Benchmark Lends Aging-Well Expertise as Founding Sponsor of Aging2.0
Chairman and CEO Tom Grape Addresses Some of the Biggest
Challenges Affecting Industry Innovators
In a time when more than 10,000 baby boomers are retiring every single day, the topic of aging well is of critical importance. Benchmark, a human connection company and leading provider of senior living services in the Northeast, was a founding sponsor of the Aging2.0 Boston chapter’s inaugural conference, “Revolutionize.” The company participated as an extension of its commitment to support innovation addressing the challenges and opportunities in aging. The Oct. 25 event was produced in partnership with the Age Friendly Foundation and attended by those in aging services and other industries seeking to collaborate to make aging easier. Additional conference sponsors included AARP and MassMutual.
Benchmark chairman and CEO, Tom Grape, calling on his more than 30 years of innovating in senior care, joined a panel of thought leaders moderated by Boston Globe reporter Rob Weisman to present negative stereotypes commonly associated with aging and to challenge innovators to help create more positive perceptions.
Grape founded Benchmark in 1997 with the desire to help seniors lacking socialization and purpose. Since then, the company has grown to more than 60 independent living, assisted living and memory care communities across the Northeast, all dedicated to keeping seniors and their loved ones connected to who and what matters most at every stage of their lives. Prior to founding Benchmark, Grape and others helped write, with then Secretary of Health and Human Services and now Governor Charlie Baker, the 1995 legislation leading to the creation of the assisted living category in Massachusetts. In 2017, Grape was appointed to the Governor’s Council to Address Aging in Massachusetts and also participates in the Massachusetts Healthcare Collaborative, a convening group of health care leaders from across government, educational institutions, industry and public organizations.
“Having opportunities like this for aging services professionals to come together is critical,” says Grape. “Massachusetts may be one of the most age-friendly states thanks to the work of Governor Baker and his team and what we at Benchmark have done over the past 23 years, but we still have so much more we need to do to ease the experience of aging for all seniors in the Bay State. At Benchmark, we’re continuing to work with the Governor to advance his progressive mission as well as provide seniors with living experiences that facilitate a sense of purpose and meaningful companionship.”
Other speakers for the day’s event included Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, MIT AgeLab Director Joseph Coughlin and Aging 2.0 Co-Founder Stephen Johnston.
About Benchmark
Based in Waltham, Mass., Benchmark is a leading provider of senior housing in the Northeast with 6,400 associates and 60 communities. Founded in 1997 by Tom Grape, Benchmark offers independent living, assisted living, Alzheimer’s care and continuing care retirement communities in eight states. Certified for the second consecutive year as a Great Place to Work, Benchmark in 2019 moved up to the number 15 spot on FORTUNE magazine’s 50 Best Workplaces in Aging Services list of large companies in the senior housing and care category and ranked number five among senior living companies with 50 or more communities. Benchmark is one of only six companies named to The Boston Globe Top Places to Work list every year of the 12 years it has been published. And it has been consistently recognized by Boston Business Journal, Hartford Courant and Hartford Business Journal as a top workplace, and by the Boston Business Journal, Providence Business News and Hartford Business Journal as one of the healthiest employers. Click here for more information.
Press Contact: Carol Arnold, Arnold Communications, carol@arnoldcomm.com, 603.502.0469.
