Ciminelli named chair for Heart Walk

Heart disease and stroke impact the bottom line of all businesses. According to an American Heart Association survey, 60 percent of chief executive officers cite health care as their top cost pressure.

In fact, the average annual healthcare cost per person exceeds $3,000, and obesity costs are impacting the productivity of American companies annually.

Start! is the American Heart Association's national campaign that includes the annual Heart Walk and calls on Americans and their employers to create a culture of physical activity and wellness in order to live longer, heart-healthy lives.

Start! is the response to America's obesity crisis, the lack of physical activity among the population and rising healthcare costs.

The chair of this year's Heart Walk, the flagship event for Start! in Western New York, is Lou Ciminelli, chairman, president and chief executive officer of LP Ciminelli Inc.

Ciminelli will lead the organizational and recruitment efforts of thousands of area volunteers, survivors, walkers and business leaders to reduce disability and death from cardiovascular disease and stroke, Western New York's No. 1 and No. 3 killers.

"We are privileged to have Mr. Ciminelli as chair of the 2008 Start! Buffalo/Niagara Heart Walk," said Cronan Long, executive director of the American Heart Association in Western New York.