Galeon in Osakis goes global

What do Osakis and Helsinki have in common?

A commitment to the active aging population – especially if you consider the two groundbreaking companies Galeon and HUR.

Tony Van Acker, director of wellness and prevention services at Galeon, and Dave Carlson, administrator/CEO, traveled to the Helsinki University Research (HUR) company in Finland to share the success story of the Club Galeon Wellness Center.

They were invited to the company’s international sales meeting to give a presentation on how the HUR equipment fits into the progress made in wellness with the active aging population.

Van Acker said the HUR company couldn’t help but take notice of Galeon since the members have pushed the bar, resulting in the largest database of workouts of all the facilities using the HUR equipment.

He explained this exercise equipment includes the latest technology with software to plan and record workouts.

“This software is like no other,” Van Acker said. “Thanks to our members, I’ve had to squeeze all I can out of the program, creating new workouts and challenges to meet their needs.”

In addition to sharing the positive wellness results achieved at Galeon, Van Acker wanted to let distributors know how they can sell this equipment to wellness facilities and see how other countries meet the needs of this market.

He explained that outside of Finland, the U.S. is the only other country making a significant effort toward the fitness needs of older adults.

What’s notable about the Galeon facility compared to how things are done in Finland, Van Acker said, is the independent living population, a group that he said has definitely taken an interest in wellness.

“At Galeon we are ahead of the game,” he said. “We continue to push the envelope – our participants let us push the envelope, our equipment lets us push the envelope.”

Since HUR’s mission is to break into the active aging market worldwide, it values feedback from Galeon.

From giving this presentation, Galeon solidified its place with HUR, allowing it the opportunity to test new equipment and software, and the company values Van Acker’s opinion.

For example, when HUR asked his opinion on some new treadmills, he quickly noted they should increase the size of the numbers on the display.

Obviously, Van Acker knows his customers – currently 450 of them – and now, he is confident his fitness equipment supplier will know them too.

“We are seeing some amazing results,” he said. “Thanks to this trip, our staff and our dedicated members, I believe we will continue to challenge each other to make a difference in the lives of our actively aging population.”

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Tags: daily updates, local news, news, osakis, galeon