Woburn Cummings Organization Offers Heating Stipend For Employees

WOBURN, MA — The Woburn-based Cummings organization is looking to lend a hand to its employees this winter through a heating stipend, the organization announced on Wednesday.

Cummings is offering to cover up to $184 of employees’ heating bills each month from January through March of this year.

The offer, which applies to Cummings’s 650 employees in locations around Massachusetts, comes just as high heating costs hit ratepayers this year after the U.S. Energy Information Administration in October projected a 28% increase in natural gas bills this winter compared to bills a year ago. The administration estimated a similar 27% uptick in heating oil costs alongside a 10% increase in electricity bills and a 5% increase in propane bills.

The total payout from Cummings' recently-launched program in the wake of recent increases could be close to $440,000, according to Cummings’ announcement this week.

“We recognize the financial strain of increased heating costs for our colleagues and hope this new benefit will provide some measure of relief,” Cummings chairman and CEO Dennis Clarke said on Wednesday. “This offering is one way to thank Cummings team members for their valuable contributions to our organization’s success.”

Roughly half of Cummings’ staff work for the organization's commercial real estate arm Cummings Properties. The rest work for the Cummings Foundation and its not-for-profit New Horizons senior living communities in Woburn and Marlborough.

The stipend is structured to provide $1 for every hour worked, up to a maximum of $40 per week.

“We are a mission-driven organization, focused on supporting the communities in which we operate,” Clarke said this week. “Our commitment to employees is an important part of that.”