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President ӕ Publisher
Julie Russell
julie@adcoagency.com
Editor
Paul Gordon
editor@thepeorian.com
Design
Stuart Clubb
Mike Cameron
Megan Valentine
Sara Hale
Contributing Writers
Kevin Kizer
kevin@adcoagency.com
Peter Couri
Cathi Hawkinson
Dr. Joy Miller
Gary Wright
Advertising Sales Contact
Emily Ferrell
sales@thepeorian.com
Production Manager
Mark Kiel
Publications Director
Lisa Abraham
Production
AdCo Advertising Agency, Inc.
1302 W. Pioneer Parkway
Peoria, IL 61615
Phone: (309) 692-7880
O
ne of the stories in the
current issue of
The Peorian
magazine discusses how
companies are starting to step forward
— if only at the suggestion of their
insurance carriers — to assist their
employees with getting fit.
Some companies help by support-
ing weight loss programs, with fitness
classes or club dues, while others pay
for employees to try smoking cessation
methods, including medications.
It’s part of wellness programming
that is taking hold across the country
with the idea that it ends up being a
good investment for companies to
help their employees achieve weight
loss and fitness goals. The more fit an
employee is the fewer health insurance
claims get filed, meaning overall health
insurance costs go down.
Some places around town have
well-planned programs, including
Methodist Medical Center and OSF
Saint Francis Medical Center and
Caterpillar Inc. These places do health
assessments of their employees first,
then help them decide and plan their
fitness program. With some programs,
employees are rewarded by paying
less for their insurance premiums or
co-pays.
At AdCoAdvertising, parent com-
pany of
The Peorian
, you’re liable to see
bicycles pop out over the lunch break
—during nice weather, at least —with
people wearing dressy work clothes
pedaling down the Rock Island Trail,
which is less than a pitching wedge
away from our office on Pioneer
Parkway.
AdCo keeps a fleet of bicycles
on site for its employees to use over
lunch break (if we are ever able to
break away from our desks) or for
breaks in the middle of the morning or
afternoon (see previous parenthetical).
The bicycles are supplied by Russell’s
Cycling and Fitness inWashington.
There is a familial connection. Our
boss, company owner and
The Peorian
publisher Julie Russell, is sister-in-law
to Joe Russell, founder of Russell’s
Cycling. She encourages us to bring
our families here for weekend bicycle
jaunts, as well.
We have some nice bikes at our dis-
posal. There is even a tandem bicycle
back there, but I don’t want my wife to
know about it. She’ll want to ride it. I
already kept the part about the bicycles
being available from her until it got too
cold to ride.
However, as I work toward losing
weight and getting more fit in the
coming months, those bicycles will
probably come in handy. We’ll see.
Full disclosure - I never want to try
and pull anything over on our read-
ers, so I feel I should tell you up front
that the author of the student story
in this edition of
The Peorian
, Caitlyn
Swanson, is my granddaughter. She
is 12 and a 7th-grader at Von Steuben
Middle School in Peoria. She wrote the
story last spring as her submission to
the YoungAuthors Contest and was
named the winner for her class.
And yes, grandpa is very proud of
her, as I am all my grandchildren.
Paul Gordon is editor of The Peorian.
He can be reached at 692-7880 or
editor@thepeorian.com
Editor
From the
www.thePeorian.com
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