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News Releases & Feature ArticlesProject: Winston-Salem Magazine Feature ArticlesClient: Winston-Salem Magazine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Autumn will bring more than falling leaves and football to the Triad this year as independent filmmaker Bill Olsen of Hickory and his entourage arrive in Winston-Salem and Kernersville for 10 days to two weeks of filming in October. Olsen’s movie, `Summertime Blues,’ is a feature-length comedy about two Boston youths who become involved in a jewel robbery and flee south with a punk rock band. Other filming will take place in Boston and Virginia. “We chose Winston-Salem for filming “Summertime Blues” because it looks like Boston,” says Olsen, who is co-writer and director of the film. “We plan to use some of the scenes we shoot around Winston-Salem as part of the Boston segment and some for around here. We’ll be shooting downtown, in residential sections, in spots along I-40, everywhere.” “Summertime Blues” is Olsen’s second feature-length film. The first, titled “American Voyeur,” was filmed in Hickory for less than $1 million and distributed nationally in 1982 under the somewhat more colloquial title, “Getting it On.” Olsen’s $1.6 million budget is modest by Hollywood standards. But while movies may not yet be classified as big business around here, North Carolina Film Commission Director Bill Arnold estimates that filmmakers have brought $355,000,000 to the state since the commission opened for business as part of the Department of Commerce in January 1980. “The actual expenditures from our office have not exceeded $50,000 in any year we’ve been in operation,” he adds. North Carolina’s film commission began with a December 1978 meeting between Thom Mount, who at that time was vice president in charge of worldwide production for Universal Studios, and Governor Jim Hunt. Mount, a Durham native, told Hunt about the growing trend among Hollywood filmmakers to shoot on location. After his meeting with Mount, Hunt asked Arnold—who at that time was director of travel and tourism for the state—to study the feasibility of creating a film commission for North Carolina. “We spent quite a bit of time looking at other film commissions,” recalls Arnold. “We found everything from 100 member advisory panels to operations that were little more than a title tacked onto an existing tourism office. Our conclusion was that if we set things up right, a film office could generate substantial economic benefits in North Carolina.” As if to illustrate the accuracy of Arnold’s study, the production company for “Being There,” a major motion picture starring Peter Sellers and Shirley MacLaine, arrived in Asheville at about that time to film at the Biltmore House. “The Travel and Tourism office was marginally involved in helping with the production of `Being There,’” says Arnold. “The total budget was $8 million, with $2 million of that spent directly in the Asheville area. The things Thom Mount had said became patently obvious, and Hunt decided the time was right to create the commission.” The film commission’s first attempt to “see a film all the way through” was “The Mating Season,” a made-for-TV movie starring Luci Arnaz and Laurence Luckinbill. “It was a relatively low-budget production,” says Arnold, “but it brought quite a bit of money into Highlands, where it was filmed.” While filming for “The Mating Season” continued, Arnold made several quick trips to Asheville’s Biltmore House where Tristar Films had begun production of “Private Eyes,” a $5 million comedy starring Don Knotts and Tim Conway. In the four and a half years the North Carolina Film Commission has been in operation, 33 films have been produced, at least in part, in the state. The most notable include: “One of our key selling points is that we’ve got the governor behind us,” explains Arnold. “That means when we call the Department of Transportation to shut down a road, or ask to use a state park, we get immediate cooperation.” A case in point is “Rituals,” a five-night-a-week $14 million syndicated serial that brought a production crew of 40 to the Elon College campus in late July. The “Rituals” production company was turned away from several Virginia colleges and one North Carolina school because of its “steamy” plot. With Arnold’s help, the producers were able to strike an agreement with Elon to use their campus. “We were looking for a college small enough to have been endowed by a single family,” explained Richard Firth, director of publicity and promotion for the production. “We also needed the Virginia tie-in because parts of the story are set in D.C., and our characters had to be able to come and go easily. The North Carolina film office let us know they really wanted us, and that was nice. We’ve had the full cooperation of that office and the college. It’s made our work much easier.” “We did have some misgivings about the story line,” says Elon College’s Director of Community Relations Tim McDowell, who had a small speaking part in an orientation-day segment. “But they’ve given us lots of assurances that the show will have to be acceptable to air during prime time. Besides, they’ve covered up all the signs on our buildings with signs reading “Haddon Hall.” Nothing is really going to be that recognizable unless you’re really familiar with the campus.” “Of course having 40 people come onto campus for several days is disruptive,” says McDowell. “But it’s a great experience for the students who are here to be able to see all the work that’s involved in a production like this. They’ll be renting the campus again about every three months as the seasons change, but as long as they don’t want to show up during exams, we’re glad to have them.” As of mid-July, 169 stations had agreed to carry “Rituals,” including Greensboro’s WFMY. By far the biggest film-related spending in the state is by international movie producer Dino De Laurentiis, who decided to locate his United States studio complex in Wilmington, despite heavy wooing from Charleston, South Carolina. The facility is now under construction and when completed will have 11 sound stages, a commissary, a carpentry shop, a prop shop, dressing rooms, editing rooms, a screening room, a special effects shop, lighting and grip shops, a scenery dock and transportation, make-up and wardrobe areas. De Laurentiis’ first North Carolina production was “Firestarter,” a $15 million film based on a Stephen King novel and starring David Keith and Drew Barrymore. Stephen King’s “Cat’s Eye,” a humorous suspense thriller is currently in production. “Year of the Dragon” will be shot in Wilmington beginning this fall, with De Laurentis producing and Michael Cimino of “The Deer Hunter” and “Heaven’s Gate” fame directing. Based on a novel by Robert Daley, “Year of the Dragon” is a story of Chinatown street gangs that has casting agents scouring the state in search of more than 1,000 people who can pass for Chinese. According to Shirley Goodman of the Employment Securities Commission’s Winston-Salem office, an early August casting call in Winston-Salem turned up 110 applicants hoping to number among those chosen to work as extras for $50 a day plus meals. Charlotte, Raleigh, Jacksonville, Goldsboro and Fayetteville were also targeted for casting interviews. The state’s most prolific filmmaker is Earl Owensby of Shelby, whose studio turns out several low-budget features each year. “We help Earl some with his films,” says Arnold, who estimates that in the past ten years, Owensby has produced about 22 films. A number of small independent filmmakers around the state, including Winston-Salem’s own Tim Collare, Jane DeKoven and Joanna Hudson, produce a handful of films each year, often working on a shoestring budget. “Before our office opened, you could count the number of films produced in North Carolina by someone other than Earl Owensby on the fingers of one hand,” says Arnold. “Of those, about the only ones anybody’s ever heard of are “Thunder Road” with Robert Mitchum and “The Swan” with Grace Kelly. “Our first year, we helped with 11 films, we’ve done 22 more since then, and we’ve got several big motion pictures in the works right now. Of course, we’ll never become another Hollywood. But North Carolina is becoming known in the film community as a great place to work. And since most productions spend roughly a third of their budgets on location, we’re certainly glad to have filmmakers in our state.” What is it like to make a business move to Winston-Salem after working in other parts of the United States? Companies come here for the ideal combination of elements that make up the economic development formula, typically weighing as many as 30 separate factors—state and local tax structures, housing, schools, transportation, building costs, and available office space—before choosing Winston-Salem as the best place to locate. But according to several “transplants” to the Winston-Salem business community, the city’s true strength as a place to do business has as much to do with attitudes as economics. Paul Breitbach, who’s worked in Chicago, Peoria and Indianapolis, moved to Winston-Salem in 1983 to become managing partner of the local Price Waterhouse office. While he thinks business is “pretty much the same everywhere,” he says the biggest difference he sees between Winston-Salem and larger metro areas is the more personal approach taken here. “In terms of business judgment and understanding what makes a business function, the people I deal with in Winston-Salem are as sophisticated as any I’ve dealt with anywhere,” says Breitbach. “The style is just not as formal. People don’t want to get right to the business at hand. First, they want to be sure they can relate to you personally—to see if your value system fits in with theirs. They want to have a comfort level with you as an individual before they’re comfortable doing business with you.” Breitbach says he’s found the community very receptive to him as he’s sought to involve himself in various community activities. Soon after he came to Winston-Salem, for example, he met with Chamber of Commerce staff members to talk about ways the chamber might expand its role in promoting entrepreneurism. Within two weeks, he was invited to chair a committee organized to help entrepreneurs start businesses in the city. “As much as they want to know about your qualifications, people around here want to know about who you really are—what kind of values you possess, what degree of honesty and integrity you have,” says Joyce Rubin, a senior associate at Bridge Enterprises, a Winston-Salem based training and development company. “Who I am is considered a part of my competence.” Before coming here, Rubin managed a number of small businesses in Rochester, New York. She’s also worked in Albany, New York, Springfield, Massachusetts, Syracuse, New York, and New York City. In spite of some misgivings among her friends, she moved to Winston-Salem in August 1984 after several visits to the area convinced her that she’d like to make the city her home. “My friends were convinced that all Southern men were patriarchs and all the women were fluffs,” recalls Rubin. “They said, `You’re a Yankee and a woman. What kind of reception do you expect?’ I really didn’t know what to expect, but I’ve found men here have taken me seriously as a business person and a number of the women I’ve met have turned out to be a source of a great deal of social, professional and personal support. “There’s a people-oriented theme I’ve noticed with CEOs I’ve talked to around here,” she adds. “They seem to be much less product- or production-oriented than the CEOs in New York and much more concerned with developing their employees and helping them achieve their personal goals. They believe if you can have the productivity as well as a positive, harmonious environment, that’s a whole lot more desirable because everybody wins. As a result, I think people around here are generally more satisfied with themselves and with their lives. “They get as much done, but with a whole lot less strain,” she adds. “There’s a whole lot more consideration for others, more sensitivity and more humor.” “The traditional Southern lifestyle has a lot to do with what goes on in the executive suites around here,” observes Rich Halverson, president of McMan, Inc., a company that provides management and administrative services to six McDonald’s restaurant franchises, three of which are in Winston-Salem. The others are in Kernersville, Mount Airy and Elkin. “People get as much done,” he says, “but without having all the pressures. That makes doing business very pleasant.” Halverson was born and reared in South Dakota. After earning a degree in psychology from the University of Iowa, he began his career as a computer sales representative, first for IBM and later, for RCA. He’s lived and worked in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Atlanta, Greensboro, and Cherry Hill, New Jersey. In 1972, when RCA got out of the computer business and, as a result, he was out of a job, Halverson accepted a job offer from two uncles who operated three Winston-Salem McDonald’s franchises. “Having been in the marketing and sales end of the computer business, I’ve seen lots of management styles and learned a great deal about many different businesses and their approaches to problem-solving,” says Halverson. “People are very competitive here, but they have a certain style and attitude that’s often missing in the Northeast. The bargaining skills are as strong or stronger, but no matter how competitive you are, you don’t overstep certain bounds. Carrying yourself well is always important.” Halverson thinks Southerners tend to be more loyal to their suppliers and are usually less willing to switch on the basis of price alone. “Here, if another supplier has a lower price, the customer is more likely to want to sit down with you over coffee and decide together what to do about it,” he says. “In New York, you just take the best price. Always.” “Of course, if a Southerner finds out you’ve been taking advantage of him—if you’ve been breaking the rules—he’ll never for get it, and he’ll never do business with you again.” Halverson says there’s also more of a tendency among local business people to provide certain “amenities” as part of a business deal. “There’s more of an interest in providing value in the form of a hunting farm customers can visit or tickets to an important game,” he notes. “Those kind of things are a normal part of the business relationship, maybe because around here, if somebody’s done you a favor, you’re expected to honor it.” “There are a lot of ways to do things,” says Bob Brandquist, who moved here from Pekin, Illinois, last July to become manager of CPC International’s Corn Products Division plant. He’d lived 15 years in Pekin and before that, had lived and worked in Chicago and Corpus Christi, Texas. “The big difference is, people around here seem to know you can do things just as well walking as running. And you can think about what you’re doing while you’re walking.” Although Corn Products has few local customers, Brandquist has had some exposure to the Winston-Salem business community. Based on his experience, he says there’s “nothing small-town about it at all.” “I consider Winston-Salem a cosmopolitan place,” he says. “Maybe because there are several large companies headquartered here, people are aware of the world and how they fit in it.” “People who think Southerners are less aggressive in business are completely wrong,” says Liverpool native David Boden, who moved to Winston-Salem from Philadelphia in November 1984 to become vice president of engineering and technology for Douglas Battery Manufacturing Company. Boden has also lived in Brooklyn, New York, and Manchester, England. “I’ve been very impressed with the amount of hustle and the speed with which people are able to respond to requests,” he adds. The friendliness of Winston-Salem’s people impressed Boden soon after he moved here. “I’ve had people go out of their way to show me how to get to places,” he says. “In Phildelphia, people are much shorter with you. They might give you directions somewhere, but you’d come away with the impression you’ve imposed on them.” Rubin echoes Boden’s sentiments. “I walked into Wachovia the second morning I was in town,” she recalls. “I’d been in line only a few seconds when a teller looked directly at me, smiled and invited me to her station. Where I’d come from, I’d have been in line much longer, and it would have been my job to notice when a teller was free. Then, when I got help, I’d have been made to feel like an irritation, even though it was the teller’s job to wait on me. “People around here don’t correct each other, either,” Rubin adds. “For example, if a waiter forgets to bring you something you’ve asked for, pointing out the error is not acceptable. You either let it slide or just repeat the request. I stopped honking my car horn within 48 hours.” “In the South, you don’t just march up to somebody and say what you think,” says Halverson. “You have to learn that, or you’ll have a disaster. At first, my wife and I thought people were two-faced. But now we see it’s just a part of the grace, the hospitality.” “The people here are genuinely friendly and caring,” Brandquist says. “They seem to have a sense of security—a feeling of self-worth that’s a part of their heritage and culture. The attitude here is very up-tempo. It’s a refreshing change.” “There’s a lot of movement into the city that’s created by Bowman Gray School of Medicine and Reynolds,” says Breitbach. “That’s a real plus because it expands the social structures of the city and makes it easier for a newcomer to fit in.” Breitbach says he and his wife socialize primarily with other “transplants.” “It’s not that the natives are unfriendly,” he explains. “It’s just that people who are part of established social circles don’t have a need to work new people in.” Among the major drawbacks the city faces, Breitbach lists the distance from the regional airport and the necessity of routing all mail through Greensboro. He also sees a need for a broader, more diverse economic base. “We don’t yet have the same dynamic business environment you see in some cities,” says Breitbach, “but adding more office space and finishing the bypass will be key improvements.” Warren Steen, manager of public affairs and the Communications Group for the Greater Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce, agrees with Breitbach that Winston-Salem has suffered from a shortage of first-class office space, but says the city “is making great strides” to correct the problem with One Triad Park—downtown’s “Super Block” project—and I-40 Business Park, near the campus of Winston-Salem State University. Among the city’s strengths, Steen lists the tax structure, the quality of life, and the spirit of cooperation shared by the local government, the business community and the citizens. He considers the Regional Airport, the availability of skilled workers and the relatively low construction costs to be among the Triad’s chief advantages. “We tend to focus separately on economics and the quality of the social life when we’re promoting the area,” notes Halverson, “but the attitudes that make the social lifestyle so pleasant carry over into the business world in a positive way that’s very real and very marketable . “The rat race takes it toll, but you can make a living around here without having to put up with all the unnecessary pressure. That’s what makes doing business here such a pleasure.”
Remember the Cleaver family from “Leave It To Beaver?” Ward spent his time dispersing fatherly wisdom between trips to or from the office while June played most of her scenes from an immaculate kitchen. If Wally and Beaver ever had a babysitter, it was the comedic circumstance upon which the plot turned that week—certainly not part of the household routine. Aside from plenty of good-humored wholesomeness, the Cleaver family’s single most prominent distinguishing characteristic was normalcy. But today, in nearly two-thirds of the nation’s families, the mother works outside the home. This year, almost half the children born to married mothers will be placed in some form of childcare before they’re a year old so their mothers can return to work. If the Cleavers can no longer be considered normal, they nevertheless typify for many a cherished notion of the ideal family: “A good provider”—male, of course—married to “a good wife and mother” whose children most willingly adopt their parents’ values. It’s a notion that has seemed to work well—at least in theory—for several generations. But since the late ‘50s and early ‘60s, when the “Leave It To Beaver” series ran, simple economic necessity has joined with feminism to push many a good wife and mother into the workplace. And while the status of being—or having—a wife who “doesn’t have to work” is still eagerly sought by some, it has become markedly less popular for both practical and personal reasons. It’s not surprising then, that the contemporary version of ultimate success has evolved into an all-purpose desire to “have it all.” For many married couples, that translates into two brilliant careers, an affluent lifestyle and at least one remarkably well-adjusted child. In practice, having it all, with its accompanying requirements of somehow getting and managing it all, often produces a reality marked by difficult decisions and compromise. The marriage itself must frequently take a back seat to career and family demands for time, energy and commitment. Even though most couples deliberately defer having children until both careers are established, they’re still concerned about the long-term impact of parenthood on the woman’s career. They’re also concerned that their children must spend a substantial portion of their formative years with someone other than a parent as a primary caretaker. “We had our concerns about how we’d manage our career and family responsibilities, but so far, everything’s working out just fine,” says pediatrician Marty Wilson, 29, who with her attorney husband Gray Wilson, 33, chose the time immediately following her residency and his promotion to partner to have their son Trover, now nine months old. Early in Marty’s pregnancy, the Wilsons arranged for a fulltime babysitter and housekeeper to work in their home following the three-month break Marty took from work when Trover was born. “I loved being at home with Trover,” says Marty, “but I didn’t want to get too far behind in my career. My partner had agreed to cover for me for three months, so that’s how long I took. “I’m sure Trover will grow up with a perspective that’s different from what it might be if I stayed home with him all the time,” she adds. “But as a pediatrician, I don’t expect the fact that he spends a lot of his time with a babysitter to cause any serious problems in his development.” “Most of my expectations about having a child turned out to be false,” says Gray. “Most of my fears were unfounded. For example, I’d heard horror stories about parents whose social lives came to an end when they had children. But our closest friends already have children, so the biggest difference is that I find the conversations about their children far more interesting now.” Like the Wilsons, pediatrician Sara Sinal, 39, and her husband Paul Sinal, 39, an attorney, also chose the time immediately following her residency to have their first child, Caroline, who’s now nine. Their second daughter, Katie, followed four years later. Over the years, the Sinal’s child-care experiences have included large day care centers as well as several homecare situations. Currently, a babysitter takes care of both girls at home from the time their school day ends until one of their parents arrives from work. “I went back to a full-time schedule two months after Caroline was born and it was awful,” recalls Sara. “I thought I was going to die because I never got to see her. The next time, I took six months. I also work an 80% schedule instead of full-time.” Sara is now surveying female doctors nationwide to gather information about pregnancy timing, levels of satisfaction about pregnancy timing and the personal and professional circumstances surrounding pregnancies among women doctors. Ultimately, she and her colleagues hope to make the information they gather available to women physicians faced with deciding if and when to have children. “We expect to find a lot of women who don’t plan on being the primary caretaker of their children,” she notes. “We think we’ll find a new breed of working woman who expects her role to be similar to the father’s traditional role.” “We thought I should work at least five years to get established before taking time to have a baby,” says attorney Mary Kay Johnson, 34. She and her attorney husband Mike, 38, are the parents of two-year-old Kate and six-week-old Matthew. Mary Kay ended up practicing law for eight years before Kate was born and, after a brief return to work, came home to care for her daughter full-time. “In thinking about what our lives would be like after the baby was born, I knew things would go smoother if both of us weren’t working,” says Mike. “And my preference was that the mother of my children would bring them up. But I figured for all that to work, Mary Kay had to be happy with it.” Through a classified ad in the newspaper, the Johnsons hired a full-time babysitter and housekeeper. “When I saw how it was working out with the sitter, I decided it really wasn’t going to be that big a deal,” says Mike. “What it would amount to was that for the first year of her life, Kate would probably be more attached to her sitter than she was to either of us. I didn’t think that would have long-term effects on how she ultimately related to us as her parents.” “I didn’t ever question that I’d return to work,” says Mary Kay. “I didn’t make the decision to resign until after Kate was born and I’d gone back. I just hadn’t counted on how much I’d miss her. “There were men at work who assumed from the beginning that I wouldn’t be back because they knew we could afford for me not to work,” she adds. “And there were women at work who seemed to think I was crazy to interrupt my career to have a baby. When I made the decision to quit work and come home, I had a full-time mother say to me, `Good. There should be no working mothers.’ I mean, you can’t win.” The transition from a career in corporate law to full-time life at home has been difficult for Mary Kay. “I thought I’d come home and have a meticulous home, a spotless child and candlelight dinners for my husband every night,” she says. “Actually, child care is very time-consuming. Housework is boring and isolating. If you’re going to stay at home, you have to learn how to make yourself happy. That’s been hard for me. My life was geared toward my job and all my friends were through work. It’s a big adjustment I haven’t made completely yet.” “We both think Mary Kay’s staying home will hurt her career,” says Mike Johnson “How much is still unknown.” “I miss work and I’m concerned, too, about how long I can stay out of my profession and not do irreparable damage to my career,” adds Mary Kay. “I’d like to find part-time work, but I don’t know how receptive employers are going to be to the idea. And I don’t know how hard it will be to find part-time work that will be satisfying enough to make it worth leaving my children.” Gwynne Taylor, 34, an architectural historian who operates a part-time consulting business from an office in her home, hires a babysitter to care for two-year-old Winslow anytime she has to work. Husband Dan, 38, is a lawyer. The Taylors also have a housekeeper one day a week. “I had several years in which I was free to work hard and put all my energy into my career,” says Gwynne. “Since Winslow’s come, I feel no sense of frustration at having given up anything. But if I had to face the future without any professional gratification, I would find it difficult.” For Phyllis Spruill, a 31-year-old assistant product manager for L’eggs, and her husband James Spruill, 33, a marketing manager for Burroughs Corporation, an unplanned pregnancy provided an upsetting alteration to her career timetable. “I was ten days away from graduation from MBA school at Chapel Hill and two months away from beginning my new job at L’eggs when my doctor told me I was pregnant. I had wanted to get in at least a year in my career before I even thought about children, and I was thoroughly disgusted when I heard the news. I cried for three days, and Spruill cried with me.” Once her son was born, Phyllis returned to work as quickly as possible. “Having a baby put corporate life in perspective for me,” she says. “The baby says to me, `Life is not just a job.’ I worked hard to get here and I want to do well. I don’t want people to make concessions for me, but if Allen has a fever, I have to leave. I have no choice.” For some women, however, the prospect of combining motherhood with a professional career seems too demanding. And by applying impeccable logic that serves them so well in their work to what is essentially an emotional decision, they conclude that the costs of having children outweigh the benefits. “I know women lawyers who are afraid to stop long enough to have children,” says Paul Sinal. “They know the glut of new lawyers is real and the competition is high. Plus they’ve sacrificed to go through a professional school. They feel they’ve invested so much, they don’t want to take the risk.” “In the 11 years we’ve been married, Bob and I have never stopped to consider whether we wanted children,” says Carol Mabe, a product manager at L’eggs. “It’s always been a decision we’d make someday in the future. Then, when I went in for a check-up last week, my doctor said, `You’re 36 years old. If you’re going to have a child, you’d better go ahead.’ It really made me stop and think.” “I know I’d be a wonderful mother, but quite frankly, I’m not sure I’d be strong enough to do it all,” she continues. “I’m in my office at seven in the morning and when I drag in at seven-thirty or eight at night, there are times when I’m too tired to get up out of a chair—much less care for a child. “Right now I’m on a very fast track. If I stopped to have a baby, I could come back and be a product manager after three months. But it would be the end of the momentum, simply because from that point on, I couldn’t give as much to the job. My child would have to come first, and I’m afraid I’d never be thought of again as the driven professional I am.” “My father says you can always find a reason not to have a baby,” notes Phyllis Spruill. “There’s never really a time when it won’t interrupt your life, when it won’t make you and your husband have to work harder at pulling things together. You just have to learn to live with the pillows on the sofa askew. You get used to stepping on little bitty cars on the floor. And when you have that child and see him grow and learn and laugh, you know it’s worth it.” If you’re trying to find Richard Budd, president of North State Supply, Inc., during the lunch hour, he may well be on the racquetball court at his company’s South Stratford Road location. After work, you may find Budd and North State Vice President Gerald Chrisco pedaling away on stationary bikes at the YMCA, their annual membership fees paid by the company. John Pesenti, treasurer-controller at Wesley Business Forms in Rural Hall, spends three lunch hours a week with fellow employees who work out on Nautilus equipment in a private club near the office. Their membership fees are also paid by their employer. Deposition Services, Inc., subsidizes membership fees at Nautilus Elite, Inc., for co-owner Mike Greene and several other fitness-conscious employees, while E.G. Forrest Company pays membership fees for a dozen of its 100 employees who, in turn, reimburse the company through monthly payroll deductions. “The company gets us a group rate plus a price break for paying the whole fee up-front,” explains E.G. Forrest Sales Representative Sam Lewis. “If we joined as individual members on an installment plan, we’d end up paying much more.” These local companies are among an estimated 50,000 American firms that have invested in physical fitness programs for employees. As many as 1,000 companies have on-premises fitness facilities, ranging from the beat-up stationary bike in the corner of the boss’s office to lavish multimillion dollar fitness complexes. Others promote “wellness” through a variety of programs, all of which share the same goals: to educate employees about the value of good health and to motivate them to achieve it. Because the programs are so varied, so are costs. An article in the June ‘84 issue of Management Accounting reports facilities costs “can run into seven figures,” while per-participant program costs can range from $50 to $800, depending on the amount of supervision and testing involved. Dollar estimates of program benefits vary just as widely. One of the biggest investments in facilities so far is at Tenneco, Inc., which opened an $11 million fitness facility at its Houston headquarters in 1981. Company researchers have found that regular exercisers at Tenneco’s facilities were absent an average of 47 hours a year and made health claims averaging $640, compared with 70 hours and $1,380 a year among the non-exercisers. One study of more than 3,000 Tenneco employees showed that exercisers also had higher job performance ratings than their non-exercising co-workers. At Burlington Industries, a four-year pilot program at five of the company’s 84 plant locations netted $10 in decreased health care costs and reduced absenteeism for every $7 invested, according to Dr. Donald Hayes, director of Health and Safety for the company. The pilot program began with multi-phasic health testing of the 55 percent of employees who chose to participate. Based on test results, Burlington recommended to 80 percent of employees screened that they participate in one or more health-related individual counseling and classroom instruction programs. “As we expected, our health claims increased at first as a result of problems we uncovered in the initial screenings,” Hayes said. “Our claims have since decreased, and when we’ve re-screened employees annually, we’ve found a general improvement in measurable health at all the locations. “Also, when we interviewed employees who participated, we found they considered the program an expression of the company’s genuine interest in their welfare as individuals. That’s a benefit that can’t be directly translated into dollars, but it’s definitely there.” Closer to home, the fitness program trend hasn’t seemed to catch on among the larger companies. A survey of Winston-Salem employers including R.J. Reynolds Industries, AT&T, The Hanes Group, Wachovia, Piedmont Aviation, McLean Trucking, AMP Inc., Stroh Brewery, TNT Pilot Freight Carriers and Integon revealed that only one Integon—had a formal, company- sanctioned employee fitness program. The Integon program, set to kick off in January, was planned by an employee task force and includes a low-calorie, nutritionally-balanced plate lunch in the cafeteria, an improved resource library in the Medical Department, and a series of lunchtime seminars, built around such themes as “a healthy mind,” “a healthy body” and “a healthy spirit.” During the kick-off period, employees who fill out “lifestyle questionnaires” for computer analysis will have a chance to win door prizes. In the company’s seventh-floor gym—a facility equipped with a universal machine, stationary bicycles, a treadmill, a mini-trampoline, exercise mats, a ping-pong table, a pool table, showers and lockers—employee volunteers will demonstrate the proper use of the more complicated equipment. For those who prefer to work out away from the workplace, representatives from a local health club will sign up new members at a corporate rate. The year’s estimated out-of-pocket cost for the program is less than $1,000. Given the cost effectiveness figures from the pioneering companies, it seems surprising that more of Winston-Salem’s larger employers haven’t devised fitness programs of their own. One reason, according to Sandy Masura, manager-trainer at King Nautilus Fitness Center, is that many managers insist on knowing the exact benefit they can expect before they’ll authorize any outlay of dollars. “The more innovative companies that have gone ahead with wellness programs are finding they more than pay for themselves,” she says. “It’s just going to take a while for it to catch on.” “You’d think promoting employee fitness programs to corporations would be easy,” says Nancy Jaquish, who, as health and fitness director at the Central YMCA, is currently at work on a corporate health enhancement program to take fitness evaluations and classes to company locations. “The numbers are there showing reduced absenteeism and health claims, and higher productivity and morale. But so far the companies around here don’t seem that interested. The potential is there, but only a few companies have really gotten started.” According to Sandy Masura, the fact that many smaller local companies are actively addressing the fitness question is related to a heightened awareness among their managers. “Managers in smaller businesses are more aware of the importance of good health for two reasons. One, they know if their staff consists of themselves and perhaps a few other key people, and all of them are not at their best, the company is in trouble. Two, owning your own business is much more stressful than people who’ve never done it before realize, so the company owner is more likely to develop an interest in fitness.” “Our president, Rick Wesley, puts a lot of emphasis on fitness himself,” says Pesenti, “so when I told him I thought the company was benefiting from my health club membership and asked him if the company would help pay the fee, he said, `Sure.’ It was an easy sell.” “Richard Budd is one of the better racquetball players in town,” says Gerald Chrisco, “and he was president of the Y for two years. I think that has a lot to do with the company’s emphasis on fitness.” If the fitness craze hasn’t yet caught on throughout the workplace, the city’s working people are definitely working out anyway, as morning, noon, and early evening fitness classes indicate. Just how many people are members of the private clubs remains a mystery because most don’t give out their totals for fear of scaring off prospective members. As of October 1984, the YMCA had 5,854 members, 2,603 of whom joined under adult (as opposed to child, senior citizen or student) memberships. People are also working out more at home. Americans spent an estimated $554 million on home exercise equipment in 1983, up from $493 million in 1981. Of the ‘83 total, $175 million went for stationary bicycles, also a big seller locally. As of November ‘84, Manager Paul Harrell of Paul’s Schwinn Cyclery had sold more than 250 Schwinn AirDynes at $595 apiece and was confident the year’s total would reach 300. “Air-Dynes have been on the market four and a half years, and every year, our sales have increased,” notes Harrell. “Most people buy them to use at home, not only as an alternative, but as a complement to a health club membership.” No matter where they work out, most regular exercisers are convinced of the benefits. “I’ve been in aerobics classes for two years now,” says Integon Systems Control Clerk Nancy Renn, “and I find them an excellent way to relieve stress. I go from my desk to my class after work, and I find it much easier to go home relaxed and ready to enjoy time with my family.” “Before I started my fitness program four years ago, I could count on being out of work at least two weeks out of the year,” says John Pesenti. “Now, even if I do get sick, I usually don’t have to miss work. I also have more confidence and energy.” “I find I have more energy when I work out,” says Mike Greene, “and it helps with my concentration. For that reason, I know it’s definitely a good investment for the company.” Regardless of company size, support from the top down seems crucial to the success of any corporate fitness program. “The impetus for our program came directly from our CEO,” says Burlington’s Hayes. “In choosing the five plants for the pilot program, we felt it was important to select locations where we felt the management was not just sympathetic, but actively enthusiastic about the idea.” “The programs that have succeeded all have top management support and involvement,” agrees Nancy Jaquish. “If that’s not there, any program will just fizzle out.” More News Releases & Feature Articles
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