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Coral Springs business grows with continuing care communities [Sun Sentinel :: ]
[May 25, 2014]

Coral Springs business grows with continuing care communities [Sun Sentinel :: ]


(South Florida Sun Sentinel (FL) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) May 25--Be nice to your grandchildren; your children may be too old to take care of you.

So says Aric Agmon, head of a growing software company that serves senior-living care centers.

"With people living to 100, you have 'kids' in their 80s," said Agmon, CEO of Coral Springs-based AOD Software. "It's a new phenomenon." AOD Software last week hosted 435 senior-living center operators, educating them about its software and industry issues at the Marriott Harbor Beach on Fort Lauderdale Beach. Customers paid about $1,400 apiece, including a week's hotel stay and conference fees.



AOD Software products support operations ranging from payroll and electronic medical records to sales in the senior-living dining hall. The company specializes in "continued care retirement communities," which offer lifetime contracts for both independent living as well as assisted care.

The company said it has captured 30 percent of the market in Florida and a quarter of the national market. In South Florida, that includes John Knox Village in Pompano Beach.


AOD meets its customers' needs, said Tara Hazard, a clinical software specialist for Shell Point Village, one of the largest continuing care communities, located on an island off Fort Myers.

"[AOD] is really driven by what we need," she said.

The company has grown about 20 percent a year, posting record revenues of $30 million in 2013. Employees have increased from a dozen when Agmon came aboard in 1999 to 150 today, with about 80 at its recently expanded Coral Springs headquarters.

About 60 percent of its workforce are new graduates from Florida universities, including Florida Atlantic University, Nova Southeastern University, Florida International University, University of Central Florida and University of Florida.

The company hires new graduates with degrees in computer science as well as nurses, accountants and other professionals. Starting salaries are $35,000 to $45,000 a year, Agmon said.

Frank Murphy, 26, joined AOD in IT support after graduating from the University of Central Florida. Four years later, Murphy is considered one of the firm's top software developers.

While he would have moved anywhere for his career, Murphy grew up in South Florida. "I was fortunate to find a place to work here," he said.

Agmon said he expects the company will hire 40 more workers this year as it expands into more assisted-living centers, including those dedicated to patients with Alzheimer's and dementia.

As more aging baby boomers seek independent living, AOD has introduced a home-care product that allows continuing care communities to provide services outside their walls.

As for Agmon, 55, he already knows the type of continuing care retirement community where he would like to spend his older years.

In some communities, he said, "you can still have your boat." [email protected] or 561-243-6650 ___ (c)2014 the Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) Visit the Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) at www.sun-sentinel.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

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