Wellness Council of Wisconsin Recognizes Buechel Stone with Well Workplace Award

The Wellness Council of America, with local affiliate Wellness Council of Wisconsin, recently presented its coveted Small Business Well Workplace Award to Buechel Stone Corp. The Small Business Well Workplace Award recognizes an organization for its commitment to the health and well being of their employees.

By achieving the Well Workplace Award, Buechel Stone has made a long-lasting commitment to the health and well being of its employees. As stated by WELCOA President Ryan Picarella, “Good companies know that their employees are their most valuable asset. Great companies adopt policies that support employees’ efforts to reduce health risks and are bold about motivating them through bold strategies, programs, and tactics. Great companies know that by improving their employees’ health, they can reduce health care costs.”

The HR team, April Dowland and Nikki Buechel, acquired CEO and company support while gathering input from all participants and employees. They valued everyone’s ideas at the outset, and their conscientious planning and consideration of all feedback was a huge factor in the success of the resulting Wellness Program. Health risk assessments and employee interest surveys were used to establish a baseline. Along with weekly wellness topics and a resource library dedicated to wellness, nutritional specialists and oncologists were invited to present and discuss their areas of specialty. It raised a lot of awareness about everything from the dangers of tobacco and other toxins as well as matters of food and nutrition impacts on health.

Participants had fun with the creative activities that were devised to help get in better shape. One activity was a penny war in which teams were chosen and then they designated charities to support. Whichever team totaled the most steps won money for their charity, but the opposing teams could put non-pennies in the other teams’ containers to counteract their donations. In the end, everyone was a winner. Buechel Stone Corp. employees had fun, focused on moving around more, and the company gave donations to all the designated charities. Another activity was a “Poker Walk” in which employees received a playing card for every 10,000 steps per day. Another activity involved donating food items to the Holyland Food Pantry. Those are just a few of the fun fitness campaigns that were launched to help employees earn “wellness points” that could be used to pick prizes such as hats, shirts, and jackets. Collectively, employees lost almost 500 pounds by making healthier lifestyle choices. HR Manager April Dowland mentions higher ambitions for wellness by pointing out, “It’s exciting to achieve this first step knowing that we’re building a strong foundation for the health and well-being of our teams and their families.”

The Well Workplace Awards initiative is driven by a rigorous set of criteria outlined in WELCOA’s seven benchmarks to a result-oriented Well Workplace. Since its inception in 1991, over 1,000 organizations, ranging from educational institutions to non-profit and profit sectors have joined the list of “America’s Healthiest Companies” by receiving the Well Workplace Award. “Buechel Stone worked hard to successfully meet the rigorous standards set by the Well Workplace process. It is our pleasure to recognize them as the newest Wisconsin employer to achieve Well Workplace status” said Wellness Council of Wisconsin’s Executive Director, Jessica Raddemann.

The Wellness Council of Wisconsin was founded in 1985 by nine employer from the Wisconsin business community. With more than 6,000 member organizations located throughout North America, WELCOA is highly recognized and regarded for their innovative and result-oriented approach to worksite wellness.

Well Workplace Award Press Release-1