These two visionary entrepreneurs have demonstrated the value of corporate wellness programs.

In many ways, Brenda Loube and Sheila Drohan, the cofounders of Corporate Fitness Works (CFW), a fitness consulting and management firm based in Montgomery Village, Maryland, are much like any other partners who launch a small business.

They share a vision about the services they want to provide, the way they want to deliver them, and how they want to manage their company. Like many others, they once struggled to raise seed capital, and have since had to grapple with the wide range of challenges that confront every new entrepreneurial venture.

What's impressive about them and startling about their vision is when they first recognized the need, and the related opportunity, that gave rise to CFW. It was nearly 20 years ago, when the world-in terms of medicine, healthcare, and fitness-was a very different place. Loube and Drohan were convinced that, by offering companies a wide range of fitness and wellness options, they could have a positive impact on employee health, which, in turn, would accrue to the business in the form of improved productivity, reduced absenteeism, lower healthcare costs, etc. At the time, it seemed a novel-not to say radical-notion.

Back then, only a few large corporations were beginning to make the connection between workers' health and chronic human-relations problems. Preventing disease though lifestyle change wasn't a priority among doctors, let along among club owners. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control hadn't yet considered adding "Prevention" to its name. There were healthy people. And there were sick people. And, for the latter, the prescription was generally drugs, surgery, or rehabilitation.

Loube and Drohan had a different idea.

"I'd worked in cardiac rehab, and had once been recruited to screen apparently healthy people who were members of a club for early detection of medical problems," Loube recalls. "I knew the future could-and should-be about prevention."

When Loube met Drohan in 1984 at a convention of the Association for Fitness in Business-now the Association of Worksite Health Promotion (AWHP), an interest group within the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)-their concerns, evolving notions, and areas of expertise all clicked. "We found ourselves focusing on the fact that most people spend most of their day at work," says Loube. "And we thought, 'Why not create worksite programs that are both convenient and cost-effective?'

"We felt that, by doing so, we could improve the quality of people's lives."

Today, it's obvious, CFW is doing just that. It oversees a total of 34 fitness and wellness programs for companies in 12 different states, including, among others, Ford, Sprint, Gillette, Tropicana, and Humana. The clarity and accuracy of Loube's and Drohan's vision is attested to by the fact that CFW has been consistently profitable since its first year...and by the fact that the rest of the world is finally catching on.

Like matching parts of a puzzle, the two women seemed destined-by virtue of their backgrounds, temperament, skills, and passions-to one day work side by side. Loube, who serves as CFW's president, has a B.S. degree in health and physical education from Towson University, in Towson, Maryland, and extensive professional experience with a hospital, nursing school, and several health clubs. Drohan, the company's CEO, earned a B.S. in health and physical education from Slippery Rock State University, in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, and a master's in public administration from Rutgers University, in New Jersey, and has held positions at YMCAs there and in Washington, D.C.

While both were still working full-time and refining the concept for their business, they also worked part-time in marketing for National Whole Health Programs (NWHP), a Boston-based, fitness-management firm. Aware of their entrepreneurial aspirations, the company offered to sell three of its corporate contracts to the women, who were stymied, nonetheless, by their lack of capital. "Even with a business plan and three contracts in hand, we couldn't find someone to back us," explains Drohan. That changed when her mother, Mary, mortgaged her home and lent the two $300,000.

"I don't know what we would have done without her," reflects Loube.

CFW hooked up its phones and opened its doors in 1988, at a time when there were just a handful of such operations in the country, most of them on the West Coast. Since then, driven by its founders' commitment, perseverance, professionalism, and personal priorities, it has grown into a sophisticated enterprise with 150 full-time and 100 part-time employees; regional offices in Kansas City, Kansas, St. Louis, Missouri, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Tampa, Florida; clients that span the spectrum from energy, to manufacturing, to telecommunications; and annual revenues of $6 million.

Its service offering now encompasses: fitness and wellness program consulting; facility planning, design, and implementation; fitness-center operations management; survey, utilization, and outcomes evaluation; and, health and wellness promotion programs.

"Whatever a company's objectives-whether it's to set up a break-even fitness operation, or improve employee morale and productivity, or reduce medical or disability claims-we can develop a specific business plan to achieve those goals," explains Loube.

Loube's and Drohan's complementary personalities and skill-sets provide the foundation for CFW's systems and staff. Drohan handles sales, contract negotiations, client relations, and corporate and financial development. Loube concentrates on new business development, public relations, the in-house leadership-training institute, and, importantly, team relations. Question the two about the source of their success, and the topic quickly turns to their employees. "The key is finding the right team to run our centers," insists Loube. "We hire people who reflect the core values of our company...

"We also practice what we preach," she adds. "We value our team members, both personally and professionally, and do our best to encourage them, acknowledge them, and provide them with a wellness culture."

The rewards produced by their approach are attested to by everyone from their staff, to their clients, to independent entities, such as AWHP, the Bank of America, and the Women Presidents' Educational Organization (WPEO).

"I've stayed with this company virtually from the outset," notes Vice President Chris Nail, "because I have a genuine belief in the value of the way that CFW delivers health and fitness services to its clients and, in turn, their employees."

One client, Humana, Inc., the giant insurance company based in Louisville, Kentucky, is equally appreciative. "I don't know much about fitness, but I don't have to because CFW does such a good job of managing four facilities for us-one in Florida, one in Wisconsin, and two in Kentucky," reports Patty Guist, the firm's director of associate (employee) programs and services. "The CFW staff focuses on all of our associates-not just the ones who join our fitness centers. They care about the wellness of all of our people, and do things for the whole company."

Overall, WHP earns an average customer-satisfaction score of 97 percent from its clients.

AWHP and Bank of America have both honored CFW, and, in January, WPEO recognized it as the outstanding Women Business Enterprise in Washington, D.C. The criteria for the latter award includes: outstanding customer service; quality of programs and services; creative problem solving and/or innovation that benefits clients; affiliations and or contributions to women's organizations, and support of other women-owned businesses or vendors.

When they set off in pursuit of their vision, Loube and Drohan were trailblazers in a largely uncharted realm. Today, thanks, in some small way, to the example they've set, they're part of a large, important, and growing industry. And they've demonstrated, to the satisfaction of all, that corporate fitness does work.


Patricia Amend is a contributing editor to CBI. She can be reached at Pamend@aol.com.

For More Information:
Contact: Megan Mansfield
301-417-9697
info@corporatefitnessworks.com