Keith Brubacher, president, and Kent Gable, Wellness Committee representative, cut the ribbon to the entranceway of the Brubacher Employee Fitness Center.

On Jan. 21, Keith Brubacher, president, and Kent Gable, Wellness Committee representative, cut the ribbon to the entranceway of the Brubacher Employee Fitness Center. The grand opening was the culmination of months of activity.

The idea for a fitness center was planted as the leader's team read through a book titled, Fit to Lead. The premise of the book was for business leaders to make it a priority to maintain a healthy lifestyle — and then to encourage their employees to do the same. Vacant office space was used for the fitness center.

During the summer of 2015, the Leader's team conducted an employee survey, wanting to understand how much employee demand for a Fitness Center existed. In addition, they toured another company's onsite Fitness Center and got a good understanding of how that company uses their Fitness Center. They also spoke with representatives from Highmark about their experiences with onsite Fitness Centers. In the end, the decision was made to remodel the office space and add a Fitness Center.

The Brubacher land clearing and demolition crew took down several walls during November and construction plans were approved in early December for the rebuild. Zimmerman Brothers Construction Inc., the contractor, worked quickly to ensure the center was completed early in January. Where three rooms and a hallway once stood was now a big open space. Existing bathrooms were expanded to include showers and renovated as well.

The new fitness center includes a cardio area, featuring treadmills, ellipticals, a recumbent bike and a rowing machine. There also is an area for strength training, featuring dumbbells, a universal weight machine and an abs station. Finally, there also is an area for stretching or Pilates. Downstairs, the former conference room has been converted to a workout room, featuring a TV and DVD player.

The fitness center is available for employee use daily from 4:30 a.m. until 9:00 p.m. Brubacher also encourages employees who do not live nearby the Bowmansville office to work out at a local gym. The company will cover the costs of doing so provided employees enroll in the Highmark's Healthways Fitness Your Way program and attend the gym at least four times each month.

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