Medford Property Manager Offers Heating Stipend For Employees

MEDFORD, MA — Cummings Properties, which manages a pair of buildings on the Medford/Somerville line, is looking to lend a hand to its employees this winter through a heating stipend, the company announced on Wednesday.

Cummings Properties and its affiliated Cummings Foundation 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 the Cummings foundation'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 Cummings Properties. The rest work for the Cummings Foundation and its not-for-profit New Horizons senior living communities in Woburn and Marlborough.

Cummings' Medford/Somerville portfolio includes two buildings on Boston Avenue in the Medford/Somerville area.

The stipend for Cummings employees 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.”