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by Donald B. Ardell, Ph. D.
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Wellness in the Headlines
(Don's Report to the World)

Biking and Beer in the Rockies

Sunday November 11, 2001

A few years ago, I went on a seven-day, 465-mile bicycle ride from Cortez to Golden, Colorado. Known as "Ride the Rockies," the event was a combination exercise feat and mountain vacation with a variety of events at each of the seven host towns along the way. (Besides the two cities listed, the stops were at Alamosa, Durango, Pagosa Springs, Leadville and Frisco.) Great fun and exercise -- if you ever want to see the Rockies and work out at the same time, consider taking your chances in the lottery -- it's very difficult to get in to this popular ride! You have to apply very early and hope your name gets picked! There were about 2300 along the year I did the tour but 10,000 or more applied. So, don't set your heart on it, just in case you don't get lucky.

At the end of the ride, the company that provided the big bucks that made it all possible threw a celebration party in the town of Golden for all the participants. That company is the Adolph Coors Brewing Company, headquartered in Golden.

Coors Brewery recently celebrated twenty years of wellness at its employee Wellness Center. As the Nation's most celebrated and recognized health enhancement program, it was a treat to be able to stop by to see first-hand what all the fuss was about.

Here are a few highlights.

Coors wellness started in 1981 because Chairman Bill Coors wanted his company to have "the healthiest employees in the Rocky Mountain Region." Not an unworthy objective, though there is no evidence that anyone tried to assess the health of Coors employees relative to millions of others in the region, or even looked into how such a thing might be done. It hardly matters, though, as the opportunity to get healthy certainly is there for Brewery workers with enough sense to take advantage of a "golden" opportunity.

One of the first things Coors did was to hire a staff and convert a 23,000 square foot supermarket facility into a state-of-the-art fitness and general-purpose wellness center. They spent a bundle doing it, too.

Over the years, the program has offered a dazzling range of activities and services. If you are in a high-risk category and you want to try to improve your health status, Coors is the place to be. Testing they've got, for whatever ails you, more or less. If you just want to get "weller," again you're at the right place, if you work at Coors. Coors has clubs that will support to a considerable extent whatever it is that excites you of a fitness or sporting nature. In fact, the company will even give you a gift for working out at the center, provided you do it enough (30 times in three months).

Third-party studies have provided lots of data on the returns from the program. However, company president Bill Coors insists that Coors would promote wellness regardless of financial benefits, since it's the right thing to do, boosts productivity and provides uncounted other advantages (higher morale, builds loyalty, etc.) Nevertheless, the following corporate paybacks gained from a million dollar budget are not ignored entirely:

A return of $6.15 for each dollar spent.
A savings of $118 thousand if comparable cardiac programs were provided employees outside the Wellness Center.
A savings of a million and a half dollars if seven other offerings were made available outside the company's own wellness operations. A total annual savings of $3.2 million.
If you want to know more about Coors wellness, check the website or visit next time you're in Golden, CO. Better yet, ride into town on a bike, then take the tour, ask questions and have a beer (in the Wellness Center!) on your way out, as I did.

Congratulations to Coors on 20 years of corporate wellness initiatives -- and for sponsoring (with the Denver Post) a great annual bike ride.

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