<p>McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. was honored as&nbsp; a Start! Fit-Friendly Company by the American Heart Association (AHA). McCarthy Central Division President Scott Wittkop received Gold-level award during the AHA 2011 Metro St. Louis Start! Heart Walk opening festivities on May 14 in Busch Stadium. Start! Fit-Friendly Companies are recognized by the AHA as employers who go above and beyond when it comes to employee health.<br /><br />&ldquo;McCarthy has a strong national partnership with the American Heart Association,&rdquo; commented Tracy Brazelton, AHA executive director in St. Louis. &ldquo;As a company, they have made great strides in focusing on improving employee health both here in St. Louis and across America. This award recognizes the best-of-the-best companies, and McCarthy is certainly one of these.&rdquo;<br /><br />Developed and launched in 2010, McCarthy Build for Life is a comprehensive wellness program designed to encourage all employees and their families to strive toward optimal mental, physical and emotional well-being. The program focuses on four key areas: awareness, prevention, activity, and lifestyle &amp; stress. <br /><br />&ldquo;When it comes to our construction projects, our approach has always been to invest a significant effort up front to prevent issues before they occur,&rdquo; noted McCarthy President and COO Derek Glanvill. &ldquo;We have extended this same proactive approach to our Build for Life program, encouraging employees to make wellness a part of their everyday lives.&rdquo; <br /><br />To jump start McCarthy&rsquo;s wellness program in 2010, the company launched an Activity Challenge. All 1,400 employees received a free pedometer and used an online step tracking program to log daily steps over a 3-month period. More than 50% of employees participated in the program, logging 184,974,999 steps. The 2011 Activity Challenge, expanded to include spouses and partners, began on May 1.<br /><br />Designed as a grassroots program, McCarthy Build for Life is supported by Wellness Champions in each McCarthy office who communicate to employees in their region. Key McCarthy Build for Life program features include:</p>
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<li>Regular wellness webinars available to employees and their families</li>
<li>Quarterly wellness newsletter delivered to homes of all employees, in partnership with the Mayo Clinic, and discount subscriptions to other health-related publications</li>
<li>Complimentary health screenings for McCarthy employees and spouses/partners, including blood pressure screening, BMI/waist circumference checks, cholesterol/HDL/Glucose screenings, and Prostate Specific Antigen screenings</li>
<li>Wellness areas at all-employee biannual meetings featuring material on health, nutrition, activity,&nbsp; and stress/lifestyle management</li>
<li>Wide array of company-sponsored wellness employee event</li>
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