Google Finalizes a Search  
Fitness Business News
February 2008

By John Craig, Editor

NEW YORK – Google Inc. has a reputation for lavishing employees with tasty perks, including free gourmet food available around the clock.

The search-engine giant, which was rated the best place to work in America by Fortune magazine last year, is also known for “the Google 15” – a reference to the rapid weight gain of new employees.

Now Google is trying to trim the fat, and has handed its employee fitness program to Plus One Health Management, in one of the biggest deals ever for the New York-based corporate wellness company.

Plus One’s victory is a loss for TimeOut Services Inc., a corporate wellness firm in Cupertino, Calif., with a roster of Silicon Valley clients. TimeOut had managed the Google gyms since 2004.

Plus One faces a sizable challenge.

Google has nearly 11,000 full-time employees and its sprawling Silicon Valley headquarters has 19 cafeterias, four fitness centers, and a culture unlike most Plus One clients, which include major hotels and companies from the fields of financial services, law, media, biotechnology, and pharmaceuticals.

At the Mountain View campus known as the Googleplex, employees can bring their dog to work and typically spend long hours dedicated to frolic and technological innovation.

“There are some cultural differences, and it’s a younger workforce, but a lot of things remain consistent when you’re talking about creating a successful corporate fitness program,” said Tom Maraday, Plus One’s senior vice president. “We’re focused on making Google an active, healthy company, and on elevating the programming and making an immediate impact in the level of customer service.”

Financial terms of the deal were not announced, but the contract calls for Plus One to take over several Google fitness facilities. They are at the home base in Mountain View, Calif., at two sites outside Atlanta, and at the San Bruno, Calif., headquarters of YouTube, a Google subsidiary.

Plus One will also manage fitness operations at other Google sites scheduled to open over the next few years.

Plus One said it plans to use technology to draw Google’s computer-savvy workers to the gym and help them adopt healthy lifestyles, Maraday said, without elaborating.

“There are a lot of intangibles that go into creating a great fitness experience,” he said. “That includes creating a level of comfort for people and guiding them through the process. This is going to be the premier corporate fitness program in the country when all is said and done.”

Google instantly ranks among Plus One’s largest and most prominent clients, Maraday said.

He termed the success of the venture “critical” as Plus One looks to expand its presence in Silicon Valley, where technology companies compete for young employees by upping the ante on workplace amenities.

“This represents a big opportunity for us, because Google is focused on not just offering amenities, but on taking responsibility for what happens after the fact,” Maraday added.