The business is a chain of franchises that initially opened in Omaha, Neb., according to the company’s web site. The company now operates more than 1,000 franchises across the U.S. as well as foreign franchises in countries like China and 16 other markets.
The company also has franchises in Dayton and Columbus.
Employees do not provide medical care, but offer other services like cooking, laundry, driving clients to medical appointments and other basic tasks, George said. The company offers training programs for its personal care aides, including CPR and instruction on how to work with patients who have Alzheimer’s disease, for example.
“There’s a growing need,” George said. “As our seniors are living longer and longer, dementia and Alzheimer’s is becoming a big issue.”
The industry is growing, according to information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. An estimated 1.2 million people in the U.S. worked as personal care aides in 2012, and the industry is expected to grow by 49 percent by 2022, according to the BLS.
The site lists median pay for workers at about $20,000 per year in 2012, or about $9.50 per hour.
George’s parents died when she was young, she said. Her mother was diagnosed with a personal illness and wanted to stay at home, but did not want to ask for help outside the family. Other family members tried to help out as best as they could, but George said it was often difficult. That experience helped her decide to open the new business.
“When the opportunity presented itself to open a franchise in Springfield, I thought that is exactly what I want to do,” George said.
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