Ann Arbor's Kennedy Care doubles staff, plans to do so again

Wednesday, April 29, 2009 | Source: Concentrate

Michigan wants more and more entrepreneurs like David Kennedy, the University of Michigan grad who started Kennedy Care.

Kennedy turned his passion for history and senior citizens into a fast-growing downtown Ann Arbor-based firm five years ago. He went from being on his own to hiring fellow U-M graduates shortly after. Last year his company doubled its employee base to 130 people and a handful of interns and plans to do so again this year.

"That's our goal again," Kennedy says. "It will probably be 1.5-2 times bigger this year."

Kennedy Care specializes in providing home health care for people like senior citizens who still live at home but need some professional help to make that possible. The company focuses on southeast Michigan and northern Ohio where more than 100 of its employees are based. It also has an office in North Carolina.

The company has accomplished this growth with minimal investment in traditional marketing, instead relying on word of mouth and viral marketing. It's now making a push with some traditional marketing this year, hiring a U-M MBA graduate to head up that effort.

Source: David Kennedy, president of Kennedy Care
Writer: Jon Zemke