Comfort Keepers franchise extends reach to Cincinnati market

The original founder of home care agency Comfort Keepers, Kristina Butler, now a franchisee, recently expanded her business to the Cincinnati market.

Butler founded Comfort Keepers in 1998 in Springfield. She now owns a franchise of the Dayton corporation, and she does business under the name Miami Valley Comfort Keepers.

In July, Butler expanded from providing in-home personal care and companionship services in the nine-county Dayton, Springfield and Troy area, and acquired a West Chester Twp. office. The new Butler County location was purchased from another franchiser that exited the business and serves three counties — Butler, Hamilton and Warren — said spokeswomen Lisa Hube-Grimes and Cherrylyn Bacani.

The West Chester Twp. office at 7787 Joan Drive is part of a co-operative with other Comfort Keeper franchise owners that does business as Greater Cincinnati Comfort Keepers, they said.

Before the expansion, Butler’s Miami Valley Comfort Keepers employed about 250 caregivers providing non-medical home cares services to approximately 900 clients. Some clients are seen every day, some are seen multiple times a week and some so many times a month.

The new Cincinnati-area office adds 45 more caregivers and around 100 more client listings, Hube-Grimes and Bacani said.

Not sitting still, Butler’s franchise is hiring aggressively to accommodate further growth. Plans are to hire a total 50 people a month from August through the end of the year between the Dayton-area and newest Cincinnati-area offices, Hube-Grimes and Bacani say. Most job openings are for caregivers and include part-time positions.

At this pace, they said Miami Valley and Greater Cincinnati Comfort Keepers franchises owned by Butler will add about 250 new jobs before the end of the year throughout the region.

The growth comes from “aging baby boomers demanding more services and.. living longer. Demand has increased as aging seniors seek more assistance that doesn’t necessarily involve medical care, but still makes it easier for them to remain relatively independent in the comfort of their own home,” Bacani said.

The Comfort Keepers brand is now owned by CK Franchising Inc., a division of Sodexo, with more than 700 franchised offices worldwide.

“Most seniors prefer to stay in their own home, and many times, with the addition of a little extra help with daily activities, many of our clients are able to stay safely in the comfort of their own home,” Butler said in a statement.

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