The Jackson Laboratory wins Maine Fitness Award
| Date: May 20, 2009 |
Bar Harbor, Maine -- The Jackson Laboratory, a nonprofit research laboratory dedicated to improving human health, is also dedicated to improving the health of its 1,363 employees. Maine Governor John Baldacci presented the Maine Fitness Award to the Laboratory in the Healthy Workplace -- Large Employer category at a ceremony in Augusta.
The Maine Fitness Awards, presented by the Governor's Council on Physical Activity, recognize people and programs that promote physical fitness and sports programs in eight different categories including youth-based, community and workplace.
“Good health impacts everything we do,” Governor Baldacci said. “Kids who are healthy perform better in school and are better prepared for successful careers. Workers who are healthy are more productive. We are all able to more fully enjoy time with family and friends when we are healthy.”
Jackson Laboratory VP and COO Chuck Hewett, Ph.D., says that encouraging fitness is a critical piece of the institution's efforts to ensure the health and well-being of its employees. "We also provide wellness coaching and free preventive checkups and diagnostics, including mammograms and colonoscopies, along with outstanding health insurance available at low cost to our employees," says Hewett. "We believe that encouraging our employees to be well and fit is the right thing to do for them and their families as well as for the productivity and financial well-being of the Lab.”
Ben Billings, Jackson's wellness program coordinator, accepted the award on behalf of the Laboratory. Governor Baldacci was joined at the ceremony by the Governor’s Council on Physical Activity Co-Chairs, Dr. Erik N. Steele and Olympic marathon legend Joan Benoit Samuelson.
The Jackson Laboratory's mission is to discover the genetic basis for preventing, treating and curing human diseases, and to enable research and education for the global biomedical community.
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Download a photo of Governor Baldacci and Ben Billings (156k .jpg)
Contact(s): Joyce Peterson, 207-288-6058
For information on automatic email delivery of news releases (journalists only), please send an email request for details to news@jax.org. Please address other inquiries to pubinfo@jax.org.
Media Relations, Communications Office
The Jackson Laboratory
600 Main Street
Bar Harbor, Maine 04609-1500
Phone: 207-288-6058 (journalists only)
Main Jackson Laboratory phone: 207-288-6000
Fax: 207-288-6076
Email: news@jax.org
