Riverside is grateful for you! We truly appreciate your dedication to helping our customers find spaces that perfectly meet their needs. In this month's newsletter, we’re excited to highlight how far we’ve come and share a glimpse of where we’re headed!

Wins

• We recently held our very first in-office remodeling workshop, and it was a great success! Attendance was fantastic, and many participants have expressed interest in pursuing remodeling projects. A special thanks to Casey, Trisha, Jaron, Kelly, Amos, and Andy for their hard work in making this event possible. We’re excited to host several more workshops in the coming year!

• Riverside and Home Care and Repair hosted their first-ever hiring fair to kick-start the search for additional staff. We had a great turnout, with 16 individuals attending for interviews. As a result, we’ve hired one new employee, and another has accepted an offer and will be joining us soon. A big thank you to Brian, Pete, Andy, Conner, Doug, Casey, and Jen for their efforts in making this event a success!

Employee News

• Bill Whiteman and Matt Girdler have both joined Home Care and Repair as Handyman Technicians. When you see them, please introduce yourself and welcome them to the team!

Hiring needs

We need your help! Don't forget that there is a $250 preliminary referral bonus with an additional $250 referral bonus if the employee you refer stays more than 6 months!

-Riverside is currently looking for an experienced project manager, experienced carpenters and an estimator.

Updated SIMPLE options

Riverside is excited to be working with Cornerstone financial to offer additional retirement plan options. In the past we've offered only a pre-tax, matched option (up to 3% matched). Starting January of 2025, we are adding a Roth, post-tax, option. Unfortunately, we can't match contributions into this type of account. The pretax option allows you to reduce your tax burden now and then pay taxes on the money and the interest as you pull the money out for retirement. The Roth option allows you to pay taxes on the money now and then NOT pay extra taxes on the money and the interest you have earned as you take it out of the account for retirement. Signing up for this can happen at any point in time over the year.

Setting up an account does require a couple of steps:

1. Answer the phone when they call you to schedule an appointment - or call them back to schedule the appointment.
2. Meet with them to decide what the best retirement strategy is for you.
3. Fill out paperwork to start the account
4. Get the paperwork back to them (or to the off

Not sure the impact of saving that 3% with a match? It is pretty standard for a 3% match to grow $50,000 in 25 years! The sooner you start the greater the gains!

Reminder: End of the Year/Holiday/Vacation update

As we near the end of the year please make sure to get your requests for vacation days in! Both divisions are currently scheduling work for the times around Christmas. If you would like to take extra time off close to those times of the year, please get your vacation requests in sooner rather than later. Vacations are approved on a 1st come, 1st served basis. Specifically, we do need to know if you are planning on taking off the day Christmas Eve or the rest of the week after New Years Day.

As a reminder, vacation does not roll over to the next year if not used UNLESS you are within your 1st year at Riverside. Later on in the newsletter are reminders of what days are paid holidays for employees and what days the company is not open. All employees have received documentation of their vacation time remaining late October. If you can't find the information or need an update, please reach out to Jen!

Emergency Closings

In case of a weather emergency all employees will be notified via email, text or phone if the company will be closed for the day. Call your supervisor for clarification if you have any questions, concerns or if the road are impassable in your area.  Employees may take a vacation day pay to cover the hours missed or choose to take no pay.  

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Winter Party - Date to be released later this month

Christmas is busy time of year with family and friend responsibilities, but we do want to celebrate the successes of this year. Casey is currently working on scheduling our Winter Party at Ripple sometime the end of January or the beginning of February. Be on the lookout for more information later this month!

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Trades spotlight

• Andrews Enterprise has been doing HVAC work for Riverside since 2011. Ronnie's ability to troubleshoot problems and take care of homeowners HVAC needs make him greatly appreciated. Recently his son, Walker has joined his business and is greatly improving their company's online presence. If you see Ronnie or Walker, thank them for their hard work and for keeping the HVAC in our office working!

HR Benefit Reminder

Bereavement Leave

Employees with more than 3 months’ service may take up to 3 days of paid bereavement leave upon the death of a member of their immediate family. “Immediate family members” are defined as an employee’s spouse, domestic partner, parents, stepparents, siblings, children, stepchildren, grandparents, father-in-law, mother-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, or grandchild. All regular, full-time employees may take up to one (1) day off with pay to attend the funeral of an extended family member (aunts, uncles, and cousins).