senior care

Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce small business award recognizes the franchise’s growth, market service and promising future. 

SARASOTA, Fla. — Town Square Sarasota, an adult daycare and memory care center, is the winner of the Rising Star Award, an annual award from the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce recognizing best new Small Businesses. Part of a national reminiscence therapy franchise model, Town Square Sarasota opened February 2022, serving individuals with Alzheimer’s or related dementias.

The Sarasota Chamber 2023 Frank G. Berlin, Sr. Small Business Awards celebrates companies that have exceeded targets for growth and financial performance; best demonstrated an understanding of their competitors, customers, and their markets; and have the foundations in place for continued success. Awards were presented at a luncheon for 600.

“The Town Square Sarasota team is humbled to receive the Rising Star Award as the best new Small Business by the Greater Sarasota Chamber,” says Michael Finn, who along with his wife Sherri owns and operates the center. “We’re proud of the work we do daily helping individuals affected by Alzheimer’s and dementia – and their families and caregivers – and especially want to thank Center Director Jill Grinnell-Blehinger and our incredible staff for their ongoing commitment to care, kindness and love, which makes all of this work.”

He also notes that Grinnell-Blehinger was separately chosen by the Chamber as part of its leadership program. The Sarasota Chamber leadership program – whose past graduates lead companies all over the area – creates awareness of the community and its needs by examining how leadership in the historical, economic, governmental and cultural segments work together to advance Sarasota County.

“This event today is hands down a favorite event that we do every year,” says Sarasota Chamber CEO & President Heather Kasten, citing the organization’s mission of supporting businesses in a competitive market, helping them grow and creating an attractive business climate. A short video from the event can be found here.

Town Square Sarasota is a 12,000-square-foot 1950s-themed Day Care Center built for seniors affected by aging, Alzheimer’s and other dementias. The interior looks like a 50s main street with a diner, theater, city hall, park, library and more; guests move through these storefronts with the aid of highly-trained care staff, and participate in programming in each storefront, built to engage and entertain. Seniors enjoy socialization and programming while families and caregivers get a much-needed respite.

Michael and Sherri Finn are developing three additional Town Square locations, from Sarasota to Ft Myers. Nearby, Town Square University Parkway, on the border of Bradenton and Sarasota, opened in March of this year.

PERRY HALL, Md. — SH Town Square Franchising, Inc. (Town Square), which fills a nationwide elder care market gap for adult daycare and memory care centers, continues its growth, with new locations opening, leases signed and additional franchise owners coming on board. The four-year-old organization also is expanding its leadership team with the addition of a new position, Vice President of Marketing & Business Development.

With a just-opened University Parkway (Bradenton, FL) Town Square; the lease signed for a Town Square in the Greater Charlotte area (Fort Mill, SC); and new owners of a Bergen County, NJ, Town Square ramping up, Town Square Franchising improves the momentum already established in 2022.

“We’ve been on a roll since June of 2021,” says Pete Spillum, VP of Operations for Town Square. “In addition to seven centers up and running, we have 15 other committed locations. Like families and caregivers, franchise owners are recognizing incredible national demand for quality daycare for those with dementia. We are delighted to serve more seniors while also giving caregivers a respite from 24/7 care.”

University Parkway Town Square has strong start

Spillum notes that Town Square University Parkway, on the border of Bradenton and Sarasota, opened its doors March 6. More than 450 people attended the Open House to see the innovative adult day facility offering activities and enabling reminiscence and socialization. Town Square University Parkway franchise owners John and Catherine McDermott have plans to open two more Town Square centers in the coming years to serve the Manatee County area, north of this first location.

Geriatric psychiatry expertise drives Town Square near Charlotte

Likewise, franchisees Kelli and Rob Gagne recently signed a lease for their Fort Mill, SC, Town Square, due to open in early 2024, serving the Charlotte, NC, area. Kelli is a psychiatric mental-health nurse practitioner with her own geriatric psychiatry practice and Rob served in the U.S. Navy before a long career as a director of facilities overseeing the campus of a state university, so they are well-suited to provide senior care in an area that lacks adequate adult day care and memory care facilities. They too plan to open additional locations in the Charlotte market.

Town Square aligns with existing businesses

Some of the latest Town Square owners have just completed New Owner Training and will be opening in Bergen County, NJ, in 2024. Owners Mike Tucci and Stacey Lopis and business partner John Lopis are excited that Town Square will offer families affordable and engaging memory care, as well as rewarding and consistent work for their caregiving staff, including opportunities for career advancement.

Growth drives leadership team expansion

As its first Vice President of Marketing & Business Development, Sarasota-based Lori McCauley brings 25 years sales & operations experience, with a decade in healthcare and 15 years in franchise development.

“I know from experience there is nothing quite like Town Square in the healthcare marketplace,” McCauley says. “The brand is exciting plus the team is passionate, and our centers, as we call them, benefit not only the member, but also caregivers who need respite support. Our goal when we partner with franchise owners is for Town Square to be the ‘Center of Excellence’ in adult day dementia care. From every activity to the centers’ décor, we’ve built it with strategic, meaningful purpose.”

Sixth in the franchise and first in Atlanta, Town Square Sandy Springs offers support that may delay progression of Alzheimer’s, other dementias.

ATLANTA — Town Square^® Sandy Springs, an innovative adult day center for those in need of memory or cognitive care, is now open. The first of its kind in Atlanta and the sixth in the U.S., the facility offers experiential adult day enrichment.

“Our person-centered, strengths-based approach to healthy aging supports interventions that reduce risk for disease, may delay dementia progression and postpone the need for long-term care,” says Town Square Sandy Springs Director Mary Caldwell, an experienced and credentialed gerontologist. “We are committed to serving our members, but also any person impacted by Alzheimer’s or dementia by providing free care consultation, care planning, care partner support groups and education.”

Town Square provides a safe, comforting and immersive environment where members spend the day while caretakers are at work, running errands or taking a break from daily routines. Members – as Town Square day guests are called – take part in a range of engaging activities facilitated by highly qualified Program Assistants (with an 8-to-1 caregiver/participant ratio) who leverage therapeutic reminiscing techniques to spark memories and stimulate the mind.

“The impetus for Town Square was to be part of the innovation of the adult day space,” says Kellen Stennett, owner of Town Square Sandy Springs. “We saw a huge need to elevate the level of dignity and compassion of people who need cognitive or memory care. I’m proud of the impact we’re making in the north Atlanta community.”

The 12,000-sq. ft., state-of-the-art facility (8601 Dunwoody Place, Suite 130, just off GA 400 Exit 6) resembles a mid-century American town, with 13 stylized activity rooms representing popular storefronts that existed during that era: a 1950’s diner; Starlite Theater; a music room called Spinners; Health Club with themed exercise; a vintage 1964 Ford Thunderbird; as well as a library; working hair and nail salon; craft room; recreation room, among others.

“There is an incredible demand in Atlanta and around the country for quality daycare and resource centers for those with dementia,” says Pete Spillum, VP of Operations and Franchising for Town Square. “We are delighted to serve seniors while also giving caregivers a respite from 24/7 care.”

In addition to daytime programming (Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.), Town Square is available for rent, evenings and weekends, for corporate meetings, birthday and anniversary parties, and group visits from senior living facilities.

Spillum notes that the seventh Town Square will open in Bradenton, FL later this year. In addition to Atlanta (Sandy Springs), other Town Square locations include Sarasota, FL; Perry Hall, MD; Jersey Shore (Brunswick), NJ; Princeton, NJ; and (NW) Austin, TX. Four additional locations are in-process to open in 2023: two additional New Jersey locations, one in North Carolina and one in Las Vegas. As the population shifts, the 50’s and 60’s theme of Town Square facilities will roll through subsequent decades.