Duncan Aviation wins national honor for its focus on health in the workplace.

Lincoln-based Duncan Aviation received national recognition Wednesday for its results-oriented workplace wellness programming.

Mayor Chris Beutler was on hand to present the Platinum Well Workplace Award from the Wellness Councils of America during a luncheon, telling Duncan representatives their efforts were something he hoped to emulate within city government.

Duncan, which employs 1,300 people in Lincoln, joins a handful of Nebraska companies and is among 23 nationally to hold the wellness designation, which stays in place for three years but is renewable.

Lincoln Industries, The Nebraska Medical Center, Union Pacific Railroad, Greater Omaha Packing Co., ConAgra Foods and Nebraska Methodist College also have received the honor.

By conservative calculations, the company has realized $10.2 million in medical cost savings and estimates $5 million in additional productivity savings since 2002 when it launched a formal wellness program, said Craig Johnson, wellness and safety manager at Duncan.

The company sees a return on investment of 9-to-1.

Its annual health insurance cost increases per employee have gone from more than 22 percent in 2001 to just under 3 percent in 2006, bucking a statewide average of about 14 percent in annual increases.