Dance studio wins $10,000 prize for wellness program

Simply Ballroom Dance Studio is the winner of a $10,000 prize in the first UnitedHealthcare Community Care Award.

The Chesterfield County-based dance studio, owned by Veronica Nugent, was one of five finalists competing for the award, which recognizes programs promoting community health and wellness in the Richmond area.

In collaboration with the Parkinson's Dance Project, Simply Ballroom plans to  use the money to offer free classes each week to 40 people with Parkinson's Disease.  The money also will fund plans to build a ramp for ease of entry into studio’s facilities and support marketing of the community program.

The five finalists presented their project ideas on Wednesday to a panel of health-care and business officials at BizWorks, a business incubator.

In addition, to Simply Ballroom, the other finalists were:

Emerge Sustainable Solutions

Outside in Ministries

Virginia is for Education

Visitry

The judges for the competition included:

·  Beth Bortz, president and CEO of the Virginia Center for Healthcare Innovation.
·  Doug Gray, executive director of the Virginia Association of Health Plans.
·  Marianne Randazzo, vice president of sales and account management for UnitedHealthcare of the Mid-Atlantic.
·  Yedda Stancil, entrepreneur-in-residence at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Project ideas spanned from fitness, mental health, nutrition, and more.

Local business incubators, BizWorks and RVA Works supported the development and promotion of the event.