Chamber unveils Work Well Winter Park

Weekly walks, eliminating sweets and encouraging employees to take the stairs are just a few of the ways the Winter Park Chamber is working to help its employees live more healthily. The Work Well Winter Park program officially launches on April 4 — National Walking Day — at 8:30 a.m. at the Central Park stage. Visit WorkWellWinterPark.org for information on how to get involved.

For the 12 years he’s worked for the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce, when monthly staff meetings rolled around, Jay Rupert could always be counted on to bring at least one thing to the table: a white-and-green box filled with warm, gooey doughnuts.

“It was tradition,” said Marisa Carroll, senior director of Chamber initiatives and events.

But with the 2012 new year, out went the tradition and up went a sign. “No sweets” it reads, hanging next to the door of the Chamber’s conference room, with a picture of a doughnut crossed out.

It wasn’t spurred by a new year’s resolution or corporate crackdown, but by a workroom discussion, too-tight sport coat and the Chamber’s desire to make Winter Park workers living and working healthier.

With the help of a $225,000 grant from the Winter Park Health Foundation, the Chamber is working to launch its Work Well Winter Park initiative to help do just that on Wednesday, April 4.

But like with many things, Chamber employees knew that the journey to health has to begin internally. Since January, Chamber President Patrick Chapin says, Chamber staff has been learning to “walk the walk” before they “talk the talk” to its member businesses on how to implement healthy living policies in the workplace.

Step 1, the staff decided: no more sodas or sweets in the office.

Rupert, fueled by both the Work Well talk and a collection of sport coats that would no longer button, willingly swapped out his doughnut tradition for a fresh fruit bowl.

“It’s amazing how you can change habits when stuff like this is on your mind,” he said.

Tradition now is the Monday morning “Rupert Report” in which he weighs in and reports his weekly weight loss. He says he’s gone from the doughnut guy to Work Well poster boy, losing 18 pounds since January.

“We want to do this with and for employees,” Carroll said, “not to them.”

Once you get your insides fueled better, it’s time to get physical. The Chamber’s step 2: getting up and active during the workday.

Another sign hangs next to the door to the Chamber’s stairwell — “Change happens one step at a time. Take the stairs.”

Chapin said through encouraging people to take the stairs, and by implementing “Sneaker Friday” with a midday walk through Winter Park, the Chamber is further helping its employees feel good inside and out.

“We’re not trying to all become marathon runners, we’re just trying to take the first step toward living healthier,” he said.

And since the sign was hung up near his office, where he used to hear the elevator ding 75-80 percent of the time anyone came up stairs, he now hears the stairwell door slam.

“This isn’t just about a program,” he said. “It’s about changing policies to change workplace culture and make long-term change.”

That’s a change he hopes will take hold not only in the environment at the Chamber, but also in its community members. Though the Work Well Winter Park project doesn’t officially launch until next month, he said the Chamber is already working with 10 to 15 community businesses to start assessing each one’s health and wellness policies and needs, to see how best Work Well can help them.

Each company, by joining the effort, will be given access to resources in the area regarding all aspects of overall health, from nutrition to fitness, stress management and sleep evaluations.

Chapin said that the Work Well project is all about bringing all members of the Winter Park community together to encourage them to live healthier, happier lives by — in the end – increasing accessibility to make the healthy choice the easy choice.

“We’re not necessarily changing the world… but if we can just move that needle a little bit toward a healthier community, we are changing people’s lives,” he said.