Anytime Fitness Honored as "Best Company to Work For" in Minnesota

HASTINGS, Minn., June 6, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Anytime Fitness, the largest and fastest growing fitness club franchise in the world, has been named by Minnesota Business magazine as one of the state's 2012 "Best Companies to Work For" taking the top spot in the large business category.

The "100 Best Companies to Work For" competition was based on the results of employee satisfaction surveys conducted by Gilmore Research. The award-winning Minnesota organizations were chosen for setting the standard in leadership, strong benefits, best work environment, innovative training programs, and employee happiness.

"We've received many awards and accolades over the last 10 years, but this may be the most meaningful," says co-founder and President Dave Mortensen. "Our employees are the strongest assets we have -- their passion, energy, and commitment contributes to a great working environment."

Employee satisfaction and commitment to Anytime Fitness is so strong that many choose to have the company logo – a purple "Running Man" – tattooed on their skin. To learn more about this phenomenon, read Fast Company's interview with Anytime Fitness co-founder and CEO Chuck Runyon here: http://www.fastcompany.com/1837855/4-rules-for-creating-tattoo-level-brand-loyalty.

Anytime Fitness places great emphasis on fostering a culture that is highly innovative, collaborative, creative, competitive, and fun. The company invests time and money into enriching the lives of employees by promoting a healthy work/life balance and active lifestyles, offering personal- growth opportunities, encouraging charity work, and providing onsite learning experiences.

"We spend nearly a third of our lives at work, so why should it be a miserable experience?" says Runyon. "At Anytime Fitness, we've replaced the old business paradigm of ROI with ROEI – return on emotional investment. We believe that personal growth ultimately leads to business growth."

This recipe for success appears to be working. In addition to the "Best Places to Work For" accolade, the franchise has been recognized by Entrepreneur as #11 on its prestigious "Franchise 500" list and #10 on its list of "Top Global Franchises."  CNN Money also honored Anytime Fitness as one of "10 great franchise bets."

About Anytime Fitness

Founded in 2002, Anytime Fitness is now the fastest-growing fitness club franchise in the world, with nearly 1,500,000 members and 2,000 clubs worldwide. Open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, Anytime Fitness prides itself on providing its members with convenient and affordable fitness options in friendly, well-maintained facilities featuring top-quality exercise equipment. Clubs are now open in 49 states, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Grand Cayman, Poland, the Netherlands and Japan. Join one club and use them all. Members in the U.S. also enjoy free access to AnytimeHealth.com, the most comprehensive wellness website available.

SOURCE Anytime Fitness