Milwaukee, March 18, 2010 -– Milwaukee has earned designation as a Well City, the culmination of a three-year effort to foster better health habits among employees of businesses and organizations in the city.
The effort establishes Milwaukee as a healthy place to live and work, and recognizes Milwaukee’s strides to promote healthy lifestyles in the workplace, as well as in the greater Milwaukee community, said Janet McMahon, executive director of Well City Milwaukee.
The designation came from Well City USA, a nationally recognized program of the Wellness Council of America (WELCOA).
Well City is a community-wide initiative that encourages employers to develop worksite wellness programs that meet the standards of excellence as defined by WELCOA’s Well Workplace Model.
As one of only three communities in the nation selected to initiate a Well City project in 2007, the Milwaukee community was awarded the official Well City USA designation ton March 18 by WELCOA for becoming a national leader in wellness, and creating a more vibrant and productive workforce by promoting healthy lifestyles.
“The Well City USA designation shows us that Milwaukee is working in a positive direction toward promoting the health and well-being of individuals in the community,” McMahon, said. “Well City Milwaukee fits with the image we want to project as a city – revitalized, vibrant, active and progressive.”
The designation effort, led by Well City Milwaukee, consisted of a series of benchmarks over a three-year period, which included participation by local businesses and organizations who implemented wellness programs. As part of the designation process, a total of 20 employers representing at least 20 percent of Milwaukee’s employed population needed to achieve accreditation as “Well Workplaces” to earn the designation. In total, 34 employers in Milwaukee met all the criteria to become accredited.
Milwaukee’s Well City initiative was led by a team of business, civic, health care and community leaders, with Dick Tillmar of Tillmar Connect, LLC, as co-chairman.
Well City Milwaukee is a collaboration led by three key partners including the City of Milwaukee, the Greater Milwaukee Committee (GMC) and the Metropolitan Association of Commerce (MMAC). The workplace wellness coalition was launched in 2007 with the goal to improve the health and well-being of the workforce in Milwaukee and have a ripple effect on the community at large. For more information visit www.wellcitymilwaukee.