EMC Receives Top Level Honor as an American Heart Association Start Fit Friendly Company

HOPKINTON, Mass. - December 03, 2009 -

EMC Corporation (NYSE:EMC), the world leader in information infrastructure solutions, has been recognized by the American Heart Association as a Platinum-Level Start! Fit-Friendly Company. The award honors EMC for helping its employees eat healthy, engage in physical activity and live healthier lifestyles.

"Physical activity and employee wellness are important priorities at EMC and at the core of our health philosophy. We are honored to be recognized by the American Heart Association's Start! movement as a Platinum-Level Start! Fit-Friendly Company," said Delia Vetter, Senior Director of Benefits and Programs, EMC Corporation.

As an American Heart Association Start! Platinum-Level employer, EMC's health and wellness priorities focus on:

• Offering employees physical activity options in the workplace
• Increasing healthy eating options at the worksite
• Promoting a wellness culture in the workplace
• Implementing at least nine criteria outlined by the American Heart Association in the areas of physical activity, nutrition and culture
• Demonstrating measurable outcomes related to workplace wellness

EMC's employee health programs and resources include walking and exercise motivation programs, free onsite fitness centers, local commercial fitness center discounts, and access to innovative health management tools and technologies – such as Personal Health Records – and online fitness and nutrition programs. For example, EMC offers its employees HealthLink, a secure web-based health management tool powered by WebMD that provides EMC employees access to health information and education, as well as personalized information based on their health history, a Health Risk Assessment and personal health record. HealthLink also provides tools to help EMC employees compare drug costs, medical plan costs and hospital quality.

The Start! Fit-Friendly Companies Program is a catalyst for positive change in the American workforce by helping companies make their employees' health and wellness a priority.

American employers face increasing healthcare expenses and health-related losses in productivity that cost an estimated $225.8 billion a year. Many American adults spend most of their waking hours at sedentary jobs. Their lack of physical activity raises their risk for a host of medical problems, such as obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes. Employers face $12.7 billion in annual medical expenses due to obesity alone. Start! helps change corporate cultures by motivating employees to start walking, an activity which has the lowest dropout rate of any physical exercise.

"The Start! Fit-Friendly Companies Program offers a unique, easy-to-implement opportunity for corporations to increase employees' physical activity, which will help improve their health – and their employers' bottom line," said Dr. Roberta Herman, Chair of the Greater Boston American Heart Association Board of Directors and Chief Medical Officer at Harvard Pilgrim Healthcare. "Even people who haven't exercised regularly until middle age can reap significant benefits by starting a walking program. A study published in 1986 in the New England Journal of Medicine found that individuals could gain two hours of life expectancy for every hour of regular, vigorous exercise they performed."

For more information about the Start! Fit-Friendly Companies Program and how it is helping to improve the health of Americans by focusing on an activity that is convenient, free and easy, call 508-935-3980 or visit startwalkingnow.org.