New "Corporate Fitness Show" to be concurrent with Club Industry

With a growing emphasis by businesses on fitness facilities and programs but a perceived lack of shows focused on that niche, Marc Onigman’s and Ken Germano’s new Stone Hearth Fitness company will announce March 20 the launch of a new show tuned specifically to the needs of corporate fitness.

The show will run concurrently with Club Industry in Chicago and will therefore not require additional staff time, major expense or travel by vendors, Onigman said.

“No one is covering corporate fitness comprehensively,” Onigman told SNEWS®. “Everyone treats it as a tertiary afterthought. We think it is a nascent major force. That’s why we’re doing it.”

The Corporate Fitness Show, wholly owned by Stone Hearth Fitness, will debut Oct. 10-13 at McCormick Place in Chicago in the same halls as Club Industry. The new show will include additional seminars and panel discussions spread over the three days focused on the needs and issues of corporate fitness managers and directors. They will be a separate track but run at the same time as regular Club Industry educational seminars.

The exhibit area, which will be separate from but adjacent to the Club Industry floor in one large hall, will showcase products and services also with a focused eye on the corporate fitness marketplace. There will be no extra charge for exhibitors who are also interested in the corporate show and they are not required to have an additional booth area there since the entire floor will be open to all attendees.

“It’s important for corporate fitness to re-emerge as its own distinct field of endeavor,” said Onigman, who founded the Club Industry Show and Club Industry Magazine in the mid-1980s. “With healthcare continuing to be a key concern of corporations all over the world, we believe that creating a formal venue for information exchange about how companies can deliver fitness, health and nutrition services, products and advice to their employees will benefit all of the stakeholders.”

In this first year, Onigman said he expects at least 750 additional attendees and from 100 to 150 additional booths from the added corporate fitness event. The expanded focus and additional traffic in one venue will simply make it more valuable to vendors, Onigman said. It will give them more reasons to exhibit, especially for those who target the corporate fitness market. He said the show will bring new people not only to the seminars but also to the floor to shop for products and services.

“The very future of the industry may depend upon increased cooperation among stakeholders in the corporate fitness, health club and healthcare communities,” said Germano, who is the former president of the American Council on Exercise (ACE). “If the club industry merely allows the future to unfold without participating in the shaping of it, club operators could find themselves on the outside looking in.”

Interested companies can contact Onigman at marc@stonehearthfitness.com or
617-413-2830, or Germano at 858-442-7935 or ken@stonehearthfitness.com. The program and schedule will also be disseminated concurrently with the Club Industry program in coming weeks. Click here for more on the Club Industry show and schedule.