Jacksonville Business Wins District and State Small Business Person of the Year Award
Jacksonville, FL --- Ann Sabbag created Health Designs, Inc. in 1995 with the hope of delivering health and wellness programs to corporations. At the time, Ms. Sabbag worked as a Wellness Coordinator for Bellsouth and saw first-hand how the wellness program benefitted employees. Ms. Sabbag was passionate about health and wellness and decided that she could have more impact on the field if she started her own business. Health Designs, Inc. now provides employee health assessments, biometric screenings, and face-to-face health coaching to hundreds of companies in 22 States throughout the Southeast and Midwest.
Ms. Sabbag is the winner of the 2012 Small Business Person of the Year award for both the North Florida District and the State of Florida. Health Designs. Inc. was nominated by the Small Business Development Center at the University of North Florida. The Small Business Person of the Year in every State will be invited to Washington D.C. to compete for the national title. For more information related to the National Small Business Week Awards, please visit www.nationalsmallbusinessweek.com. Ms. Sabbag will also receive an award locally on May 24, 2012 at the UNF Small Business Week luncheon.
The company has grown in many aspects including the number of fulltime and contract staff. Health Designs, Inc. went from 2 fulltime staff members to 10 fulltime staff members from 2007 to 2011. This is in addition to the 90 contract staff members that deliver remote services. The company has also increased sales and intends to reach 60,000 individuals at 346 different companies this year.
Health Designs, Inc. faced adversity in 2008, when 2 of its largest clients decided not to continue to provide wellness programs to its employees through the company. Ms. Sabbag quickly reacted by taking her leadership team on a weekend retreat to strategize on how to handle the situation. After the retreat Health Designs, Inc. strengthened its alliance with Blue Cross Blue Shield and other clients.
Ms. Sabbag also turned to the Jacksonville Women’s Business Center, Athena Powerlink program to further develop her company in 2008. Additionally, Ms. Sabbag has also used other SBA supported programs such as SBDC and SCORE counseling to grow her business to what it is today.
Health Designs, Inc. is highly innovative in that the company has developed tools and resources that are considered proprietary to further the brand including an online health risk assessment. The company also developed a process to recruit and develop leaders amongst her team and contract staff as well.
Ms. Sabbag earned a Masters Degree in Healthcare Administration from the University of North Florida. In 2009 she was named one of Northeast Florida’s Women of Influence. In 2011 she was named one of the Top 50 Small Business Influencers in Jacksonville and the Small Business Leader for the Chambers Health Council.
In addition to her many recognitions, Ms. Sabbag is also committed to her community. She serves as Board Member on the Mayor’s Council on Fitness and Well-Being, for the City of Jacksonville and also is a Board Member of the Jacksonville Women’s Business Center. She is a member of Women’s Giving Alliance, whose mission is to inspire women in Northeast Florida to be philanthropists through collective giving. In 2009 Ms. Sabbag made a matching grant to the University of North Florida Brooks College of Health and hosts interns from the school as well. Ms. Sabbag is a mentor for IMPACTJax and also contributes her time to the PACE Center for Girls, Angelwood and Cathedral Arts Project.
Ms. Sabbag may be reached at Health Designs, Inc., 35 Executive Way, Ponte Vedra, FL 32082 or phone at (904) 285-2019. Please visit www.healthdesigns.net for more information on the company.