Hannaford, Shipyard Team for Health Initiative

CAROL ANGRISANI

SCARBOROUGH, Maine — Thousands of employees of a major American shipyard have good reason to shop at Hannaford Bros.: They get discounts and other rewards for doing so.

Under the latest of Hannaford’s innovative health and wellness efforts, employees of Bath Iron Works can get discounts to restaurants, retail stores and other businesses by showing they purchased/or at least considered buying Guiding Stars-rated items at Hannaford. Based in Bath, Maine, BIW is a division of General Dynamics that builds Navy warships and other vessels.

It’s all part of BIW’s new Health Passport, a customized wellness program focused on physical and financial health.

Once participants complete various health-oriented steps, or tasks, they receive stamps in their passport. They get rewarded once they get the required number of stamps at each level. They get a stamp if they buy five Guiding Stars items, take a free nutrition class or watch a Hannaford DVD featuring a store tour.

“It made sense to find a supermarket partner because that’s the place where people have to develop new health habits,” Chris McCarthy, BIW’s manager of integrated health services, told SN.

Some 5,500 BIW employees and their dependents — for a total of about 10,000 people- are eligible to participate in the program.

“By meeting the needs of these shoppers, we are not only supporting the health of our communities, we are supporting the health of our business,” Julie Greene, Hannaford’s healthy living director, told SN.

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