to the food bank in Howell. Gleaners is a local food bank that helps support many food pantries in their effort to help those in need from going hungry. They also host there own pantry that is attached to there food bank warehouse.

Along with that, CEI donated $450 to Weekend Survival Kits, an organization that helps kids in need with meals and groceries to take home for the weekends. $450 equaled meals for five children for a whole year! Too many children rely on free school lunches for there meals during the day. Food shortage can make weekends and summer break hard for students. Weekend Survival Kits helps by providing meal kits to help fill this gap. Weekend survival kits use the support of the food banks to fill their bags and takes monetary donations to pick specific food items needed.

CEI was more than excited to help support both organizations in there missions to help the hungry. National Roofing Week is always a special week that brings the roofing industry together. CEI loves to help give back as a part of the week.

Project Spotlight: Kreeger Elementary School

The Fowlerville School District proposed a bond to go to vote in May of 2018. They are using the money to improve many of the schools building. They are a focusing on repairs for “Boilers, classrooms, instructional technology, and athletic fields”, according to a report from WHMI. Yet, the biggest project was replacing the shingle roof on Kreeger Elementary that was long due for repair.

CEI started the project in the middle of May. It is their first shingle roof project in over 10 years, making this an exciting project. The job included a full shingle tear off and replacement, as well as an addition of custom ridge vents fabricated by CEI’s sheet metal shop.  Kreeger is a good change and gives the crews something different to work on. In the last 4 weeks, CEI has completed about half the reroof. They are still pushing forward as we begin to craft the ridge vents. The project is set to be done by August. 

 

CEI Insight: Stretch and Flex Program

Workplace stretching programs are on the rise and a new hot topic for the construction industry. Roofers and other construction employees are often subjected to routine movements, heavy lifting, and strenuous body positions. This daily wear and tear can leave employees with pain and discomfort. After years of being in the industry, this can result in soreness and injury. A 2018 goal for CEI was to craft and implement a Stretch and Flex Program for our employees. Our program was recently launched, checking that goal off of our list!

Benefits of Stretching

  1. Flexibility
  2. Promotes Strong, Health Muscles
  3. Improves Joint Range of Motion
  4. Improves Performance in Physical Activities

Most of the benefits of stretching come from developing better flexibility. Being flexible and having long and lean muscles can result in prevention of injury and can reduce pain. Athletes do it all the time, they focus on muscle groups specific to the sport to stretch and strengthen the ones that are actively used. Our workers do just as much as most athletes, they bend, lift, climb carry and so much more. Why shouldn’t they have the same routine of stretching? The answer is that they should! Stretching before doing physical work can only help.

CEI’s Daily Stretching Routine

As a new add-on to our safety program, all field and service crews are required to perform a daily stretching routine every morning before getting on the job. This is to length and strength there muscles before getting to the physically demanding part of their day. Most of the crews enjoy it and believe they feel better after doing it. Each morning on the job, the foreman host a huddle with the crew. In this huddle, they talk about the day’s event and go through there checklist together. Before this program, they would head onto the roof after that was complete. Now that this has been put in place the foreman leads the stretching session with the entire crew. Every day he goes through the same stretching checklist and signs-off that the crew participated in the Stretch and Flex program. Since this has gone into place, office staff have also taken to doing the stretches. They believe that it helps them stay loose and not get sore from sitting or working on a computer all day. It also allows them to break up there day and add some movement.

CEI’s Stretch and Flex Program-

  1. Neck stretch
  2. Quad Stretch
  3. Calf Stretch
  4. Inner Thigh/Groin Stretch
  5. Chest Pull
  6. Forearm and Wrist Stretch
  7. Shoulder Stretch
  8. Lower Back Stretch

Source: https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/the-importance-of-stretching

#NATIONALROOFINGWEEK: Picking a Professional Roofing Contractor

National Roofing Week is coming to a close today! CEI wanted to close out the week with a blog post on the main topic of the week, which is to stress the value of a professional roofer for any project.

CEI is a member of the NRCA. This gives us access to leading industry education, safety information, and programs to keep our company serving at high-quality standards. The NRCA is one of the construction industry’s most respected trade associations and the voice of roofing professional. They are a large source of information for CEI and we are proud to be a member. CEI is a lead company in the commercial roofing industry in the mid-west. Yet, the NRCA has a focus on both the commercial and residential roofing industry’s. It is important to search out a quality roofing contractor, no matter what your project is so that it gets done right the first time. Often times our blog post are more suited for a building owner looking for information but when it comes to selecting a contractor the guidelines can be followed by both home and building owners.

NRCA has consumer-focused resources. Their main source is a blog that is focused on helping consumers be educated on there roof and roofing contractors (everyoneneedsaroof.com). Through their resources, they touch on a hand-full of things to look for in a roofing contractor. To help spread awareness, CEI has compiled the resources for customers on the Roofer Madness Blog. As a company, we want to provide customers with the quality resources to help them make their contractor selection. The following list of qualifications that your roofing contractor should have according to the NRCA’s consumer advisory bulletin.

  • Permanent place of business
  • Knowledge of roofing systems
  • Affiliated with an industry organization
    • Ex: NRCA or any other local, state or national organization
  • Committed to education
  • Insured and committed to safety
  • Licensed and bonded
  • Financial Stability
  • Application expertise
  • Insist on a written proposal
  • Warranties
  • Completed projects list
  • References
  • Provisions for on-site supervision
  • Professional maintenance program

The video below was created by the NRCA to help explain these points. You can also read more from the NRCA here or visit http://www.everybodyneedsaroof.com/

 

CEI Sponsorship: Hudson Mills Old Power Club

For 3 years, CEI has helped sponsor the Hudson Mills Old Power Club in their annual tractor pull. With the sponsorship, the company gets entry into the pull. Nick Bosworth- a CEI foreman and member of the HMOPC participated in the pull this year. Last year, CEI’s employee Ron Skrzypek competed and won the pull in CEI’s name. Coming back as defending champions from 2017 pull, CEI came in and won the pull for the 2nd year in a row.

An exciting and fun sponsorship for CEI! They received a plack to hang in the office next to last years.

#NATIONALROOFINGWEEK- Employee Training

Happy National Roofing Week to everyone! Yesterday we kicked off with a wonderful employee appreciation day! All of the  CEI team had got pizza or breakfast delivered to them as a token of our appreciation. It was a great start to an exciting week.

Every day this week has a theme or focus to be talked about. Today’s (Tuesday) focus is on Employee Training!

A key part of being a quality roofing professional is ensuring that all members of your team are properly trained. CEI focuses its training efforts in two major areas; safety training and job skills training.

Safety Training

CEI started a bigger push on safety about 7 years ago.

“We had a couple of tough safety years before that and there was also a big push from our Consumers to step up safety. It had always been something we did, but we started to make it something we live everyday.” -Kristine Cook Lindsey, Vice President

CEI always met safety regulations but after those couple of years, they decided it was going to be one of their main goals to excel in safety. They posted a large board that read “Days since an accident”. The goal was to publish what was happening in regards to safety and make everyone responsible for safety on the job.

Joe Fulton- CEI Safety Director

In 2011, they added a full-time Safety Director to there team. He was tasked with keeping up with regulations and revamping the training program.

Jacob Rosiek- CEI Safety Manager

CEI safety standards started to grow and in 2016 they added another full-time position to the Safety Department, a Safety Manager.

 

 

 

In 2017, CEI was awarded the NERI safety excellence award for there efforts. Today, CEI’s safety training looks like this.

  • Monthly Foreman Safety Committee Meetings- To review how the company is doing and identify where and how to improve. Critical feedback from the field participation is key in these meetings.
  • Six Company Wide Safety Meetings- Every other month there is a different focus presented by our Safety Director or we bring in guest speakers to keep safety in the minds of the Foremen.
  • Weekly Toolbox Talks- These also focus on important safety issues but are run by the Foremen to stimulate discussion on safety and provide training opportunities for our crews.
  • Daily Hazard Identification Checklists
  • All Foremen are required to be 30hr OSHA Certified 
  • All other workers are encouraged to be at least 10hr OSHA Certified 
  • CEI’s insurance group also has its own Safety Requirements that CEI is annually audited on.

Job Skills Training

The other focus area for training is skills training. CEI as a union contractor is supportive of apprenticeship programs that serve to develop skilled professional Roofing and Architectural Sheet Metal Journeymen. Some of the ways that CEI supports skills development are-

  • Manufacturer Training-  CEI is certified in almost every type of roofing system. CEI sees this as a way to open doors for new and interesting projects. We want to know how to do it all so we can take on any project start to finish.
  • Local 70 Union Block Training- CEI helps support their local union by participating in block training programs. They often help with the Crane and Lift classes.
  • Employ apprentices- To provide critical field training experience

Photo of the Month: May

CEI has asked their staff to send in picture and videos of the job sites and happenings around the company. These help us build content for social media and our website. Each month we will be sharing the best or most interesting photo that was sent in by one of our employees. This is also an edition of our company newsletter that goes out internally to all of our employees.

May is the first month that we are starting to add the photo of the month contest. You will be able to view all the monthly photos in our gallery on the Roofer Madness Blog.

May Photo of the Month-

This months photo was sent in by Kristine Lindsey who is our Vice President. She often attends the monthly safety meeting to connect with the foreman and crews on extra safety training. She snapped this (and many more) photos from May’s safety meeting. CEI was visited by Guardian Fall Protection who showed off some different safety equipment and gave a couple short demonstrations.

#NATIONALROOFINGWEEK: What is National Roofing Week?

To raise awareness of the significance of roofs to every home and business, stress the value of professional roofing contractors, and promote the good deeds of the industry, CEI Michigan, LLC will recognize National Roofing Week taking place June 3-9.

Organized by the National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA), National Roofing Week is a reminder that the roof is one of the most important components of every structure. It is the first line of defense against natural elements, such as rain, snow or wind, yet it is often taken for granted until it falls into disrepair.

National Roofing Week enables roofing professionals to engage in their communities and inform the public about the essential role roofs and professional roofing contractors play in every community, as well as the importance about making informed decisions about maintaining or replacing any roof system.

NRCA has planned a social media campaign for all of its members to be involved in. CEI will be participating in the weeks worth of posts to help engage its customers. This week will involve a series of blog post that will give details into how CEI keeps a quality reputation in the commercial roofing industry. It will also give the company a chance to reach out and help the community through charity acts, recognize their staff, provide important information to their customers about roof maintenance and most importantly have some fun taking pictures of the celebration.

To see all the action follow CEI on Facebook, Twitter or Blog

Additional information about National Roofing Week can be found at www.nrca.net/National-Roofing-Week.

Meet Our Founders

CEI Group has earned a reputation as one of the country’s most progressive roofing firms. They pioneered single ply roofs in the late 70’s and 80’s, were one of the first roofing companies to maintain their own sheet metal shop, lead the way in green roofing projects and now is developing a new composite panel shop. CEI was founded in the year of 1969 by brothers, George and John Cook. Together they built up a successful commercial roofing company that can install almost every type of roof and specializes in complex projects. Here is more about our founders-

George J. Cook

Founder and Senior Manager

Since George founded CEI in 1969 he has been a recognized leader in the roofing industry. In the years since he started CEI, he has been involved in all aspects of the business and driven the growth of the company.  In 2010 he gave up the title of President to his son Eric, but as Founder he is still involved in the day to day operations of the business.  George continues to use his vast roofing experience to manage some of CEI’s most complex projects and after the retirement of his brother John in 2014, also focuses on CEI’s international business.  George graduated in 1965 from Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan with a Bachelors degree in sales and marketing.

John C. Cook

Retired Founder

After leaving the U.S. Army in 1973 John joined George at CEI and was involved in all aspects of the development, growth, and management of the company. He was a recognized leader in the roofing industry during his 41 years with CEI.  John’s most recent focus prior to his retirement in September 2014 was advising on the management and operations of the CEI office in Orlando, FL and CEI’s international work. John graduated from Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI in 1968, with a Bachelors Degree in economics and business administration and as a 2nd Lt. in the U.S. Army.

Regretfully, John passed away April 24th of 2017 after a long 14 year battle with prostate cancer.

2018 Michigan Historical Preservation Award

A CEI sheet metal project was honored with the 2018 Michigan Historical Preservation Award. CEI along with the rest of the teams on the restoration project were all presented with the award at the end of March. The specific award given to the project was the Preservation Gem Award.  This award is given to completed projects within the last three years that focused on restoring one element of a building. This meaning the entire building is not being restored at the same time. CEI was a project participant on the restoration of the copper lanterns at University of Michigan’s West Hall. CEI worked hard to recreate the Lanterns at their in-house sheet metal shop and then installed them on-site.

MHPN featured the honorees on their facebook page last week.

They wrote,

“Today’s featured award is the West Hall Lantern Restoration, winner of a 2018 Preservation Gem Award. The lanterns marking the Denison Archway on the Albert Kahn-designed West Hall are one of the most prominent landmarks on the University of Michigan campus, ushering students onto the historic Diag since 1904. The copper-clad lanterns had suffered from weathering over the years, making restoration a priority for the University. The original copper cladding was carefully removed, restored, and re-installed over reconstructed and structurally strengthened framing, ensuring the longevity of these iconic lanterns. The restoration of the West Hall Lanterns is a fitting example of a building owner making the investment in a building to preserve its aesthetic and historic character for future generations.

Project team:

Owner: University of Michigan
Engineer: Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, Inc.
General Contractor: Krull Construction
Sheet Metal Fabricator and Installer: CEI Group Michigan”

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