NIC (NASDAQ: EGOV), a leading provider of online government services, is one of only two Kansas City metro companies to be recognized as a Platinum-Level Start! Fit-Friendly Company by the American Heart Association's Start! initiative for helping employees eat better and move more.
"Wellness is more than a buzzword at NIC - it's a part of our culture," said Harry Herington, NIC CEO. "At NIC we try to provide our employees and their families as many opportunities as possible to focus on fitness and their overall wellbeing. I'm honored our efforts have resulted in us being recognized by the American Heart Association as a Platinum-Level Start! Fit-Friendly Company."
Platinum-level employers:
- Offer employees physical activity options in the workplace
- Increase healthy eating options at the worksite
- Promote a wellness culture in the workplace
- Implement at least nine criteria outlined by the American Heart Association in the areas of physical activity, nutrition and culture
- Demonstrate measurable outcomes related to workplace wellness
One of NIC's most popular employee health initiatives is the annual Ideal Weight Challenge. Employees are encouraged to eat healthy and stay active in order to maintain a healthy body mass index (BMI) over a 12-week period. Every two weeks employees weigh in to determine his or her BMI. For every weigh in that an employee is within their healthy BMI, they receive a ticket in a drawing for the grand prize of two airline tickets and a five night hotel stay in any state which NIC does business! On average the company achieves 62 percent employee participation in the program and awards the grand prize each spring.
The Start! Fit-Friendly Companies Program is a catalyst for positive change in the American workforce by helping companies make their employees' health and wellness a priority.
American employers face increasing healthcare expenses and health-related losses in productivity that cost an estimated $225.8 billion a year. Many American adults spend most of their waking hours at sedentary jobs. Their lack of regular physical activity raises their risk for a host of medical problems, such as obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes. Employers face $12.7 billion in annual medical expenses due to obesity alone. Start! helps change corporate cultures by motivating employees to start walking, which has the lowest dropout rate of any physical activity.
Recognition is a critical component of the Start! Fit-Friendly Companies Program. Employers that join this program qualify for official recognition by the American Heart Association. Qualifying companies also have the right to use the program's annual recognition seal for internal communications and with external, recruitment-related communications.
Participating companies also get free access to program resources such as the free Start! Walking Program, materials to help promote company wellness programs to employees, internal newsletter templates and consultation on CPR/AED (automated external defibrillator) programs.
Start! also offers MyStart! Online, a free Web-based fitness and nutrition tracker for companies and individuals. A "dashboard" feature lets HR or wellness managers view employee participation in Start!
"The Start! Fit-Friendly Companies Program offers a unique, easy-to-implement opportunity for corporations to increase employees' physical activity, which will help improve their health - and their employers' bottom line," said Nick Sterner, Kansas City Start! Heart Walk Director. "Even people who haven't exercised regularly until middle age can reap significant benefits by starting a walking program. A study published in 1986 in the New England Journal of Medicine found that some adults may gain two hours of life expectancy for every hour of regular, vigorous exercise they performed."
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