Teledyne Celebrates its Employee Wellness Program

Teledyne is currently in its third straight year of growth but there is one area where growth is shrinking – waistlines.
Thanks to a new fitness center and an employee wellness program, Teledyne is not only keeping people working, but they are also working out. And to celebrate, Teledyne held a Wellness Fair for its employees on Thursday, April 15 with food, music, door prizes and a special guest, Liz Young, of the Biggest Loser television show, from Chapel Hill.
Since the show, Young has been doing speaking engagements and holding boot camps with fellow Biggest Loser contestant Tracy Yukych all over the country; and she was very happy to talk to some folks from back home.
“It is rare to speak to people from my own community,” Young said.
Young was on hand to rib some employees for enjoying too many ribs at the Wellness Fair, to give a quick exercise boot camp and to hand out prizes to the winners of the Teledyne Biggest Loser Competition.
“Teledyne really rolled out the red carpet for your exercise facility,” Young told the Teledyne employees. “Take advantage of this great facility.”
The Teledyne Fitness Center was the culmination of an ongoing effort by the company to implement wellness to its employees. Each year, Vanderbilt comes to Teledyne to conduct health screenings and the company has had a Weight Watchers program for the past three years. Teledyne VP Norm Wolstein approached HR Director John Boutwell about taking their wellness program up another level when he noticed his own waistline heading in the wrong direction.
“We understand how tough it is to balance your work and personal lives,” said Wolstein. “We wanted to provide you a place to help you do that.”
Norm has lost around 50lbs since taking part in the wellness program and plans to win next year’s Teledyne Biggest Loser contest.
The Teledyne Fitness Center is state of the art with elliptical machines, weights, a yoga/dance studio and more. It is open to employees from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday. There are even locker rooms with showers for employees who use the facility during their breaks. Boutwell turned to his friend, Andy Harvey of Harvey’s Gym to help locate the equipment and make the facility a real fitness center for Teledyne employees.
The Teledyne cafeteria has even gotten into the act by providing healthier choices in food.
Diane Nasser is serving as the Fitness Director for Teledyne and comes from the Dayani Wellness Center of Vanderbilt. She works with employees on their fitness routines and their yoga classes.
“This is an important program for not only the health of employees but for their morale,” Nasser said. “Using the exercise room and taking part in yoga classes here at Teledyne really pulls the employees together.”
The Teledyne Wellness Fair was a fun event for all the employees and their guests with booths set up by AFLAC, Rejuvenate of Jubilee Hills and Weight Watchers. Door prizes and drawings were held including a great spa treatment day at Rejuvenate of Jubilee Hills located on Cornersville Road.
“We think this is great,” said Flo (Coach Flo) Grabowski of AFLAC. “And as we always say, healthier employees make for more productive employees.”
With Marshall County’s own Nora Mills Band performing, employees enjoyed a nice BBQ in the sunshine before announcing the winners of the Teledyne Biggest Loser contest. Angie Davis took home first place by losing 13 percent body fat followed by Brenda Lindley in second and a tie for third between Nela Patel and Susan Garten. Each received a special gift from Teledyne and a word of encouragement from Young.
As Teledyne continues to grow and provide a stable employer for Marshall County, the company reminds us that employees are the key to success by giving back to its people with its fitness center and wellness program.