The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society held its groundbreaking and dedication ceremony celebrating the commencement of the development of the Good Samaritan Society Fairfield Glade Senior Living Community on November 17 at the Fairfield Glade Community and Conference Center.

A large crowd gathered to witness and participate in the ceremony. Doug Watts, Director of Marketing and Resource Development for Good Samaritan Society in Fairfield Glade, welcomed attendees and introduced guests such as Rev. Max Mayo, who led the crowd in the groundbreaking ceremony and blessing, and Good Samaritan Society Regional Director Jim Thomason.

The Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society was founded in 1922 and opened in 1923. Today, the Society, based in Sioux Falls, SD, operates more than 240 communities of care in 24 states across the United States, making it the nation’s largest not-for-profit provider of senior care and services. The Society has chosen Tennessee to become the 25th state in which a campus will be located. The 1st Tennessee campus will be located on the Cumberland Plateau in the Fairfield Glade community of Crossville, TN, and upon full build-out will provide housing and services to 350-400 senior residents 55+ in a Continuum Care Residential Community (CCRC), with accommodations including independent cottages, senior apartments, assisted living apartments and skilled nursing beds. The 1st phase of the campus will open in mid-2011, with an estimated cost of $21.6 million, and a projected annual payroll of $1.2 million.

At full build out, the Good Samaritan Society – Fairfield Glade Campus is projected to employ 85 – 100 staff positions, and estimates annual operating revenue of $4.5 to 6.0 million. The “annual economic impact calculator” for the state of Tennessee is a factor of seven. This is in line with the economic impact calculations at Good Samaritan Society locations in other states as well. In an effort to conservatively estimate the annual economic impact, we multiply 70% of a local campus’ budget by the factor of seven. Therefore, the estimated annual economic impact

(70%) is $22 to 29 million.

Community-wide Benefits

The development of Good Samaritan Society – Fairfield Glade will benefit residents of Crossville and the surrounding communities in several ways:

- Residents will have the long-term housing, services and healthcare they need and desire available within the community;

- Deep friendships and the active sense of “family” will not be weakened because some of residents must leave the plateau for long-term healthcare;

- Residents will not need to move to where their children live “up north” nor will they become a burden to their children;

- Since many local residents have parents that are in long-term care communities or will soon be in such a community, this project creates the opportunity to move their parents to the Good Samaritan Society – Fairfield Glade Campus when the timing is right;

- A project of this financial magnitude will have a lst phase $22 million building impact on the county, as well as on-going economic impact of $22 to 29 million annually at full build-out.

CAPTION: Rev. Max Mayo leads the crowd in the groundbreaking ceremony and blessing as Doug Watts, Director of Marketing and Resource Development for Good Samaritan Society in Fairfield Glade, looks on.