Former advertising exec. leads new Harrisburg franchisee

An executive with years of experience in advertising took his career in a new direction after launching the Harrisburg franchisee of a national senior living referral agency.

Rick Campomizzi, a former sales executive at PA Media Group in Mechanicsburg and director of sales for Comcast Spotlight, knew that the next step in his career was owning his own business.

Upon researching national franchises that had yet to make a foothold in the region, he settled on Scottsdale, Arizona-based Assisted Living Locators.

Assisted Living Locators offers free consultations to families looking for a senior home facility for their loved ones. The firm’s senior living advisors research local facilities that meet the health and financial needs of their clients and take families on tours of the facilities they find.

The tours as well as face-to-face meetings with clients differentiate Assisted Living Locators from similar services, according to Campomizzi.

“I thought it was a unique business opportunity,” he said. “I was looking for something that may not have been in my area and hadn’t arrived to the fullest extent and this fit that bill.”

Campomizzi said that he expects his experience in advertising and marketing to transition well to working with families at Assisted Living Locators.

“Part of that job was to sit down with business owners and decision makers and really see what their challenges were and find opportunities based on their needs,” he said. “The discovery process and the needs analysis now translates to a family environment and trying to help families create an atmosphere that is better for their loved ones.”

Pennsylvania’s senior homes, assisted living and memory care organizations were dealt a blow in recent months thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced them to lock down their facilities and stop touring new residents.

The pandemic has also made many families wary of sending their loved ones to live in facilities.

Campomizzi expects work to be slow in the coming weeks, but he said the need for individuals to find long-term care is still present and the information available to him through Assisted Living Locators can help families choose a facility that gives them peace of mind.

“There have been homes heavily hit by the virus and there are some homes that took better measures,” he said. “It’s a learning curve.”