Entrepreneur Of The Year
Partnering for success
How Bob James and Tony Izquierdo formed Care Connection of Cincinnati
Smart Business Cincinnati | July 2007
Bob James and Tony Izquierdo used to
work for competing companies, but
over the years, despite the competition, they respected and admired each
other, and a friendship was born.
Eventually the two found themselves
working for the same
company, and they
bonded even more
through a common
idea for a business
venture to start an
infusion company.
After investigating
the market and seeing it had a shrinking
profit margin, James
and Izquierdo didn’t
give up. They modified their idea from
an infusion company
into a home health
care provider, now
known as Care Connection of Cincinnati.
When they started, James performed all
the patient care because he’s a registered
nurse, and Izquierdo handled all the marketing. They both went through six months of
being on call 24 hours a day, but at the end of
that period they started to see a positive cash
flow. Care Connection is now the largest
independent, locally owned home health
care provider in the Greater Cincinnati area,
and was named to the Top 500 “HomeCare
Elite” list by Home Health Line magazine.
The magazine evaluated close to 7,000 agencies across the nation and ranked Care
Connection in the top 7 percent.
James and Izquierdo pride themselves on
how they’ve gotten to where they are, but
they know they also have to continue looking
forward. They invest in research to discover,
test and develop new treatment options and
approaches to care to help them continue
providing the best service for customers.
HOW TO REACH: Care Connection of Cincinnati, (513) 842-1101
