Caring Senior Service honors franchise owners at annual conference in Cancún, Mexico

By: Caring Senior Service | 3 Shares 156 Reads

April 24, 2025 // Franchising.com // SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Caring Senior Service honored its franchise owners with awards and opportunities for growth at its annual owner’s conference held at the Iberostar Selection Cancún in Mexico, April 9-11.

“Our franchise owners are the driving force behind our success,” said Caring Senior Service founder and CEO Jeff Salter. “Our annual conference is a chance for us to reflect on the past year and celebrate our accomplishments, but we also want to inspire our teams to reach higher during the following year. This year, we wanted to ensure our owners have the tools they need to make 2025 our best year ever.”

This year’s conference, “Focusing on Fundamentals: Building Relationships in Your Community,” was sponsored by partners Sensi AI, Paradigm Senior Services, SharpNet Solutions and Solvo, who spoke to attendees on artificial intelligence (AI) virtual care monitoring, serving veterans, digital marketing and talent management, respectively. The keynote was delivered by Steve "The Hurricane" Weiss of Home Care Evolution on “Building a Stronger Home Care Business.”

While the annual conference emphasizes training and networking, a highlight of the event each year is the presentation of the Hedgehog Award, which is given to the franchise owner who most embodies the spirit and entrepreneurship of the Caring Senior Service methodology. This year’s winner is Tom Kopp, owner of Caring Senior Service of Mercer County in Hamilton Township, New Jersey.

Kopp, an attorney, spent most of career as an insurance claims executive before opening his Caring Senior Service location in 2012. Since then, he has helped hundreds of seniors gain the tools and assistance they need to age in place.

The award is named after the fable “The Fox and the Hedgehog.” In this story, the fox uses a variety of methods to attack a hedgehog while the hedgehog succeeds by using only one—curling up into a ball—in his defense. The fable shows that sometimes focusing on a single but highly effective method is the best avenue for success.

“Tom is the perfect example of the best Caring Senior Service has to offer,” Salter said. “His unwavering commitment to seniors in Mercer County is inspiring and exemplifies the spirit of the Hedgehog Award. Tom’s ability to zero in on ensuring our clients’ well-being in the comfort of their own homes is what Caring Senior Service is all about.”

Caring Senior Service also presented several other awards during a ceremony held at the conference. These include:

The Pioneer Award was presented to new owner Dean White for his groundbreaking location in Irvine, California.
The “Shaking the Bushes” Award was given to Caring Senior Services of Houston North as the location with the most referrals from referral sources.
The “Sign ‘Em Up” Award was awarded to Caring Senior Service of Tucson Northeast for signing up the most new clients.
Caregiver of the Year was presented to Matt Carver of Caring Senior Service of Galesburg, Illinois.

Several locations were recognized for achieving their 2024 GreatCare® Certifications, a program that challenges owners and staff to address concerns relating to quality caregiving, care solutions and active involvement. These locations include:

Certified: Corpus Christi, Texas; Camden County, New Jersey; Northern Virginia in Gainesville, Virginia, and Johnson County in Cleburne, Texas.
Advanced: Waco, Texas; Chattanooga, Tennessee; and San Antonio, McAllen, Houston North and Amarillo, Texas.
Master: Galesburg, Illinois; El Paso and New Braunfels, Texas, and Lakewood, Colorado.

The company also recognized the 105 staff members or owners who achieved at least one level of GreatCare Certification, individually.

The following locations were also inducted into the Champions Circle, which is awarded to franchise locations that provided the most hours of service to their clients: Boulder, Colorado; Canton, New Jersey; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Corpus Christi, Texas; El Paso, Texas; Galesburg, Illinois; Houston North, Texas; Irvine, Texas; Jackson, Mississippi; Johnson County (Cleburne), Texas; Lakewood, Colorado; McAllen, Texas; Mercer County (Hamilton Township), New Jersey; Northeast Dallas, Texas; New Braunfels, Texas; Northern Virginia (Gainesville), Virginia; Tucson Northeast, Arizona, and Victoria, Texas.

Of these, Galesburg, Houston North, Jackson, McAllen, Tucson and New Braunfels achieved Champion Circle honors for all 12 months of 2024, and the New Braunfels location was awarded the Gold Medal Champions Circle for holding the No. 1 spot all year.

SOURCE Caring Senior Service

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