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Alpha e-News Update
May 2011 |
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The Alpha Group Agency
4200 Rockside Road, Suite 300
Independence, Ohio 44131
216-520-3300 |
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Replacement Cost or Market Value? Which is better?
 My home is only worth $120,000. Why does my insurance company want me to insure it for $275,000?
One of the biggest questions consumers have regarding homeowner's insurance revolves around the amount of insurance to place on their dwelling (home). When purchasing a house, the mortgage company requires the homeowner to obtain insurance prior to closing. Most consumers assume the amount of dwelling coverage will be equal to the amount they paid for their house. This is incorrect in some cases.
 There are different methods to determine the value of a house. Market value is the price paid for your house. Replacement cost is the price or cost it will take to rebuild your house in the same spot, same size and same quality of construction, at today's costs. Insurance companies use the replacement cost valuation. These can be two completely different numbers.
Keep reading... |
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From the Desk of Renee Kral, Alpha Wellness Department
May is National Employee Health and Fitness Month
There's no time like the present to start getting active and living a healthier life. May is National Employee Health and Fitness Month so whether you are an employee or an employer, do something!
The drive for National Employee Health and Fitness Month is to encourage companies and employees to develop long term healthy lifestyle habits and to keep healthy activities going on a long-term basis. Here are some activities you could implement at your worksite to encourage healthy living:
Healthy Meetings-instill a rule that any time a meeting occurs, only healthy food is allowed to be served. No more pizza lunch meetings or doughnut breakfast meetings. Focus more on serving fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats, whole grains like granola bars or oatmeal and low fat dairy like yogurt or low fat cheese.
Keep reading and download complete Wellness Issue #11 |
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Smoke-Free Environments Linked to Less Breast Cancer
Women in smoke-free homes and workplaces are less likely to develop or die from breast cancer, new research shows.
U.S. researchers compared rates of non-smoking homes and workplaces with state-specific rates of breast cancer incidence and death. States with higher numbers of smoke-free homes and workplaces had significantly fewer breast cancer deaths, particularly among younger premenopausal women.
Researchers estimate that about 20 percent of the change in breast-cancer death rates is due to changes in smoke-free home and workplace policies.
Keep reading... |
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Employers' Top 10 HR/Benefits Trouble Areas Revealed
Well, 8,000 HR/benefits pros can't be wrong, right? Employers Resource Association has released the top 10 topics that send HR managers to call its hotline in droves. The list is based on the more than 8,000 calls the association says the hotline receives each year. The top 10 are:
1. Family and Medical Leave Act, including questions on: Who is covered? What is deemed a serious health condition? How can we control intermittent leave?
Keep reading...
The AlphaHR Team can help in all of these areas and more. Contact Rick Hughes to get the answers to your questions. |
Evaluating Values
 Many HR executives have long espoused a strong link between pay and performance. But now the definition of performance is changing, notes Mark Del Vecchio, vice president of human resources for MDU Resources Group Inc., a Bismarck, N.D.-based Fortune 500 corporation with energy and natural resources businesses, including a regulated utility.
When management expert Dick Grote gives a speech, he often asks how many in the audience have a formal set of company values and how many have formal appraisal systems. Most hands go up for both questions.
Keep reading... |
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Breakfast Meeting
Yogurt Parfait
Ingredients:
10 cups low fat vanilla yogurt
5 cups low fat granola
5 cups assorted berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries)
In a glass or bowl, layer one cup yogurt, 1/2 cup of berries and 1/2 cup of granola.
Enjoy for breakfast!
Serves 10. |
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 | | Click to find out What Health Care Reform Means for your Business |
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| The Economy is Heating Up
The U.S is starting to recover from one of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Due to a down economy, companies were forced to take a variety of measures to reduce costs. These strategies are normally temporary and used to control expenses and fully utilize all resources.
A reduction in the work force is one of the first measures taken to help reduce expenses. Companies also put off filling vacated positions and opted to transfer the workload to other departments or subordinates of that department. As stated earlier, this is usually a temporary situation, and like any temporary situation, it is ending. This ending has and will further create a "vacuum effect" on hiring employees when the economy starts to bounce back.
Keep reading... |
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Fun Dental Facts -
Betcha didn't know...
*Each person's set of teeth is unique - much like their fingerprints - even in identical twins.
*If you're right handed, you will chew your food on your right side. If you're left handed, you will tend to chew your food on your left side.
*The major causes of tooth loss in people under age 35 are sports, accidents and fights.
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The Alpha Group Agency
Alpha Benefits, Inc. / Alpha Financial Services, Inc. / Alpha Property & Casualty, Inc. / AlphaHR, LLC.
Your partner for stability, security & growth. |
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