Bloomington Chamber of Commerce promotes healthy businesses

Bloomington is being touted as a place for healthy business — not just in terms of sales and production, but workplace wellness, too.

Since February 2010, the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce has granted 13 businesses its Healthy Business Bloomington designation.

The initiative is a worksite wellness recognition program for area businesses striving to create a healthy work environment for their employees.

Chamber President and CEO Christy Gillenwater said the initiative focuses on the importance of promoting mental and physical health in the face of rising health
care costs.

“I think it says we’re committed to our employees,” she said. “We think it’s important for businesses to conduct workplace wellness initiates in their businesses. It shows they’re committed to their employees and their employees’ well-being, mentally and physical. This program helps facilitate and encourage businesses not only to start up a program but to enhance existing programs.”

A business interested in having its wellness programs reviewed fills out an extensive application that can be downloaded from the Chamber’s website. It asks specific questions about a wide variety of topics relating to workplace wellness, including questions about healthy food and beverage vending machine options, employee lounge space, stress management efforts, water accessibility, lunch breaks and office-initiated walking programs.

The health care committee, a group of 15-20 Chamber members, evaluates these applications and decides whether the business’s wellness programs are worthy of the Healthy Business Bloomington designation.

Gillenwater said the committee has only denied one business during the program’s two years of existence but emphasized that the business didn’t come away empty-handed. The committee provided it feedback and suggestions for how it could get its programs up to par.

Kim Baxter is a senior client service specialist at Hylant Group in Bloomington, and she serves on the health care committee through the Chamber. She said through her staff’s efforts in the office, Hylant proudly obtained the HBB designation.

“I think it’s good to really know who in our community is striving to meet their wellness goals,” she said. “Wellness has become a buzz word, and what we wanted to do with Healthy Business Bloomington is take away the buzz but make people realize that this is really important and can help their bottom line.”

Hylant has implemented a step challenge program to encourage employees to exercise. Baxter said an office favorite is the Colorful Choices program, which challenges employees to eat five pieces of fresh fruits or vegetables, each a different color, every day for 20 days. Their efforts are incentivized with prizes.

Next week, they will start the Biggest Winner, an office weight-loss challenge.

“We are going to give as much support to any of our employees that are participating by providing fresh food in the office, but we want to extend healthy choices to their home life, as well,” Baxter said. “We don’t want it to just be about what they are doing in the office here but bringing that back to their homes and families, as well.”

Gillenwater said the committee will review another application next week at its meeting. She said she hopes word of the program will expand.    

“We think it will continue to grow with time, as a community, we focus on becoming a healthier,” she said.

The Chamber recently implemented a new aspect to the initiative — a pledge form that businesses that are formulating wellness programs can fill out, signifying their dedication to facilitating workplace wellness worthy of the Chamber’s designation.

Businesses that receive the designation can attach the logo to their business materials, showing prospective employees their dedication to health and wellness. In addition, the designees are recognized on the Chamber’s website, monthly newsletter and annual report.