BURKBURNETT, Texas (February 3, 2021)—HomeWell Franchising Inc., a franchise of non-medical in-home care, recently announced the appointment of Crystal Franz as Chief Executive Officer effective immediately. Franz joined the company in July 2018 as the vice president of brand strategy, marketing and communications. Starting in 2019, she has served as the chief strategy officer. In this role, she led the cross-functional executive leadership team and worked closely to ensure collaboration with franchise development, franchise services, brand programs and finance. Equipped with over 15 years of franchising experience, Franz has held leadership roles at WoodSpring Hotels, a national brand leader in extended stay, and Comfort Inn and Comfort Suites under major franchisor, Choice Hotels International.
The company also announced a reorganization of the executive leadership team further strengthening the management team with executives deeply experienced in their respective fields. Franz will continue to lead the executive leadership team to accelerate the company’s growth and continue to establish its brand in the homecare industry.
- Brandon Clifford will now serve as senior vice president of development and franchise services. Clifford joined HomeWell in May 2019 as vice president of franchise development, where he has significantly contributed to the rapid growth of the brand securing dozens of new franchise deals during his short tenure. His extensive background in business ownership and franchise consulting will continue to contribute to the support of the company’s franchise system.
- Michelle Cone will now serve as senior vice president of training and brand programs. Cone has over 20 years of extensive health care experience working with some of the largest organizations in the healthcare industry. She joined HomeWell in 2015 and was responsible for driving operational excellence for the franchise system. She will lead the development of all brand programs, service offerings and manage the training and opening support for HomeWell franchisees.
- Mishelle Payne will now serve as vice president of marketing. Payne’s experience in building new brands and establishing best-in-class marketing will be instrumental to leading HomeWell's marketing department. In her time at the company, she led the launch of the new brand identity and established a robust marketing assets resource for franchisees.
- Casey McCleskey will continue to serve as HomeWell’s chief financial officer. McCleskey brings accounting and finance knowledge stemmed from his experience working in public accounting and more recently as CFO of a professional engineering firm.
- Matt Balducci has been hired as senior director of franchise services. In the newly created role, Balducci will be responsible for developing relationships with HomeWell’s franchisees, creating a franchise advisory process, and overseeing the franchise services team to aid overall franchisee success and satisfaction. Balducci is an accomplished sales and management professional with extensive knowledge in business consultation.
Bruce Haase, chairman of the board, said “The company has seen a tremendous amount of growth in the last year and that has been in large part because of the management team’s deep experience in all facets of our business. I am pleased to welcome Crystal to her new role, and I am confident in the leadership team’s commitment to continue HomeWell’s growth trajectory.”
The changes come after a successful year despite the pandemic sweeping through the nation. Franz said, “We started 2020 with great momentum and tremendous first quarter results. When the pandemic shut down much of the economy, we were bracing ourselves. But we never slowed down, the team stayed focused on supporting our owners, and it shows in our growth.”
McCleskey adds, “The pandemic has highlighted the acute need for in-home care. We had a record-breaking year in terms of our unit growth, new owners, and expansion of our national footprint and we see these trends continuing into 2021.”
With the new executive leadership team in place, the company is well positioned to continue its growth. HomeWell is focused on strategic expansion across the U.S. through franchise-owned development. With many territories available, the company expects to have over 100 HomeWell Care Services franchises by 2023.
