The Rochester Business Alliance today honored three local employers as winners - and 11 others as runners-up - in the first Eat Well, Live Well Challenge's community-wide competition.
Participants in the Spring Eat Well, Live Well Challenge were offered the opportunity to participate in something new and exciting - a head-to-head competition with other employer's teams.
Of the 88 employers signed up for the Challenge, 51 opted to take part in the competition. Participating organizations vied for the top spot in three categories -average steps walked, average cups of fruits and vegetables consumed, and most creative plan to engage employees in the program.
"We were looking for a way to get new employers interested in the Challenge and reinvigorate past participants," said Sandy Parker, president and CEO of the Rochester Business Alliance. "This seemed like a natural extension, playing off the competitive nature of businesses."
Entrants were narrowed to five finalists in each category, and finalists and winners were announced at news conference today, sponsored by the Rochester Business Alliance and Wegmans Food Markets, creators of the 8-week challenge.
In 1st Place, with an average of 5.8 cups per person per day was Vnomics, with Center for Dispute Settlement, Cryovac Sealed Air Corp., Harris Seeds and Pittsford Federal Credit Union coming within a nibble.
Coming in first with an average per participant of 11,221 steps per day was Ameritherm, Inc., just outpacing Fairport Central's Dudley Elementary School, Foodlink, Soleo Communications and Web Seal, Inc.
The five finalists in the most creative program were Baldwin Richardson Foods, La Bella Associates, Paychex, Pittsford Federal Credit Union and Reliant Community Credit Union. The top award was given to Reliant Community Credit Union for its Passport to Wellness program, which included sampling new fruits and weekly employee activities such as a "snowball fight" with marshmallows.
"Healthier, better lives is the objective of the Challenge. Behavior change is hard, but the Eat Well, Live Well Challenge provides support by co-workers in teams to make it easier," said Mary Ellen Burris, senior vice president of consumer affairs at Wegmans, who judged the creative portion of the competition along with RBA President and CEO Sandy Parker and Dr. Cynthia Reddeck-LiDestri, director of wellness programs at LiDestri Foods.
"This year added an extra element of fun by having companies compete with each other," Burris added. "We were thrilled to see the creativity brought to the Challenge by participating companies. Congratulations to all."
All the finalists received a framed certificate and the three winners received apple-shaped trophies. To further recognize the achievement, and share the bounty of wellness, following the news conference, Wegmans donated a large display of fresh fruit to the Kids' Café, a Foodlink program that provides after-school and summer meals to area children in need.
The finalists were chosen from among the 51 employers engaged in the competition. The other participating employers were:
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