by Peggy DeBlois | photography by Brewster Burns

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Geiger has operated its headquarters in Lewiston since 1955 and is now the world’s largest family-owned and privately held promotional product distributor. The company recently won the WELCOA (Wellness Council of America) Silver Well Workplace Award for its commitment to employee health and well-being.

Wellness Programs Defined

According to newly-named President David Geiger, this award reflects the company’s core values.

“As a family-owned business, championing our associates’ well-being is ingrained in our core values,” says Geiger. “Receiving the WELCOA award is a tremendous honor, but what makes us most proud is the strong, supportive community we’ve built together—one that prioritizes holistic wellness and meaningful connections.”

WELCOA is one of the nation’s most respected resources for building high-performing, healthy workplaces (welcoa.org). WELCOA has 4,000 corporate members.

The award is based on seven wellness benchmarks. The first, committed and aligned leadership, believes that organization leaders must be committed to their own wellness. The second is collaboration in support of wellness, which asks the company to create a wellness team with stakeholders at all levels of the company.

The following two benchmarks require data and planning. The third benchmark, collecting meaningful data to evolve a wellness strategy, requires the company to manage data collection that measures what is most important to the employees. The fourth benchmark, crafting an operating plan, can then reflect the vision, values, and purpose of an organization.

The final three benchmarks revolve around building a wellness community. Benchmark five asks the organization to choose initiatives that support the whole employee. Benchmark six encourages the company to cultivate supportive health-promoting environments, policies, and practices. Lastly, benchmark seven requires the company to conduct an evaluation, communicate findings, and celebrate with employees.

Geiger is the only company in Maine to receive this recognition in the three years of award reporting listed on the association’s website.

With 600 employees worldwide and an additional 450 promotional consultants, the company takes a broad approach. Benefits and Well-Being Administrator Susie Poehnert says the program must be active, intentional, and ongoing.

Geiger measures results in a number of ways: through associate engagement, physical health, health plan aggregate data, and anecdotal responses to activities and programs. Poehnert explains that the company culture is really what makes the program successful.

“The workplace is more than a place to get a paycheck; it’s a place where you spend more time than anywhere else,” says Poehnert. “When they hired me in 2022, Geiger had already created a supportive setting that allows our associates to thrive.”

Developing a Wellness Program

Poehnert is certified by the National Wellness Institute as a workplace well-being specialist, giving her the credentials to take a company through the steps to develop an overall wellness program with a multi-dynamic approach. She attributes Geiger’s award-winning success to the history of building wellness into the company culture.

Poehnert explains that Geiger’s wellness program was already well-defined before her tenure. Gene Geiger, who joined the company in 1973 as part of the fourth generation of Geiger family leadership, had established a multi-dimensional approach that considered the whole person, a wellness program designed to be holistic for each associate. The original Geiger wellness program is based on nine dimensions: physical, mental, environmental, nutritional, growth and development, financial, mindfulness, and safety. Gene Geiger still serves as chairman of the board at Geiger, while his son, David, becomes the fifth generation of Geiger family leadership. Rooted in the hard work of his father, the Geiger wellness program will continue to grow under David’s leadership.

“Our wellness program is inspired by the idea that true well-being is about more than physical health,” says David Geiger. “We believe the most fulfilled lives are built on nine essential elements, including physical, mental, and financial wellness that drive us to be more engaged, energized, and connected. By focusing on these elements, we aim to empower everyone to live each day fully charged, creating a foundation for success and happiness.”

Employee-led Wellness

When Poehnert joined Geiger in 2022, she was immediately impressed with the company’s overall culture. Coupled with the variety and passion of the wellness teams and individuals, the job was a dream come true for Poehnert. According to Poehnert, wellness is quite literally ingrained in the Geiger company culture, going well beyond the walls of human resources. She explains that there are six wellness teams at Geiger.

The Care Team includes the most traditional type of wellness promotion people woudl think of. It manages vaccine clinics, blood drives, and some physical challenges. This team has expanded recently to incorporate team spirit with a goal of making work fun with quarterly social events. Examples include a recent Fall Fest that featured free apples, pumpkin bowling, and food trucks. Poehnert notes that this committee consists of 400 or so off-site associates by sending them gift cards for lunch and creating online trivia and decorating contests.

Geiger Moves is a grassroots group that developed from within the employee ranks. This team organizes physical challenges with incentives and prizes. Its goal is to improve the physical well-being of every employee, meeting each individual where they are. Recently, the team managed a step contest in which employees walked virtually in state parks in Maine and other Geiger locations.

Body & Mind is a discussion group that meets twice monthly. At the first meeting of the month, a member shares a health and wellness opportunity they have discovered and the group determines if there is mutual interest. If so, the group agrees to engage in that activity for the next couple of weeks. Then, at the second meeting of the month, the group members discuss how it went. Sometimes, this group will work with a health professional or invite an associate with a special interest or practice. For example, this team recently explored how a meditation break can improve the work day.

MosAIC is a team that promotes awareness, inclusion, and community. Named for the art form of mosaics, where multiple tiles form a piece of art, this team ensures awareness of diversity and opportunities to embrace those differences. The team’s vision is to remove barriers and build a culture of understanding. Examples of their projects include:

• Organizing volunteers for PRIDE events.
• Sharing political processes between associates in the US and Great Britain.
• Managing a calendar of national remembrances & holidays.

According to Poehnert, Employee Resource Groups are varied and fluid. These groups have similar interests and meet as discussion groups. They work to bring a level of community into the culture, especially for people working outside of the office. Examples of current Employee Resource Groups include a book club, an art club, a work-from-home group, and a single parenting group.

The STAR Team helps company leadership recognize associates for dedication, innovation, and work ethic on a quarterly basis. Associates, as individuals, groups, or teams, are nominated by peers or managers to be a Geiger Star. Geiger Star associates receive a prize and are publicly rewarded in front of the entire company. Once a year, Geiger Star recipients are considered for Geiger’s President Award, the company’s most significant honor.

Geiger CEO Jo-an Lantz is completely supportive of the time and effort required for this comprehensive well-being program.

“We believe that well-being goes beyond traditional health programs — it’s about nurturing a culture where each person’s mental, physical, and emotional wellness is a priority,” says Lantz. “Through our wellness teams and other supporting initiatives, we’re creating an environment that inspires our associates to become their best selves at work and home.”

Employee Engagement and Benefits

All of these teams are active year-round, according to Poehnert, and entirely voluntary for both participation and at the steering level. Everyone is involved in some activities, like the quarterly celebrations because they are structured to encourage full participation. The Body & Mind Team seems to be growing every month. On any given day, Poehnert estimates that 30-40% of Geiger associates are actively involved in one team or another.

Poehnert says that the benefits of employee wellness programs work on two levels. On the surface level, Geiger employees have access to a range of topics from mental to physical to financial health. Each program has specific benefits for its participants. For instance, the Geiger Moves team hosted a summer Olympics challenge and nine of the associates who participated in that challenge went on to run in the Maine Marathon. On a deeper level, Geiger’s wellness programs weave a net that has allowed people to form healthy friendships and benefits that meet the associate where they are at that moment.

Furthermore, Geiger’s wellness program maintains a philosophy that no one exists in a vacuum, so community outreach is part of each associate’s well-being. Opportunities are given to associates to volunteer in their community, no matter where they live. For example, if Lewiston associates work at a local blood drive, associates who work remotely are encouraged to find a place to participate in their area as well.

“It does a person lots of good to give,” notes Poehnert. “Incorporating community outreach was really easy with Geiger, as it has been a community-focused organization forever.”

Locally, Geiger associates volunteer with homeless agencies, road clean-ups, fairs, Pride events, the Maine Marathon, the Dempsey Challenge, The Green Ladle, SHAREcenter of Maine, Lewiston YWCA, and American Red Cross blood drives. On Giving Tuesday (the Tuesday after Thanksgiving in the US, a day encouraging generosity), the company has an annual donation drive for the unsheltered.

Poehnert adds that participation in all these community outreach programs is high because the Geiger family members lead by example. Peter Geiger, Vice Chairman of the Board and Editor Emeritus of Farmers’ Almanac, consistently works with the group picking up roadside trash.

No Room for Complacency

Despite having an award-winning wellness program, Geiger will remain active in its wellness programs. Poehnert explains that she was hired to ensure Geiger has programs in place that work on-site in Lewiston as well as nationally.

Of the 600 Geiger associates, about 200 are in Lewiston, the home to global operations, which include human resources, finance, payroll, customer service, and support teams for sales partners and clients. It still houses the decorating and distribution center, where much of its product is embellished and distributed. The Lewiston facility is also home to the Farmers’ Almanac and includes a museum and promotional video studio.

Poehnert has set a goal of strengthening its wellness outreach to its globally based associates. In 2025, Poehnert will lead the work to expand the wellness program in its offices in the UK and Germany. Geiger intends to continue evolving and improving to have the highest level of impact for its valued associates.

“We are going for gold and then platinum,” says Poehnert. “Then we will keep improving and evolving.”