Health & Wellness Program

On September 30, 2011, American Licorice was awarded the Healthiest Employer in the Bay Area (in the 100-499 employee category) by the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal in partnership with the San Francisco Business Times. You can read about this award here. On October 14, 2011, the Portland Business Journal and Healthiest Employers LLC awarded American Licorice the #2 spot as the Healthiest Employer in Oregon! (in the 100-499 employees category).

“Healthier Tomorrow Than We Are Today” is the motto of American Licorice Company’s Wellness Program. Since 2007, our associates and their families have committed to a healthier lifestyle. Our Wellness Programs and Initiatives include:

Health Fairs—featuring healthy cooking demonstrations, massage therapists, acupuncture, medical carriers, yoga, fitness and stretching demonstrations.
Annual health screenings for all associates
The American Licorice Company (ALC) Store features fitness and wellness related merchandise. Associates can earn points to purchase this merchandise by participating in wellness initiatives.
Wellness Centers that feature computer kiosks and phones to access all wellness vendors, including WellCall for personal coaching, the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), and medical carriers. The Wellness Centers also feature the programs that are currently in place and highlight items from the ALC associate store.
Wellness Initiatives
- Biggest Loser—a 13 week program that features on-site weigh-ins by WellCall.
  - As we shed pounds, we donate the pounds in non-perishable food to local food banks.
  - Collectively, we’ve lost nearly 1,000 pounds and have donated that amount to our community food banks.
- Walking Programs—we run a 9-week virtual walking program that encourages our associates to exercise on a daily basis.
  - We’ve walked to Orlando, Hawaii, New York and Las Vegas. We’ve logged millions of steps on our way to beingHealthier Tomorrow.
  - Each competition a lucky associate and guest win a trip to the destination city.
- Coaching—we offer unlimited wellness coaching through WellCall.
  - Associates and dependents have access to free wellness coaching that includes access to wellness experts.
  - Coaching takes place via email or by telephone.
- Fruit/Veggie and Super Foods Day—each month we feature a fruit, veggie or super food for our associates to try.
  - Offerings range from the obscure (cherimoya) to more every day foods.
  - We publish a tip sheet on the item that we are serving for the day.
  - We do this to encourage our associates to get in their daily intake of fruits and veggies, expose them to something they wouldn’t normally try, and provide education on why fruits, veggies and super foods are so good for you.

The Wellness Committee of the Lean and Green Team works on Wellness program related projects, judges the effectiveness of each initiative, and provides feedback on future events.

American Licorice loves to get active!

Getting active is such an important part of a healthy lifestyle. We encourage everyone to find the physical activity they like and pursue it! From our walking program to our annual Pole, Pedal, Paddle teams to our entries in competitive running, exercise is an integral part of our wellness program and part of the working life we love!

Chandra at the 2010 Jingle Bell Run in Bend

Awards

You can see that education and prevention are the key components of our Wellness Program. We think we are doing a great job, but what do the experts say? In the past few years, American Licorice Company has earned awards in each state in which we operate, as well as company-wide. These include:

Healthiest Employer in the Bay Area, California–first place int he 100-499 employees category in 2011.
California Fit Business Award—Silver 2010 and Bronze 2009
American Heart Association Start! Fit Friendly Award—2010
Healthiest Employers of Indiana—first place in the 100-499 employees category in 2010.
Healthiest Employers of Oregon—second place in the 100-499 employees category in 2011

The awards are wonderful, but the greater satisfaction is looking around at our associates—healthier and happier. We will continue to strive to be, “Healthier Tomorrow Than We Are Today”