Mower County is hoping the hard work of a nine-member committee will help county employees be healthier and eventually save money.

The county’s employee wellness committee is about to meet one of its key goals Monday: It’s opening a fitness room for county employees, which will make Mower one of only a handful of counties to do so.

“With a lot of our jobs, we a do a lot of sitting at computers for long periods of time, so it’s nice to get up and get some air and get some exercise and come back and feel fresh and good,” committee member Laura Speltz told the county board earlier this week.

The idea behind the fitness center is simple: Make wellness and fitness options easier for employees.

“It’s basically just improving the ease of access to facilities,” said Karissa Studier, who works in public health, is co-coordinator of Mower’s Statewide Health Improvement Program and served on the wellness committee.

A fitness center on site is easier for employees because it makes for one less stop than going to a gym, so it removes a barrier that may keep an employee from working out.

“It’s easier for people when it’s on site to participate in a fitness center like this,” Studier said.

More and more private businesses have added fitness rooms in recent years. The idea for a county employee fitness room has been in the works for several years, but the county needed to find ways to fund fitness with outside dollars.

The county’s wellness committee, which reformed in 2014, surveyed employees, and a fitness center was one of the most-requested items.

No local taxpayer dollars were used to support or buy equipment for the fitness room. The wellness committee secured a roughly $36,000 grant from the Southeast Service Cooperative and Blue Cross Blue Shields, the county’s insurance provider, intended for wellness programs.

The grants are meant to encourage employees to be healthy.

In fact, County Coordinator Craig Oscarson said the center could eventually have a positive impact on taxpayers, as the idea is that healthier employees will lead to fewer health claims and sick time.

“If you can get employees to participate … then it means we get healthier employees, which means there’s less sick leave, and it also has a positive impact on health insurance rates,” Oscarson said.

The county board approved the fitness center earlier this week, and it’s slated to open with an orientation and educational session on Monday.

The room features three treadmills, two ellipticals, a weight machine, a medicine ball station, kettle bells, a dumbbell set and an exercise bike.

They plan to add mirrors on a wall by the weights and kettle bells along with a few televisions with cable to go in front of the treadmills. They’ll also add some educational posters for proper usage at the site.

They received posters to provide tips and promote proper workout habits. They may look for ways to expand down the road, like bringing in the occasional teachers.

The Government Center does have men’s and women’s restrooms downstairs near the fitness room that have showers; however, staff have discussed changes to make them handicapped accessible.

The room is in a nonpublic portion of the government center, and only employees who pay a monthly $5 fee will be granted access to the room. The employee fees will help maintain, clean and replace equipment. No tax dollars will be used for ongoing maintenance of the room.

The room is only for the county’s more than 200 employees and will only be used outside of work time.

“Taxpayers aren’t paying for people like me to exercise,” Oscarson said.

Employees can use the fitness room before work, after work, and committee member Sally Garry expects many to use it over the lunch hour and during breaks.

“Even for a 15-minute break you can come down and just get a little circulation going,” said Garry, who works in public health and is the other co-coordinator for SHIP.

Some employees already walk the halls of the Government Center over breaks and lunch hours. Garry noted there’s a walking club when it’s nice, but Studier noted this will be nice for when there is implement weather.

A law enforcement workout room was remodeled a few years ago after the Mower County Jail and Justice Center was built, but that’s only available to law enforcement since its in the LEC security perimeter.

The committee’s wellness plans won’t end with the fitness center, as they could plan classes, wellness fairs and other activities in the future.

Mower County’s employee wellness committee

•Karissa Studier

•Sally Garry

•Sherry Roth

•Val Kruger

•Debra Schmitt

•Kelley Lang

•Beverly Atzl

•Janice Green

•Laura Speltz