WellTrail strives for growth in Central New York, Midwest

VAN BUREN — WellTrail, Inc., a Van Buren–based health and injury-management services company, is aiming for additional growth in 2015, both in Central New York and in its service area in the Midwest.

“My goal is to finally market [locally],” says Kelli LaPage, founder, CEO, and sole owner of the WellTrail, Inc. “I haven’t marketed here.”

The firm works with companies of all sizes and demographics to determine the best options to help employees improve or sustain “optimal” health, she says.

“A component of that is certainly what a lot of people think of as traditional wellness, but WellTrail takes that a number of steps further,” says LaPage.

LaPage operates the firm from her home in the town of Van Buren to lower the cost of doing business.

She spoke with the Business Journal News Network on Aug. 1

WellTrail currently services more than 30 companies and about 4,800 lives in seven states, including New York.

In Central New York, WellTrail’s clients include the Syracuse–based law firm Hancock Estabrook, LLP and Syracuse–headquartered Anoplate Corp., which provides metal-finishing services to industry.

WellTrail in 2012 expanded its service area to include work with Zeigler Cat, a Minneapolis–based Caterpillar construction-equipment dealer with locations in Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Missouri.

LaPage has worked with the Caterpillar dealerships since her days at Blue Bell, Pa.–based Wellness Coaches USA, a firm she worked at in the mid-2000s in capacities that included regional operations and sales manager.

WellTrail generated revenue of more than $500,000 during 2013, and LaPage projects the firm will increase its revenue to about $750,000 in 2014 and possibly eclipsing the $1 million mark in 2015, she says.

To reach that $1 million revenue figure in 2015, LaPage wants her client growth to include additional companies in both parts of WellTrail’s current service area.

She believes her firm has “brand awareness” in Central New York, but she won’t be surprised if the growth results from the company’s work with Zeigler Cat.

“I do foresee that a good chunk of this expansion will come from actual Caterpillar dealerships and they’re across the country,” says LaPage.

WellTrail is currently in talks with four additional Caterpillar dealerships for service in 2015, she adds.

WellTrail has also hired a business-development specialist in the Midwest, where it offers more full-time WellGuide service, says LaPage.

“I’m searching for [a similar service] here locally to get some partners to help us with that [in Central New York],” she adds.

About the company
WellTrail offers health-risk assessments, biometric screenings, wellness-credit programs, injury-prevention services, injury-management services, educational services, wellness challenges, customized progress reporting, and consulting services through people it calls WellGuides.

WellGuides are health-care professionals who can assist employees following wellness programs with one-on-one guidance, support, and motivation.

“We only employ medical professionals, so my staff is exercise physiologists, licensed athletic trainers, physical therapists, physical-therapy assistants … people with certifications and licenses in the medical field,” says LaPage.

WellTrail employs six WellGuides, with all but one serving in a full-time capacity. The employee count doesn’t include LaPage, she says.

Half of the employees service dealer locations for Zeigler Cat, she says.

Beyond the employees, WellTrail also operates with independent contractors, interns, and graduate assistants, says LaPage.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com