The list of tobacco-free worksites in Albert Lea has spiked this year.

On July 1, six places decided to officially kick the habit off their property. That brings the tally of tobacco-free worksites to nine.

And it means Freeborn County employees working in smoke-free environments is now 23 percent, according to Ellen Kehr, the Statewide Health Improvement Program coordinator in Freeborn County.

“Tobacco-free grounds make sure not smoking is an easier choice, and it protects the health of all employees,” said Kehr, a former smoker.

The story goes back to a meeting in July 2010 in Austin. The SHIP coordinator in Steele County had proposed trying to get the Riverland Community College campuses in Austin, Albert Lea and Owatonna to be tobacco-free, prompting the Austin meeting. Officials from Riverland Community College were there along with officials from the Minnesota Lung Association, SHIP, Freeborn County Partners in Prevention and other health agencies. They set a date of July 1, 2011, for Riverland to go tobacco-free.

The Statewide Health Improvement Program would pay for the necessary signage at the Austin and Albert Lea campuses and ClearWay Minnesota, an anti-tobacco organization started in 1998 with tobacco settlement funds, would pay for the signs at the Owatonna campus.

Meanwhile, the Albert Lea-Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce formed a worksite wellness committee. In April, it held a conference on the subject at Wedgewood Cove Golf Club, inviting the community’s largest employers.

A representative from the Minnesota Department of Health gave a presentation about efforts to get smokers to quit. The speaker said 80 percent of smokers have tried to quit in the last year, indicating that mot of them want to break the habit but temptations prevent it.

Afterward, John Forman, the president of Alamco Wood Products, remarked that the employers appear to be part of the problem. He proposed going tobacco-free at the same time as Riverland — July 1. Freeborn County Partners in Prevention agreed to purchase signs for Alamco.

Pam Sanders of Zumbro River Brand immediately followed suit.

After the conference, Kehr called various Freeborn County employers, asking them to join the bandwagon. Alliance Benefit Group, Freeborn-Mower Cooperative Services, Albert Lea Family Y and The Children’s Center also adopted policies banning tobacco use starting July 1.

In 2009, Freeborn County had two tobacco-free worksites, Albert Lea Medical Center and Albert Lea Area Schools.

However, the ALMC ban was hard to enforce because of the public ground nearby.

“So, really, only the school district had any true tobacco-free grounds,” Kehr said.

However, the medical center, now called Mayo Clinic Health System, Albert Lea, changed its policy that year to mandate its workers be free of the scent of tobacco while on the clock or in uniform. Soon, motorists driving by the county’s largest employer no longer saw smokers outside.

Thorne Crest Retirement Community also implemented a tobacco-free policy in 2009.

The two employers brought the percentage of Freeborn County employees working in tobacco-free environments from 4 percent to 14 percent. The figure stayed flat for two years until July 1, when it increased to 23 percent.

Labor statistics say there are 12,000 employees in Freeborn County.

“For worksites, there is a high cost to not taking action on tobacco policy. On average, smokers are absent from work 50 percent more than nonsmokers,” Kehr said.