Great Lakes Roofing Corporation Extends “Helping Hands” for the Re-Roofing of RMHC-Marshfield

Contact: Tiff Brennan
(608) 402-6072
tiff@brandhouse.marketing

Great Lakes Roofing Corporation Extends “Helping Hands” for the Re-Roofing of RMHC-Marshfield

Marshfield, WI, May 17, 2023 – Great Lakes Roofing Corporation (GLRC), a leading provider in commercial and industrial roofing and 2022 recipient of the Better Business Bureau (BBB) Torch Award for Ethics, donated time and materials for the re-roofing of the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Marshfield (RMHC-Marshfield).

The RMHC-Marshfield re-roofing project is part of GLRC’s “Helping Hands” program that aims to build and support communities. It proudly upholds the company’s adherence to the Roofing Alliance’s commitment to adopting all RHMC chapters nationwide. Materials for this project were donated in part by GAF and ABC Supply, who often work with the Roofing Alliance to support RMHC projects.  

In 2017, when the Roofing Alliance committed to adopting Houses, President of GLRC, Chris Lampien spearheaded the adoption of the RHMC-Madison location. Because of his personal experience with a medically fragile child at birth, he feels drawn to provide what he can to support other families experiencing complex medical situations.

“In 2022, our staff member, Karlie McNulty, reached out to the Ronald McDonald House in Marshfield to see if they could receive some holiday turkeys as a donation. Karlie learned the House no longer had an adoptive roofing partner, so we stepped up meet their needs. We believe in the mission of RMHC and are committed to giving what we can,” said Lampien.

“Ronald McDonald House Charities of Marshfield serves hundreds of families every year as a home away from home that provides comfort, support, and resources to families with hospitalized children. We’re incredibly grateful to Great Lakes Roofing and their partners at the Roofing Alliance for the generous donation of a new roof. Thanks to their generosity, our Ronald McDonald House will continue to provide a safe respite for families with sick kids when they need it most,” said Iilee Pederson, Executive Director of the RMHC-Marshfield.

Both established in 1983, GLRC and RMHC-Marshfield are celebrating their 40th anniversary this year, making the latter’s re-roofing notable among GLRC’s community projects. Having gone through his own experience with a medically fragile child, GLRC Field Manager David Kaufman recounts how much the project means to him:

“My son was born two months premature, and I can relate to what the parents are going through with a sick child. My wife and I resided close enough to the hospital to be able to return home daily while our child received care, but if we lived further away we would have stayed at the local Ronald McDonald House. When your main concern is the care and wellbeing of your child, knowing that RMHC is available so that you can stay close enough to be there for your child, that’s an invaluable support system for parents,” said Kaufman.

Kaufman and his colleague McNulty will volunteer at the RMHC-Marshfield home in September, representing GLRC.

RMHC has 165 chapters across the U.S. The nonprofit seeks to support children’s access to medical care and ensure their families’ active involvement by providing secure and comfortable shelters near top children’s hospitals. GLRC, a member of the Roofing Alliance, has serviced the roofs of RMHC-Madison since 2017 and RMHC-Marshfield since 2022.

Headquartered in Germantown, Wis., Great Lakes Roofing Corporation is a national award-winning roofing company providing commercial/industrial building owners with the solutions they need to keep their products and people safe. GLRC is celebrating 40 years as a quality construction company that maintains its core values and family culture while providing clients with the safest and best services. GLRC’s mission is to be a client’s trusted partner and first choice in roofing solutions. Learn more at www.greatlakesroofing.net.

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StartingBlock Madison: Deadline Tomorrow (May 26) to Apply for Madworks Mission Based Accelerator

The Madworks Mission Based Accelerator, Summer 2023, runs every Wednesday and Thursday afternoons from June 14 through August 17. (Taking a break the week of July 4).

In order to learn more about you and your company, we’d like you to complete the Mission Based Accelerator application. Once we receive your application, we will be in touch to discuss next steps.

Learn more information here.

Apply here.

If you have questions, contact Leslie Weissburg at leslie@startingblockmadison.org.

Outcomes looking good for WPS midway through Depression Screening Innovation Challenge

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
DeAnne Boegli
Vice President of Communications
608-512-5754
deanne.boegli@wpsic.com

Outcomes looking good for WPS midway through Depression Screening Innovation Challenge

MADISON, Wis.—May 23, 2023—At WPS Health Solutions, the company’s WPS Government Health Administrators division has reached the halfway point in its 12-month Depression Screening Innovation Challenge Grant project issued by The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Midway through the project, the outcomes of the division’s efforts look promising. 

In November 2019, CMS issued a challenge to Medicare Administrative Contractors. WPS accepted the challenge and is now in its third year of working toward increasing the use of chronic care management and depression screening for Medicare beneficiaries in Medicare Jurisdictions 5 and 8. Based upon success in years one and two, WPS added combating health inequities to the project’s scope.    

The Innovation Challenge project team is led by the WPS Government Health Administrators Medical Director, Dr. Joelle Vlahakis. Her team includes data analysts, educators, billing specialists, and a population health specialist.  

“Innovation requires the willingness to recognize when an idea needs to be altered or abandoned in favor of a better idea, and we are up for the challenge,” Vlahakis said. “Our priorities align with CMS’ priorities, and we have a special interest in areas where health care disparities are high.”  

The company’s efforts in the first and second years of the depression screening pilot were successful, and WPS saw a 13% increase in screening in Jurisdiction 8 in the first year alone. Increased depression screening appears to have lowered the rate of suicide attempts in both jurisdictions in the project’s first two years.  

“When patients enroll in chronic care management, their care is focused on what makes their life better. Care is less fragmented and dependent upon the use of emergency rooms or hospital stays. And providers of the care report that they can spend more time seeing patients face to face and less time managing crises,” Vlahakis said. 

Building on its success, WPS is using the Area Deprivation Index—a measure for the theoretical domains of income, education, employment, and housing quality—to combat health inequities in Jurisdiction 8. The ADI and beneficiaries’ ages are potent predictors of the risk of depression. ADI has been the foundation for WPS identifying places where social determinants of health are most likely to contribute to health inequities. 

“Our project team has found that connecting with organizations, societies, and other large groups has been productive and instructive. Aligning ourselves with such stakeholders, especially those whose purpose is to address the social drivers of health, has been especially compelling and useful. What we did not expect is that our one-on-one conversations with individual providers, clinicians, administrators, or even beneficiaries would also shape our approach to the project,” Vlahakis explained. 

The Innovation Challenge core work group is divided into two smaller groups. One work group focuses on the data and its analysis, and the other on educational outreach.   

Through WPS’ Provider Outreach and Education Department, the team educates practitioners, clinicians, and their support teams through webinars, a YouTube channel, and in-person events. Audiences vary (support staff, clinical staff, and providers, for example), and discussions are tailored to the skills demanded of each role. The team has worked to create a platform for high-quality education that is simple and accessible.  

Data analysis is another driving force in what WPS is accomplishing. Employees are examining and targeting their efforts based on three major points of data: 

1. Health care providers with a low utilization rate of depression screening  
2. Health care providers with the greatest number of beneficiaries in their jurisdiction  
3. An ADI score that falls greater than the 70th percentile where the risk of depression is highest 

WPS reported the following for Jurisdiction 8:  

• Based on 2021 data, WPS has established an average monthly goal of 7,341 depression screening claims. According to Medicare claims data from September 2022 to February 2023, WPS averaged 7,641 claims per month, which is 300 claims above the goal and is a 9% increase from 2021. 
• To analyze the efficacy of the educational intervention program on the most at-risk Medicare beneficiaries, WPS is tracking the primary benchmark of a 2.5% increase in depression screening claim count for beneficiaries who live in the most at-risk neighborhoods. Based on 2021 data, WPS has established an average monthly goal of 2,444 depression screening claims. In the second quarter of year three, WPS averaged 2,366 claims per month, which is 78 claims below the goal and a 1% decrease from 2021.  
• To analyze the downstream impacts of its educational intervention program, WPS is tracking the primary benchmark of a 5% reduction in the number of claims featuring a suicide attempt diagnosis. Based on 2021 data, WPS established a monthly goal of 82 claims featuring a suicide attempt. In the second quarter of year three, WPS averaged 51 claims per month, which is 31 claims beyond the goal and equates to a 41% decrease from 2021. 

About WPS Health Solutions^®

Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance Corporation (WPS Health Solutions), founded in 1946, is a nationally regarded benefits administrator for a variety of U.S. government programs and a leading not-for-profit health insurer in Wisconsin. WPS Health Solutions serves active-duty and retired military personnel, seniors, individuals, and families in Wisconsin, across the U.S., and around the world. WPS Health Solutions, headquartered in Madison, Wis., has more than 2,600 employees. Within the enterprise, there are three divisions: WPS Government Health Administrators, WPS Military and Veterans Health, and WPS Health Insurance/WPS Health Plan/EPIC Specialty Benefits. For more information, please visit wpshealthsolutions.com.

About WPS Government Health Administrators^®

As a large contractor for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, WPS Government Health Administrators, a division of Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance Corporation, manages Medicare Part A and Part B benefits for more than 7 million seniors in multiple states.

WPS Government Health Administrators is headquartered in Madison, Wis. Visit the WPS Health Solutions About page for more information.

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Record attendance at Summit Fest – Summit Credit Union’s annual meeting

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 23, 2023

Media Contact:
Jason Waller
(608) 243-5000
publicrelations@summitcreditunion.com 

Record attendance at Summit Fest – Summit Credit Union’s annual meeting 
Wisconsin Cooperative celebrates members and announces big wins at annual meeting and member picnic   

MADISON, Wis. – Summit Credit Union again held a novel annual membership meeting and family event called Summit Fest, welcoming 3505 members on Sunday, May 22. This is the largest attendance recorded for Summit’s annual member appreciation event. Members and their families took part in kids’ obstacle races, enjoyed yard games, and spent a fun time together eating a Wisconsin summer cookout.  

“We grow when we add value to our members and this annual event is an opportunity to both celebrate our achievements and show our members how much we appreciate them,” said Summit Credit Union CEO & President Kim Sponem. “This year, we have seen a large growth in assets, the largest acquisition of a bank by a credit union in US history, and we are in the Top Workplaces for Madison, Milwaukee and the USA. There’s a lot for our employees and our members to celebrate.”  

The celebration offered a short business meeting and family-friendly entertainment at the local baseball stadium, The Duck Pond, Mallard’s Stadium at Warner Park, Madison. Attractions at Summit Fest also included a diaper dash for toddlers, free mini cupcakes with the chance to win $10 to pay-it-forward, and the return of an employee-led cover band playing songs by an array of artists from The Blues Brothers to Taylor Swift to Queen.

Annual board meeting 

During the board meeting, Summit Credit Union’s 2022 successes were noted and included the following:  

• The acquisition of Commerce State Bank. This is the largest acquisition of a bank by a credit union in US history. With this acquisition we welcomed 71 employees, more than 5,700 new members and added four locations — West Bend, Elm Grove, Sheboygan, and Cedarburg.  
• Summit Credit Union saw a 29 percent growth in assets to more than $6.4 billion.  
• More than 43,000 new loans were secured for cars, homes, vacations, and other members’ goals.  
• Kiplinger and Investopedia reported Summit Credit Union’s 3-year certificate rate among the top in the nation.  
• Summit Credit Union was named a Top Workplace in Madison, Milwaukee, and the USA.  

About Summit Credit Union  

Established in 1935, Summit Credit Union is a member-owned financial cooperative. Summit holds $6.4 billion in assets and has more than 240,000 members and 945 employees across 55 locations throughout south-central and southeastern Wisconsin. Since 2002, Kim Sponem has been CEO & President of Summit Credit Union, formerly known as CUNA Credit Union/Great Wisconsin Credit Union. Recognized for its excellence in employee engagement, Summit was named a Top Workplace in the USA in 2021, 2022 and 2023 by Top Workplaces USA and a Top Workplace in the Madison area for 2021, 2022 and 2023 by the Wisconsin State Journal.  

For more information, visit www.summitcreditunion.com or call 608-243-5000 or 800-236-5560. For additional media information, visit https://www.summitcreditunion.com/about-summit/press-room or follow Summit on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. 

Kraus-Anderson completes Kia Subaru renovation in Janesville, Wis.

JANESVILLE, Wis. (May 2023) – The Madison office of Kraus-Anderson (KA) has completed the renovation of Janesville Kia and Janesville Subaru located at 3301 North Pontiac Dr. in Janesville, Wis.  The dealerships are owned by Janesville-based Home Run Auto Group.

Designed by R.B. Custom Designs, the $1.76 million, 7,485-square-foot project renovated an existing, abandoned motorcycle storage building into a car wash and auto detailing center.  The new building offers two car wash bays, two detailing bays, a photo booth room, undercoating bay and a new surface lot for overflow parking for both Kia and Subaru dealerships.

KA constructed the Janesville Kia and Janesville Subaru in 2016, and has built several other dealerships for Home Run Auto Group, including Kenosha Subaru in Bristol, Wis., and Racine Honda and Racine Hyundai in Mount Pleasant, Wis.

About Kraus-Anderson

Established in 1897, Kraus-Anderson (www.krausanderson.com) is an integrated construction management and real estate development enterprise working independently and in collaboration with a family of companies, including insurance, mortgage and realty operations. Kraus-Anderson, an EOE AA M/F/Vet/Disability employer, is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn. and has regional offices in Madison and Milwaukee, Wis., Bismarck, N.D., and Duluth, Bemidji and Rochester Minn.

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