Activated Business Challenge to Launch in Allen County

Calling all Allen County businesses! It is time to step up to the plate and compete for the title of Healthiest Workplace! Starting in September, all workplaces and businesses will be eligible to apply for the newly created Activated Business Challenge. This challenge is being brought to the community through a partnership that includes: The Lima/Allen County Chamber of Commerce, the Partnerships to Improve Community Health grant, St. Rita’s Health Partners and West Central Ohio Healthcare Alliance. The goal of this challenge is to provide businesses with an evidenced based tool to assess their current wellness practices and then provide resources to assist with improving current practices as well as technical assistance as needed to reach goals.

To participate in the challenge, businesses will need to visit www.ActivateAllenCounty.com and fill out the challenge scorecard. This scorecard is based on the CDC Worksite Health Scorecard, a national tool that employers can use. Areas such as nutrition, active living, tobacco free environments, health promotion and workplace safety will be covered in this assessment and points will be assigned based on the answers provided. Once the assessment is complete, your workplace will hear back with information including your score and areas that the workplace is strong in as well as areas where improvements can be made. Businesses will have the opportunity to work with staff to create improvement plans and make changes in order to improve your score for future submissions. These changes can include policies, education, signage, etc. The Activate Allen County website will act as a resource guide for workplaces to visit as well. Here, they will find sample policies that could be implemented, evidence in support of workplace wellness practices, new ideas, national resource links and wellness focused community events for workplaces to participate in throughout the year.

Once the challenge deadline passes, our Workplace Wellness Committee will review scores and reach out to businesses for additional documentation as needed. Finally, each business will be invited to a celebration event where awards and recognition will be provided to those workplaces and businesses who have meet the requirements. This same process will repeat twice per year and businesses will continue to have the chance to improve their scores and achieve the highest level workplace wellness that they desire. What a great opportunity to tell the community and region about businesses who are putting a priority on the health and well-being of their employees!

More information will be coming soon- so keep your eyes open! To keep up to date on all the information around this challenge you can follow us on Facebook and Twitter and be added to our newsletter by visiting our website and submitting your email address. You can also call the Activate Allen County office at 419-221-5035 with additional questions and ask to speak with Kayla Monfort. We are looking forward to a little healthy competition among our Allen County businesses this fall and we hope many workplaces join the challenge!