Gardant Management Solutions made their move to Downtown Kankakee, finding a home in the Library's Executive Centre. Learn more about their move and their business below.
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Over the past 25 years, Gardant Management Solutions has developed and operated senior living, assisted living, and memory care communities across various locations. We have grown to become the 5th largest provider of assisted living in the United States and the largest provider of affordable assisted living in the United States. We are located across 5 states and are excited to bring our corporate presence into Kankakee.
We were founded in 1999 by Rod Burkett and Blair Minton with a concept and a few communities, not quite sure where things were going to go. Our first real office, outside of kitchen tables, was in the Executive Centre. Coming full circle, we now have an office in Kankakee at the Executive Centre where we can continue to serve these states and grow as a company. We were originally called BMA, Blair Minton and Associates, but rebranded in 2012 to the name Gardant. The name Gardant means forward facing, and we felt this fit our mission statement perfectly since it starts off with leading the way. Every conversation and decision we make has a line of sight to that mission.
We are very excited to be making our return to the Executive Centre and we feel it will be a good fit for our company and employees. We want the future leaders of Gardant to be proud that we made the choice to locate here. We also appreciate the revitalization of everything going on in downtown Kankakee. Many businesses are reopening in this location and it’s an exciting time to be here. We wanted our employees to be able to find things that are walkable from our office whether it’s food, entertainment, or even a cup of coffee. Looking back at our business legacy in 1999 and how we created something sustainable, we see a long-term relationship in downtown Kankakee which is exciting and important for us. We want to be a good representation of Kankakee, whether it’s being a witness at a senate hearing, being televised on C-SPAN, or sitting with local legislators and invited to have face-to-face visits. Gardant wants to be a part of rule changes and be able to impact the industry we serve and where we are serving it from.
Looking to the future, our aging population is going to reach a crisis that will require federal intervention. People need care and accommodations that they may not be able to find easily. Demand and capacity for care is already outpacing what people can provide. Here at Gardant, we are one of the largest operators of assisted living in the country and we are prepared to take this on and plan for it through our strategic growth plan. We want to have a solid plan for resources to be able to safely provide for the well being of those we care for.
We would like to express our appreciation to the Executive Centre ownership, McColly Bennett Real Estate, the city, city council, and mayor. We came looking for an opportunity and at the end of this know we came to an outcome that has benefited everyone involved. We are excited to be a part of Downtown Kankakee!
