Daniel Trujillo, Walmart Inc.'s executive vice president and global chief ethics and compliance officer, third from right, with his helmet off, with other Walmart workers who biked to work Friday.

Daniel Trujillo, Walmart Inc.'s executive vice president and global chief ethics and compliance officer, is a triathlete who can often be seen riding his bike to work. Now Walmart is using Trujillo's love for the sport by having him lead its new bike-to-work program.

“I love cycling because I think you can get to so many places, explore so many places, and it's really good at helping with the life/work balance. Especially when you have stressful jobs,” Trujillo told Corporate Counsel.

He recently blogged about the program, noting that only a small group of employees, including several in-house counsel, now bike to the office in Bentonville, in northwest Arkansas. The company already supports a popular “bike-to-work Fridays” concept, and the goal of the new program is to have 10% of the home office workforce riding bikes to work by 2023.

Trujillo said the program expands the company's support of bikers and coincides with Walmart's plans for a new home office campus that will stress the environment and sustainability.

Construction on the campus began this summer, with plans to open it in phases between 2020 and 2024. Dan Bartlett, Walmart's executive vice president for corporate affairs, called the campus Walmart's “dream home.”

It will include natural lighting and energy-efficient buildings powered by solar energy, outdoor work spaces set amid lush trees, shrubs and grasses, and walking paths and bike trails to connect the buildings.

Walmart declined to say how many employees work in the home office of the world's largest retailer. But the bike program is focusing on about 7,500 employees who live within 5 miles of the new campus, Trujillo said. That means thousands of bikers could be flooding Bentonville's streets soon.

He said each of four neighborhoods on the new campus will have bike storage, showers and changing rooms, while campus bicycles will be available for employees to ride between buildings and to their vehicles. The company is also prioritizing safety and education for both motorists and bicycle commuters.

He said his team is identifying incentive options to encourage employees to join in, including various activities and events.

The program is a natural fit for the Bentonville area, which Trujillo loves, saying it has 140 miles of mountain bike trails. “That's a lot of trails,” he explained. “This is an area different from others. The community, the town itself loves bikes. The support from the company and the community has been fantastic.”

Among the supporters, he included Tom and Steuart Walton, grandsons and heirs of the founder of Walmart, who are also known as avid mountain bikers.

The program is also a natural fit for Trujillo, who became a triathlete about 15 years ago and participates in four or five “half Ironman” triathlons a year. The sport consists of a 1.2-mile swim, a 56-mile bike ride and a 13.1-mile run.

“Sports is a major part of my life,” said Trujillo, who joined Walmart in 2012. “Every day I do something—run, bike, swim—even if I have to start at 4 in the morning. Often my sons bike with me.”

He added, “I am really excited for other colleagues to start doing this, to see the value—that it's good for them, good for the environment, good for the community. And so much fun.”