Blood pressures and cholesterol levels are down among the employees of the Bangor Letter Shop. Healthier diets and regular exercise are making life better for workers and boosting productivity at Northeastern Log Homes in Kenduskeag. Rates of smoking and alcohol abuse have dropped significantly in the work force at the Pittsfield-based Cianbro construction services firm.

Since 2002, nearly 80 area employers have teamed up with the Bangor Region Chamber of Commerce to promote healthy lifestyles in the local work force. Tonight, they’ll honor their successes at the annual Well Workplace Award Celebration, which will take place at the Spectacular Event Center in Bangor.

A total of 11 employers will receive medals from the Omaha-based Wellness Council of America, a private firm that has contracted with the Chamber since 2003 to provide guidance and support to companies in developing in-house employee wellness programs. The Bangor Region Wellness Council, established through this partnership, will host the awards event.

Irv Marsters, president of the Bangor Letter Shop, said Monday that all 15 of his full-time employees participate in the wellness program. They have a good incentive to do so – if they don’t, they’re not eligible for the company’s health insurance coverage. Since more than three-quarters of the monthly premium is paid by the company, he said, it’s pretty much a given that his workers will take part.

The program includes an annual health assessment, conducted on-site in a confidential setting. The professional “health coach” evaluates health risks and counsels employees on how to achieve their health-improvement goals. Employees’ spouses and college-aged children may also come in for an assessment and counseling.

Marsters said that overall his workers’ blood pressure and cholesterol levels have dropped significantly since the program started in 2004, and many report they are eating more healthful diets and exercising more. He credits the health coach with persuading one employee to schedule an overdue colonoscopy, which revealed cancerous tumors. Two years later, the worker is now cancer-free, thanks to early detection and treatment.

Marsters’ work site program also includes a “healthy snack box” – containing fresh fruit, instant oatmeal and other wholesome offerings – placed next to the conventional candy-and-cupcake box on the breakroom table. Not only do the healthier offerings disappear, he said, but the company that stocks the commercial box has begun filling it with granola bars and other healthier choices.

As much as these changes have helped, he said, it’s the “buzz” around the office that encourages his employees to think and talk about their health. And it’s not just his workers that benefit – Marsters said his own cholesterol has dropped 30 points in response to changes in diet and medicine.

“This program is the best thing the Chamber has done in all my 27 years as a member,” he said.

The Bangor Letter Shop received a bronze Well Workplace Award in 2005.

Tonight at the awards ceremony, gold medals – recognizing comprehensive programs that have resulted in measurable improvements in employee health, cost effectiveness and return on investment – will be awarded to the following employers:

. Dorothea Dix Psychiatric Center, Bangor

. Northeastern Log Homes, Kenduskeag and Old Town Lumber, Old Town

. Penobscot Valley Hospital, Lincoln

. University of Maine at Augusta

. University of Maine at Farmington

. Occupational Medical Consulting, Leeds

Small Business Awards, for companies with fewer than 50 workers, will be presented to

. Acadia Benefits, Bangor

. Ames Architecture and Engineering, Bangor

. Berry, Dunn, McNeil & Parker, Bangor

. Maine Network for Health, Bangor

. Pine Tree Physical Therapy, Bangor

The award recognizes small businesses that have undertaken significant employee wellness programs.

For more on workplace wellness programs, visit www.bangorregionwellnesscouncil.org.

To view Cianbro’s award-winning wellness plan, visit www.welcoa.org. Click on “more news” and scroll down to 04/28/2006.