Harwinton Economic Development Commission Announces
2019 Outstanding Business Award

At the May 23, 2019 meeting, the Town of Harwinton Economic Development Commission announced the recipient of the Outstanding Business Award is:

A Healing Trail Wellness Center

The award is given biennially to a business operating in Harwinton in recognition for its contributions to the community.

A Healing Trail Wellness Center, with 25 massage therapists and 13 treatment rooms, is primarily a center for medical massage therapy. The licensed therapists have advanced training in many specific therapeutic modalities. Many of the therapists have been with A Healing Trail for 15-22 years. The center also hosts an Acupuncturist and offers Zero Gravity Float Therapy as well as esthetics. They currently have more than 18,000 clients.

A Healing Trail originally opened on North Main Street in Torrington in 1997 as a one room/one therapist office. Because of steady growth and expansion in Torrington, they added a second location on Route 4 in Harwinton in 2003. After several additions and renovations to the Harwinton location, they consolidated all of their therapists into the Harwinton location in 2007.

Every day is Veterans Day at A Healing Trail. The program is generous and without restrictions for active duty, reserve, and retired veterans. Benefits include 50% off Zero Gravity Float Therapy and $15 off of one-hour massages and acupuncture.

The office has organized events on Harwinton Land Trust properties, including treasure hunts to popularize the passive recreation available to the public. The owner currently serves on the Land Trust Board of Directors.

Franci Knight, the owner of A Healing Trail, organizes, writes and publishes an e-newsletter every other Friday that goes out to about 1,200 Harwinton residents and, on occasion, to another 1,600 residents of Burlington. The e-newsletter started as a community service project to share information with the Harwinton clients of A Healing Trail about a series of Harwinton burglaries in 2013. The free community e-news now keeps a calendar of all types of events happening in Harwinton (most recent edition). Harwinton organizations and businesses are allowed to place free ads in the e-news. She is also the admin of the Harwinton Gazette Facebook page as well as co-admin for the Harwinton Lions FB page.

Franci currently serves on the board for the Harwinton Land Trust, on the Harwinton Democratic Town Committee and is a member of the Harwinton Lions Club. She formerly served on the Harwinton Economic Development Commission and as a board member and delegate for the Connecticut Chapter of the American Massage Therapy Association.

A Healing Trail acts as a hub to support many types of local charitable organizations to collect food, clothing, and medicine several times each year. Some of its favorites are the local volunteer emergency services, Susan B. Anthony, The Harwinton Land Trust, Operation Overflow, Harwinton Historical Society, Project Graduation, The Torrington Community Soup Kitchen, IRIS, White Memorial Conservation Center, Veterans Strong Community Center (Bristol), SPLC, ACLU as well as The American Red Cross.

A Healing Trail Wellness Center is located at 500 Burlington Road, RT 4, Harwinton. Their website is www.Massage4CT.com and their phone is 860-485-0405.

Tom Schoenemann, Chair
Town of Harwinton
Economic Development Commission