Grand & Benedicts healthy employee initiatives flourish with rooftop greenhouse
Published July 18th, 2009
Fresh from being awarded the City of Portland Recycleworks award, Grand & Benedicts heightened their green efforts by constructing a rooftop greenhouse for employees to grow their own vegetables. Fully equipped with an irrigation system, potting table and tools, the greenhouse supplies everything needed to grow “start” plants and keep them thriving through the winter. An employee “Greenhouse Coordinator” is tasked with growing tomatoes, cucumbers and lettuce for an onsite salad bar. Supplying plenty of space for employees to grow their own plants, the company aims to give employees ways to eat healthier and extend green practices at home.
“We believe healthy employees are happier employees,” said John Phillips, president of Grand & Benedicts. The greenhouse expands a company-wide commitment to encouraging healthy lifestyles and green practices, including an employee workout room, locker rooms with solar-heated water, Bike Commute Challenge incentive program and a comprehensive recycling initiative. The greenhouse program compliments Wellness 2000, a wellness program that monitors employees’ health each year and helps them build a healthy diet and fitness plan. Having access to vegetables grown onsite also fits the company’s strong exercise and bike commuting culture.
Founded in 1948, Grand & Benedicts offers a wide spectrum of services to retail stores and corporations, ranging from custom fixture design and manufacturing to in-store installation and store closing services. They have 105 employees working out the Portland, Oregon headquarters, sales offices around the country or showrooms in Seattle, WA and Hayward, CA. For more information, visit www.grand-benedicts.com.
