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Employee Participation Exceeds 70% in Company Wellness Program

February 18, 2005

Cold Spring, Minn.-Teaming with HealthSource, a program of Park Nicollet Medical Clinic of Minneapolis, Cold Spring Granite Company launched a company-wide wellness program, A Better U, to assist employees in learning more about their self, health and lifestyle. The ultimate goal of the program is to create a more supportive and productive work environment through employee education and motivation to improve their quality of life, which will also help in controlling the soaring cost of medical care.

Ownership for A Better U started immediately with the formation of an employee committee consisting of 26 employees from company locations around North America. The committee worked to design the program and created a contest, open to all employees, to name the program and design the logo. The success of this approach was reflected in the overwhelming participation of employees in its first campaign-a health risk appraisal.

"In the 15 years we have coordinated health risk appraisals and screenings, we have seen very few companies with a response like this," said Senior Program Coordinator Carolyn Peterson at Park Nicollet HealthSource. "We had to expand the number of time slots by 25% to accommodate the amazing participation." A typical company's participation averages around 40% with 60% being a rare accomplishment. Cold Spring Granite achieved 74% participation.

In a weekly company newsletter, Cold Spring Granite President John Mattke applauded employees for making a priority decision to take control of improving their health and quality of life: "It is very exciting to see such a great response from so many of us wishing to learn more about how to improve our health. As our employer, Cold Spring Granite can offer us help to live a healthier life, but we need to take the action steps to 'do it'. I truly believe the benefits of your participation will be real, lasting and very important to you and your family."

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Cold Spring Granite Company is a 107-year old family-owned company headquartered in Cold Spring, Minnesota with five manufacturing locations and over 1250 employees throughout North America. It is the largest manufacturer of bronze, architectural building and residential stone and memorial products in North America. The company's list of notable projects include buildings in every major city throughout North America, many landmark projects in cities overseas, some of the most prestigious private estate memorials in the country, and national memorials such as the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial and the Korean War Memorial in Washington D.C..