Minnesota businesses perform best when they are at full strength. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota works with thousands of employers that keep our state running strong. Our “Full Strength” series features small businesses across Minnesota that have placed their trust in Blue Cross to ensure their employees can be at their healthiest.

In 1976, Pete and Sue Jacobson started their own custom deck company – Lake Country Builders. Steadily over time, the Jacobsons grew their Excelsior, Minnesota business from a small owner-operator carpentry shop to one of the region’s most successful and celebrated home remodelers and builders.

Today, Lake Country Builders employs 23 people and works on everything from small renovations to designing and building multi-million-dollar homes in Minnesota and Wisconsin. The company has received numerous awards and recognitions, including being named the 2020 Remodeler of the Year by Housing First Minnesota. The majority of employees have been with Lake Country Builders for 15 years or more.

“When you have someone that works for you for up to 25 years, you know their family. You watch their family grow,” says Sue. “So, taking care of those people has always been extremely important to us and part of our culture.”

As part of that culture, the Jacobsons take pride in making sure they have good health care coverage for their employees. Lake Country Builders chose Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota as their health insurance provider through an association health plan with Housing First Minnesota, a trade association for nearly 1,100 housing industry builders, remodelers, developers and suppliers throughout Minnesota.

“Having a healthy employee is very important”

Sue says that since so much of the company’s work is physically demanding, keeping employees safe and healthy is a top priority.

“In today's marketplace and in the construction industry, we can be overwhelmed when there are too few people available to do all of the work,” says Sue. “Having our teams healthy and dependable really does make an impact.”

Sue puts a lot of value in making sure Lake Country Builders employees have good options for selecting a health insurance plan and the doctors they want to see.

“I would define full strength as having our employees well on the job, able to operate at peak performance. I think health and providing good healthcare really contributes to that.” – Sue Jacobson, co-owner, Lake Country Builders

“Our employees have a good experience with Blue Cross,” she says. “It's not stressful. People have access to the providers they want to use and can choose their network based on their needs. So, there’s many, many advantages.”

“When everybody is healthy, we're successful”

Renee Aldecocea has worked at Lake Country Builders for 25 years and is currently the company’s marketing manager. Her husband is also the design director at the company.

“I love working at Lake Country Builders because of the family feel,” Renee says. “I knew it was a family-owned business. It’s always been what I’ve loved about the company.”

“Blue Cross has a huge network. It was wonderful for me to know that I could really go see anyone that I needed to see for my family.” – Renee Aldecocea, marketing manager, Lake Country Builders

Renee and her husband have three boys who participate in a variety of sports and activities, which, sometimes, requires them to see a variety of doctors and health specialists. She says having access to a large network of providers helps take the stress out of making sure her family is healthy.

“When my family is at full strength, it allows me to be a better mom and a better employee because I’m working at my best in both places,” says Renee. “For me, that’s important.”

Passing along “family first” values

Sue says she and Pete plan to have their son, Patrick, take ownership of Lake Country Builders once they are ready to retire. Patrick currently serves as executive vice president for the company. Sue says the culture and reputation they’ve established will serve the company well long after they leave. She adds having a valued partner like Blue Cross positively impacts their own reputation for both their clients and employees.

“We know what we’re doing. We take care of our clients. We make sure the project runs as smoothly as possible. We try to dot all the I’s and cross all the T’s. I believe Blue Cross does that, too,” says Sue.

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