Phil Castle, The Business Times

Rebecca Weitzel and Skip Hudson have seen the benefits of wellness programs in the workplace, chief among them healthier, happier and ultimately more engaged employees.

While wellness programs typically have been implemented by large corporations and organizations, Weitzel and Hudson have launched a venture to offer those programs to small businesses and groups.

A cooperative approach will enable businesses and groups to share and lower costs. Moreover, they can expect a return on their investment in lower health costs and higher productivity as well as an advantage in recruiting and retaining employees, Weitzel said.

Weitzel and Hudson operate Good Life Wellness Solutions, a Grand Valley business that offers a range of services to help their clients set up and operate wellness programs.

Weitzel brings to the enterprise more than 20 years of experience in the health, fitness and wellness industry, most recently as wellness manager for Hilltop Community Resources in Grand Junction. She also serves as lead advisor in Mesa County for Health Links.

A program of the Center for Health, Work & Environment at the Colorado School of Public Health, Health Links collaborates with employers to build a culture of health and safety in the workplace. The program offers assessments of health and safety policies and programs, advice on goals and certification of qualifying employers as Healthy Businesses.

Hudson brings to the venture his varied experiences as entrepreneur and mental health educator. He worked for more than 30 years as a traffic engineer and operated a consulting firm. He also has training in teaching life skills, among them mindful self-compassion and emotional resilience.

Weitzel will continue to manage the wellness program for Hilltop on a contract basis, but hopes to start and help manage wellness programs for other businesses and organizations through Good Life Wellness Solutions.

The firm offers the services of experienced professionals to administer wellness programs without the expense of employing them, Weitzel and Hudson said.

The two hope to set up what they described as cooperatives in which groups of clients join in wellness programs.

For a introductory rate of $199 a month, cooperative participants receive a range of services that include health risk appraisals, incentive plans, monthly newsletters, quarterly wellness challenges and monitoring to track and promote engagement.

In addition to lowering costs, Weitzel and Hudson said a cooperative approach creates communities of participants and connections among them. Businesses might choose to compete in wellness challenges, friendly competitions that promote participation and results. Or businesses could form alliances and compete that way, they said.

Good Life Wellness Solutions also offers services to clients that want their own  wellness programs. In addition, services are available on an a la carte basis and include onsite seminars and individual coaching.

Research has shown wellness programs offer benefits in lowering health care costs, reducing employee absenteeism and increasing engagement and productivity, Weitzel said.

Hudson said wellness programs constitute an economic development initiative in helping businesses address the rising costs of health care.

At Hilltop, a wellness program reduced health care and workers’ compensation insurance costs, she said. Participation in the program grew to 76 percent of the staff of about 650.

Hilltop also received state and national recognition for operating a psychologically health workplace.

In an increasingly tight labor market, wellness programs also can help in attracting and retaining employees, Weitzel said. Given the costs associated with turnover, keeping just one or two employees would recoup the cost of a wellness program, she added.

To achieve success, wellness programs require strong support from owners and leaders as well as personal connections with employees, Weitzel said. Incentives work better than penalties in motivating people to change behaviors — to eat healthier foods or quit smoking, for example.

Wellness programs aren’t just for large corporations and organizations, though, and Good Life Wellness Solutions can help small businesses and groups offer programs, Weitzel said. “Any business should be able to reap those benefits.”