Dear Franchisees,

This communication is somewhat bittersweet because I am announcing that Jim Brown, Vice President, Franchise Development, has communicated his intent to retire at the end of calendar 2014. Jim will stay on in a consulting capacity for the first several months of 2015 to ensure a smooth transition to the incoming vice president.

Jim joined CKFI almost nine (9) years ago as the Director, Franchise Development. Through his hard work, Jim assumed the role of vice president and department head, and since his time with CKFI, Jim and his team have helped grow the Comfort Keepers^� franchise network from approximately 500 territories in 2006 to the 679 territories today. He has worked hard to build the Comfort Keepers footprint and grow the brand through ongoing geographic penetration. In addition to his role in Franchise Development, Jim has been a CKFI representative on the National Advisory Council and a Performance Management Group (PMG) facilitator. These are just a few of the things that Jim has done over the years to make the positive impact on Comfort Keepers that he has. We are going to miss Jim a great deal and appreciate greatly all of his contributions.

At the same time, I am very excited to welcome Carl McManus as the incoming Vice President, Franchise Network. Carl began his career in public accounting in New York with Arthur Andersen & Co. as a certified public accountant. He also worked as a management consultant with Deloitte in Los Angeles. His experience includes several years with YUM brands in operations and franchising, and he was a director in Acquisitions and Divestitures during Taco Bell's re-franchising process, transforming the network into a franchise business model. He also worked for Gateway as a Director for Retail Strategy and focused on growing the business-to-business market through their Country stores. He has spent the last several years working with private equity, focusing on company operations, franchise development, and strategy. Carl earned a bachelor of science degree from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and a master of business administration from the Harvard Business School. Carl will report directly to me.

Please join everyone at CKFI in expressing our sincere thanks to Jim for all of his contributions. We wish him the greatest happiness in his retirement. At the same time, please offer a hearty welcome to Carl McManus in the new role as Vice President, Franchise Network.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me directly at [email protected].

New items are now available on SMARTworks^� from Standard Register. The Professional Care Services for Veterans brochure, memo and legal pads, thank you cards, note cards, and envelopes have been updated with new fonts, color, imagery and logos to complement our current marketing and stationery materials. Find them today on SMARTworks in the New Items catalog (link located in the left-hand menu on the home page) or in their designated catalogs.

We have a great line-up for the fall 2014 Road Shows, and registration is now open. Don't miss out on these excellent professional development opportunities. Register today!

IMPORTANT:

Please contact the Learning and Development team if you register for a show and cannot attend. No-shows on the days of the workshops will be charged $100.

The hospital-to-home transition can pose substantial risk for clients. This is the time when they are most likely to experience an incident that can land them back in the hospital. Comfort Keepers^� can work with discharged clients to help them safely transition.

(10 a.m. CDT, 9 a.m. MDT, 8 a.m. PDT)

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