Texas Couple?s Road Trip Ends with Springdale Gym

Anytime Fitness

Owners: Greg and Natalie Lee

Address: 7058 W. Sunset Ave., Ste. 2, Springdale

Phone: 479-633-7348

E-mail: [email protected]

Hours: Facility is open 24 hours a day, but staffed from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday and 9 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturday.

Website: www.anytimefitness.com

Startup date: September 20 (tentative)

An entrepreneurial itch and an open-ended road trip led Greg and Natalie Lee from Paris, Texas, to Springdale.

Now they’re on the verge of opening a new Anytime Fitness facility in a 4,000-SF space at The Shoppes at Har-Ber Lakes. The Lees were members of the AF in Paris and had been exploring the idea of opening their own location when they decided to take a January vacation.

“We drove until we stopped here,” Greg Lee said.

The couple fell in love with the area, and moved here in April. A weeklong training session later, the Lees were moving forward with plans to open their franchise. According to its website, the total estimated investment for each AF starts at about $44,000, including an initial franchise fee ranging from about $9,000 to  $22,000.

The Lees will work as facility managers and plan to start with two personal trainers. The gym will be open 24 hours a day and feature all the standard services and amenities. Membership rates vary from club to club, but typically run about $35 per month for an individual and $20 per month for additional family members.

“To see people make a life-altering change, and to help them do it,” Greg Lee said, “is intriguing.”

Golf Tournament Benefits Small Businesses Via SIFE

ConAgra Foods is sponsoring the Swing for SIFE golf tournament, to be held Sept. 20 at Pinnacle Country Club in Rogers.

SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) is a global nonprofit organization made up of student teams from more than 1600 university campuses in 40 countries. There are 12 SIFE chapters at Arkansas schools, including the University of Arkansas, John Brown University and Northwest Arkansas Community College. Some of the funds raised at the golf outing are expected to trickle down to local chapters.

The UA’s SIFE chapter is advised by Susan Bristow and Renee Clay. Bristow said the UA group will continue its work with the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce and City of Fayetteville on the GreeNWAy Initiative this academic year.

One of the objectives of the program is to provide affordable sustainability expertise to small businesses. The UA team placed third nationally in the Waste Management-sponsored environmental sustainability special topic competition – under the direction of UA environmental sustainability criterion manager Morgan Stellpflug – for its work with the program during the last academic year.

For more information about the Swing for SIFE event, visit http://www.nwapenguins.com/swing4sife.