Seniors Housing Business is the magazine that helps you navigate the evolution of the seniors housing industry.
Issue link: https://seniorshousingbusiness.epubxp.com/i/484276
and operate communities across the whole spectrum — from senior apartments and independent liv- ing to continuing care retirement communities to assisted living and dementia care. Some in the indus- try have talked about the need for a "Got Milk?" campaign. This may be a modern version of that with social media, traditional public rela- tions and a really well-conceived and useful digital site. SHB: Will the website include white papers? Schless: The site will include a range of materials and resources that will help consumers. I'll give you an example. Last fall, we published a brief written by Rach- elle Bernstecker, vice president of government affairs for ASHA, who has spent nearly 30 years in the seniors housing industry. Rachelle wrote a beautiful and incredibly insightful piece about her frst-hand experience fnding a community for her mom who has Alzheimer's disease. The title of the brief was "Why Compas- sion and Competency Matter: My Personal Journey As An Assisted Living Customer." It was one of the most powerful and important pieces I've seen in the 20-plus years I've been in the business because she wrote it from the per- spective of the consumer. I know our members found it incredibly valuable, and so too will consumers who are searching for assisted living and dementia care for their own parents. We have a terrifc task force of industry professionals helping us conceive of this project, and we intend to soon select a frst-rate agency to make this come to life. SHB: Was there any feedback from ASHA members during the process that surprised you? Schless: ASHA has focused pri- marily on federal advocacy. That's a real strength of the organization, and has been for the past 24 years. While our members recognize that ASHA does not have state chapters, they overwhelmingly want us to be helpful on state policy matters. That was particularly the case with owners and operators of com- munities. By using data as a part of the strategic planning process, we realized that our members believe ASHA should learn more about what is happening on state matters and to be helpful on state issues that are of great importance. SHB: What's the impetus for the leadership development efforts? Schless: Our membership is pri- marily comprised of senior execu- tives who are involved in develop- ment, operations, and fnance. The strategic planning process identi- fed a real need to do a much bet- ter job of exposing ASHA and its resources to rising leaders in the industry. Although they are not in the C-suite now, they may well be in the next fve or 10 years. We will soon turn to our board members frst and ask them to identify rising leaders in their companies. We plan to share many of our resources with these rising leaders and will develop some specifc programming to help nur- ture and mentor the next genera- tion of leadership. SHB: What's the timeline for exe- cuting these initiatives? Schless: The strategic plan covers a fve-year time frame, from 2015 through 2020, and we have really jumped into this with gusto. We began working on a few aspects of it by last fall. So, we have gotten a running start, for example, on the industry promo- tion effort. But we have things moving in all of these areas and are incredibly excited about the possibilities to help advance the industry. n GOING THE EXTRA MILE At Colliers International, we understand seniors housing isn't merely a property transaction, it's a business exchange. One requiring the conviction of seasoned experts and keen market insights to work with our clients' business. Our National Seniors Housing Group brings vast experience to the opportunities in seniors housing. When positioned with the reliability of our Colliers partners worldwide, our seniors housing brokerage team goes the extra mile to make opportunity abundant. colliers.com/seniorshousing +1 800 858 5904 NSHG@colliers.com EXPERTISE Brokerage Services Seniors Housing 30 www.seniorshousingbusiness.com Seniors Housing Business n February-March 2015