BrightStar Ranks In Top Half of Inc. 500 Fastest Growing Private Companies

Full service home healthcare staffing agency experiences three- year growth sales of more than 963%

GURNEE, IL – BrightStar, a full-service home health service provider and staffing agency, has been included in Inc Magazine’s recently released Inc. 500 ranking of the fastest-growing private companies in America.  The company is listed at #217 in its ranking debut and is recognized for the creativity, dedication, and hard work that have gone into building BrightStar what it is today.

“It is an honor to be recognized by Inc. 500, as this is the first time we have broken into the 500 category and we are ecstatic to be recognized for our dynamic growth” said Shelly Sun, founder and CEO of BrightStar.  “We have an outstanding franchise system of hard-working entrepreneurs, and this ranking is a tribute to their commitment to our company and customer service.” 

BrightStar has been featured in the Inc 5000 in 2007 (rank #2,225) and 2008 (rank #1988) and will be presented with this year’s award at the 2009 Inc. 500|5000 Conference & Awards Ceremony set for September 23-25 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, MD.

The 2009 Inc. 500 is revealed online at www.inc.com and featured in the September 2009 issue of Inc. 500 Magazine. Inc. Magazine is the premier publication for small and medium-sized businesses.  The Inc. 500 ranks privately held companies according to averaged year-over-year sales growth during the past five years. 

The list serves as evidence for the significant accomplishments of entrepreneurial companies. As in Inc. 500 honoree, BrightStar shares a prestigious pedigree with such notable alumni as Intuit, GoDaddy, Under Armour, Jamba Juice, Microsoft, American Apparel and scores of other powerhouses.

BrightStar has been in business since 2002 and has been franchising since 2005. In the three years since launching BrightStar in March 2006, BrightStar has grown to 115 franchisees with nearly 150 locations sold and with over 110 locations already open.  BrightStar leverages its unique differentiation of technology to provide franchisees real-time key performance indicators for customer retention, mark-up and margin, employee turnover and mix of business so each franchisee can benchmark themselves to local, regional and national system averages, highs and lows and leverage field support to improve performance.

Through Shelly’s leadership, BrightStar has grown from zero to 150 independently-owned franchise locations in 30 states, and will reach 400 franchise locations sold by the end of 2011.  Using a multi-unit owner approach,  BrightStar currently signs 5-8 new franchisees and 10-14 new locations per month and has experienced 963 percent growth in the number of locations and 811 percent system-wide revenue growth from 2006 to 2008.

About BrightStar

Based in Chicago, BrightStar is a full-service healthcare staffing agency that provides medical and non-medical homecare to private clients within their homes, as well as supplemental healthcare staff to corporate clients. Our well-qualified, attentive caregivers provide peace of mind to clients and their families. We work to understand the needs of our clients and provide a customized care plan to match them with a qualified, pre-screened caregiver who is compatible with their needs. BrightStar is one of the few home healthcare providers that offer both medical and non-medical homecare, available to all clients 24/7. 

For more information on BrightStar please visit www.BrightStarCare.com; to find out more about BrightStar Franchising, visit www.brightstarfranchise.com.

Thanks,

Julia 

Julia Brenner

Fishman Public Relations <http://www.fishmanpr.com/> 

847.945.1300 ext 260

jbrenner@fishmanpr.com