Good Health = Good Business

Dear Friend,  Another Time, Another Place I have been watching the Corporate Wellness Roller-coaster for well over 40 years. When I first entered the field I headed off to academia to earn a doctorate as an Exercise Physiologist while many of my classmates joined the ranks of Corporate America as fitness/wellness coaches. Throughout the 70's, all the big businesses were opening their own wellness programs. In the late 80's I moved to healthcare software world and my colleagues were laid off from their corporate gigs and moved over to the world of HMO wellness. Corporations decided it was a lot cheaper to let the insurance companies pay for wellness than to do it themselves. Since the late 1990's, corporate wellness has been in limbo and it has been every man for himself. Today we have RiseVT.

First, Let Me Tell You A Story  In 1979, my friend and mentor, Larry Gettman, went to work for T. Boone Picken, the multi-millionaire owner of Mess Petroleum in Amarillo, TX. Picken was convinced that good health was good business. He also believed that "good health did not just happen." So, he created a state of the art wellness center and employee fitness program and hired Larry to run it. By 1985, Mesa Petroleum was recognized by The Institute of Aerobic Research (of Kenneth Cooper, MD fame) as the Most Physically Fit Company in America. Mesa had reduced healthcare costs 60% below the national average saving $1.6 million in health care dollars. Sick days dropped precipitously and the medical costs for those employees enrolled in the wellness center were one half of those who did not. Good Health DID equal Good Business! Tell Me More! Mesa Petroleum claimed an ROI of $6 for every $1 spent on wellness. Other companies claimed similar results and many fence sitters joined the movement until corporate wellness became such an important corporate asset that it was used as a major tool for recruiting top employees. Remember photos of CEOs conducting business on treadmills and exercise bikes in downtown Manhattan?  Did I mention RiseVT? Two years ago, representatives from about 30 organizations in Franklin County began early morning meetings at NMC to discuss how we might bring a county-wide health and wellness initiative that would rock the socks off our community. That hard work has morphed into RiseVT - a community focused health and wellness movement targeting individuals, families, schools, companies and entire communities. Yes, that is who you saw in Taylor Park this morning. Just like Mesa Petroleum, you can become a RiseVT certified center of excellence. Good news is that all you have to invest is your time - the RiseVT team will help you do the rest. Where Do I Learn More? So glad you asked. Dorey Demers, RiseVT Coordinator, will be our guest speaker at the next Strategies for Success seminar on Thursday, July 30 from 4:00 - 5:30 in the St. Albans Free Library on Maiden Lane. Dorey (yes, the same Dorey who packed the house to talk about Facebook) will be sharing the RiseVT wellness magic that is springing up all over Franklin County. She will give you the tools you need to bring a healthy environment to your workplace. You do not want to miss this! In fact, I can pretty much guarantee that you will walk out of that room (well probably jog out) jazzed to make a difference in your world and I bet she has things to give away - everybody loved swag!  SIGN UP HERE! I only have room for 30. It is time to RISE VT! (You can put your socks back on.) Did You Know? Francois Henri "Jack" LaLanne (1914-2011) was a fitness, exercise, and nutritional expert who is sometimes called "the godfather of fitness." He described himself as being a "sugarholic" and a "junk food junkie" until he was 15, but "turned his life around" after listening to a public lecture about the benefits of good nutrition. He came to believe that the country's overall health depended on the health of its population, writing that "physical culture and nutrition - is the salvation of America."

Please make a Chamber membership part of your success strategy. Thank you for your continued support of the Chamber in your community.

Dave Southwick