Foot Levelers Turns 70

Foot Levelers, Inc. is celebrating 70 years of impacting healthcare across the world through optimal biomechanics and this third-generation company has quite the story to tell. 70 years of service to the chiropractic community and they’re just getting started!

A foundation of caring

Foot Levelers was founded in 1952 when a compassionate young chiropractor named Dr. Monte Greenawalt had a dream to make the world better through providing the best chiropractic care possible. Dr. Monte’s vision, expertise, and commitment to his patients’ wellness led him to create the very first spinal pelvic stabilizer, a ground-breaking approach to treatment.

Dr. Monte’s adjustments weren’t holding as well as he wanted, and even with regular chiropractic visits, his patients were often still subluxated. His insatiable curiosity and concern for their wellbeing drove him to seek a solution. Regarding challenge as opportunity, Dr. Monte identified the key role the three arches of the foot play in balancing and stabilizing the entire body. Using a formula derived from the sixteen unique measurements of the foot, he developed the first spinal pelvic stabilizer (photo above). To this day, his proven formula remains, and Foot Levelers are the only custom flexible orthotics available that support all three arches of the foot, to balance and stabilize the whole body for better overall health.

When patients used Dr. Monte’s spinal pelvic stabilizers, their pain decreased, adjustments held better, and their quality of life improved. As demand for the stabilizers increased, this first-of-its-kind company was launched in Dr. Monte’s original manufacturing facility, a dusty carriage house behind his practice in Dubuque, Iowa. He changed the name of his new business to Foot Levelers in 1956. As more and more doctors made custom stabilization an integral part of their care, the company steadily grew. In 1979, the next location was a pigeon-infested dairy facility (photo on next page), with its multiple levels converted to separate areas for shipping and receiving, a warehouse and a laboratory where the finished custom orthotics were produced.

By the next decade, it was clear that a larger and more modern facility was needed for the business to continue to thrive. Kent Greenawalt performed a nationwide search involving a 10 state, 100 city analysis to determine the optimal spot for Foot Level's ers’ next location. The choice of Roanoke, VA was strategic and based on a detailed survey to determine the area that would provide the best service for their flourishing customer base, an optimal shipping hub with strong business support from the state, and a robust local work force (several of the first associates hired are still with the company today and have worked with all three generations of the Greenawalt family). In 1988 Foot Levelers moved its corporate headquarters from Iowa to their current location in central Roanoke. Many associates relocated as well, eager to continue helping the company grow. Foot Levelers further expanded their facility in 2002.

Three generations of leadership

Fast forward to today, Kent S. Greenawalt serves as Chairman and CEO of Foot Levelers, Inc. A renowned thought leader, sought after speaker and peerless champion of the chiropractic community, Kent has dedicated his life to carrying out his family’s vision: helping every person achieve a fuller, more active life through proactive wellness. A natural businessman, Kent joined Foot Levelers full-time in 1979, overseeing all operations and growing and developing the company into what it is today. Channeling his family traits of positivity, empathy and optimism, Kent ensured that love and service to humanity was ingrained in the corporate culture. Through his example, employees understood that they were not just performing a job, but actively helping change lives

Kent's dedication to chiropractic advancement is reflected in his many honors and accolades, some of which are seen behind him.

Kent's dedication to chiropractic advancement is reflected in his many honors and accolades, some of which are seen behind him

Applying the knowledge and skills he honed during a successful corporate merchandising career, Kent continued broadening the company’s scope to pioneer scanning technology, introduce new products, further research and broaden Foot Levelers’ footprint and relationships across the natural wellness spectrum. He built beneficial partnerships in all levels of chiropractic including local, state and national associations, educational institutions, and internationally through organizations like the World Federation of Chiropractic (WFC). “Quite literally, our custom flexible orthotics serve as the foundation of strength and stability for our doctors and the patients they serve,” he says. “We’re grateful to have earned the trust and support of the global chiropractic community and we strive to continue to serve as the benchmark of health and wellness.”

Kent is also the Founder and Chairman of the nonprofit Foundation for Chiropractic Progress (F4CP), that educates the public about chiropractic care through positive press. Since Kent established the F4CP in 2003, the organization has grown to over 31,000 members and the sizeable rise in media coverage of chiropractic during the last several decades has occurred.

Kent’s tireless dedication to advancing chiropractic has been reflected in numerous honors, including the American Chiropractic Association’s Humanitarian of the Year Award to the Lifetime Philanthropy Award from Parker College/Parker Seminars. Due to his lifetime dedication and outstanding service to the mission of chiropractic he has received fellowships to the International College of Chiropractic, American College of Chiropractic and Palmer Academy of Chiropractic.

Kent’s humanitarian spirit laid the ground for expansive partnerships in education, philanthropy, and technological advancements that have enriched the world health landscape. Another opportunity for enrichment? Kent sharing his passion and purpose with his daughter, Jamie Greenawalt, when she joined the family business again in 2020.

Jamie’s professional aspirations led her down an exceptionally dynamic and global career path that included food and nutrition security initiatives for the World Bank; a road that ultimately took her back to the Foot Levelers executive team as Senior Vice President. She previously oversaw the Foot Levelers International Business division from 2009 to 2012 and led the Education and Research departments.

Like her father before her, Jamie immersed herself in every aspect of the company, working in shipping, manufacturing, billing, customer service, marketing and other areas, seeing how they worked in conjunction to contribute to an optimal customer experience.

If Dr. Monte is the pioneering inventor who created a whole new space in chiropractic care and his son Kent, the business strategist who built and grew the brand, Jamie continues to move the company forward as their brand innovator. Her keen acumen developed during a career in global business and passion for ongoing education, research, and technological advancements that serve the chiropractic industry inform her forward-thinking leadership approach. Jamie says, “My grandfather believed you can never give yourself into poverty. Whatever you give always comes back to you tenfold.” Though the global work that she did was incredibly fulfilling, at the end of the day she always felt that something was missing. Coming back to Foot Levelers as a member of the leadership team in 2020 allowed her to step into the role she feels she was meant to play, and everything she did up until that point prepared her for this opportunity.

Soon after her return, Jamie spearheaded a groundbreaking initiative: developing and launching the first and only custom stabilization just for pregnant women-The Mother Nurture™ Custom Orthotics System. When she was expecting her first child, Jamie identified the need for a custom product that supported a woman’s evolving body during this special life journey. Under her direction and guidance, this breakthrough solution built on Foot Levelers’ proven science and proprietary research to fill a crucial need and help alleviate suffering. Just as Dr. Monte tested his spinal pelvic stabilizers on his own patients, Ja-

mie was one of the first test users of Mother Nurture when she was pregnant with her second child. Her firsthand observations and recommendations were pivotal to the product’s final development and successful design. Just seven months later she oversaw the launch of the Foot Levelers’ most advanced custom flexible orthotic, InMotion+™

A legacy of giving

Foot Levelers recognizes that their growth came about through the support of doctors, patients and the healthcare community, and expresses its’ gratitude by giving back to recipients throughout the U.S. and across every continent. To date, they have proudly donated more than $34 million to the chiropractic profession including state, national and international associations, educational gifts and scientific research and advancement. They have opened numerous chiropractic health centers and academic buildings on college campuses, and their donations to chiropractic colleges and educational facilities have reached over $20 million in the last twenty years alone.

This May they provided a $500,000 endowment to create the Foot Levelers Chair in Biomechanics and Human Performance at Northwestern Health Sciences University in Bloomington Minn. In addition to the new chair, Foot Levelers has also created an annual $25,000 matching gift to further clinical research on functional orthotics programs. Foot Levelers is proud of the longstanding partnership with the school to shape and advance integrative healthcare.

To promote chiropractic excellence, Foot Levelers offers ongoing educational seminars that give chiropractors numerous opportunities to renew their licenses as they grow their knowledge and skills through learning from esteemed experts. Foot Levelers partners with chiropractic colleges and state associations to support and guide future health innovators. “Foot Levelers continues to be a leader in academic giving within the healthcare continuum,” observes Dr. Mark Zeigler, Vice President of Education at Foot Levelers. “We are proud to partner with educators to help empower students to deliver outstanding care. We are grateful for these relationships we’ve built that allow us to invest in chiropractic’s future.”

Pronation 3D Kiosk an invaluable Stability catalyst in educating Index™ (PSI) patients about the Importance of stabilizing the entire body with custom orthotics

lnMotion+™ Foot Levelers’ best orthotic ever, launched in honor of their 70th anniversary

In addition, the company has organized and matched charitable aid efforts to assist people impacted by suffering. Within 48 hours of the September 11,2001, attack on America, Foot Levelers organized an emergency matching-fund campaign for the American Red Cross, ultimately raising $748,036. In 2005 Hurricane Katrina struck and Kent immediately reached out to his wide network within the chiropractic community to join him in assisting the victims of this tragedy, this time raising $1,059,129. “I just knew the chiropractic community would join together to help their fellow Americans once again,” Kent says. “We know how deeply and dynamically they care for humanity, healing and wellbeing.”

Custom flexible orthotics as a natural, non-invasive alternative to opioids

Over 80% of Americans will experience an episode of low back pain (LBP) at some point in their lives.1 When people are in pain, the typical response is to seek immediate, short-term relief rather than addressing the issue at its source. Unfortunately, in their desire to return quickly to work and other basic life activities, many turn to opioid medications. In 2017, more than 191 million Americans received opioid prescriptions.2 Of those users, one in four went on to become addicted34’5. Anyone who takes opioids is in danger of becoming addicted3 A5 even when they are intended to be used in limited duration such as after an injury. Tolerance can set in, requiring greater amounts of the opioid for the same relief, coupled with withdrawal symptoms if the intake is lessened or stopped.

The effects of opioid abuse have a staggering effect on families, the workforce and our global society, and opioid deaths are on the increase. Every day, 187 Americans die from an opioid overdose.6 The impact of this ongoing tragedy drives Foot Levelers’ mission to promote natural healing. “As providers of proactive, holistic care, chiropractors have the opportunity to offer a safe, non-invasive alternative treatment for pain,” Kent Greenawalt says. “I would suggest that the first step in treating back pain should be chiropractic care coupled with the use of custom flexible orthotics that are proven to work vs. a prescription that could prove deadly.”

High quality research is one of the company’s core initiatives and demonstrates the correlation between their custom stabilizing orthotics and optimal treatment outcomes. In 2017, a key research study showed that Foot Levelers custom flexible orthotics significantly reduce Low Back Pain by 34.5%7. Their solutions are backed by proven science and 37 clinical research studies on key chiropractic topics, plus numerous case studies and white papers.

Defining the path to wellness one step at a time

A laser-focused commitment to quality, dedication and innovation, made exponentially richer by three generations of leadership, will undoubtedly solidify Foot Levelers established position as the leading provider of world-class solutions for natural pain management. Dr. Monte, Kent and Jamie each have applied their own qualities and abilities to take the company forward and leverage each other’s success. “We are proud to be a game-changer and honored to build on our incredible legacy of performance and leadership to serve the chiropractic community,” Jamie Greenawalt says. “We look forward to furthering more research and educational initiatives and delivering new benchmark solutions that offer quality of life improvement for patients around the world.”

About Foot Levelers

Foot Levelers, the world’s leading provider of handcrafted custom flexible orthotics, has been serving healthcare professionals since 1952. Stabilizing orthotics help properly support the back, knees, hips, pelvis, and even neck by providing a balanced and symmetrical foundation. Foot Levelers orthotics are proven to reduce low back pain by 34.5%. Visit footlevelers.com and follow Foot Levelers on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram (@FootLevelers).

Join us as we discuss "Foot Levelers Turns 70" with Kent & Jamie Greenawalt and many more TAC-TIC Talks by scanning the QR code or visiting this link: www.tacad min .q rd. by/TACTicTa I k

References

1. Rubin DI. Epidemiology and risk factors for spine pain. Neurol Clin. 2007;25(2):353-371.

2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2018 Annual Surveillance Report of Drug-Related Risks and Outcomes — United States. Surveillance Special Report 2pdf icon. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Published August 31, 2018.

3. Bantu-Green CJ, Merrill JO, Doyle SR, Boudreau DM, Calsyn DA. Opioid use behaviors, mental health and pain — development of a typology of chronic pain patients. Drug Alcohol Depend 2009;104:34-42.

4. Boscarino JA, Rukstalis M, Hoffman SN, et al. Risk factors for drug dependence among out-patients on opioid therapy in a large US healthcare system. Addiction 2010;105:1776-82.

5. Fleming MF, Balousek SL, Klessig CL, Mundt MP, Brown DD. Substance use disorders in a primary care sample receiving daily opioid therapy. J Pain 2007;8:573-82.

6. Wide-ranging online data for epidemiologic research (WONDER). Atlanta, GA: CDC, National Center for Health Statistics; 2021. Available at http:// wonder.cdc.gov.

7. Shoe Orthotics for the Treatment of Chronic Low Back Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial, Jerrilyn A. Cambron, DC, MPH, PhD, a Jennifer M. Dexheimer, BS, LMT,a Manuel Duarte, DC, MSAc, DABCO, DACBSP.b Sally Freels, MS, PhDc. From the aDepartment of Research, National University of Health Sciences, Lombard, IL; bDepartment of Clinical Practice, National University of Health Sciences, Lombard, IL; and cSchool of Public Health, Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL