Shepherd Premier Senior Living

What Shepherd Premier Senior Living does

Shepherd Premier Senior Living is a private, family-owned boutique senior living operator founded in 2014 by Brandon Schwab with business partners Steve and Theresa Maskrey. The company converts residential homes into licensed assisted living and memory care facilities, operating 11 locations across northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin with bed counts typically ranging from 10 to 20 per home (Sterling being the largest at 30 beds). Its core differentiator is a 1:5 caregiver-to-resident staffing ratio compared to the industry standard of 1:20 in larger institutional facilities, supported by a small-home design philosophy positioned as 'COVID-resistant' and a 34-acre flagship Bull Valley development that opened in 2020.

The company generates revenue through monthly recurring fees for assisted living and memory care services, with pricing quote-based on individual care assessment rather than publicly disclosed. Service lines include assisted living, specialized dementia and Alzheimer's memory care, music therapy as a therapeutic add-on, and limited in-home care services in the Oregon, Illinois area. Go-to-market is sales-led, relying on direct family outreach, 7-day-a-week private tours at each home, a formal referral partner program with healthcare providers and social workers, content marketing through an extensive 100+ article blog library, and local field marketing such as door hangers around 55+ communities. The company has been voted 'Best Illinois Senior Assisted Living & Memory Care' for eight consecutive years.

Shepherd Premier maintains founder-led ownership with no disclosed institutional capital, though it has a strategic relationship with a Boutique Senior Living Fund that appears tied to property investment and expansion funding. The technology stack is operationally lightweight: no proprietary software, no mobile app, and no public API, with website booking widgets and basic safety monitoring (24/7 video surveillance, fall alert pendants, keypad entry) representing the primary digital infrastructure. The business model is asset-heavy in real estate—converting or building residential homes into licensed facilities—but labor-intensive relative to revenue given the high-touch caregiving model. Forward pipeline includes Huntley land approval for 144 additional beds, signaling capacity that could more than double the current system.

Name

Shepherd Premier Senior Living

Legal name

Shepherd Premier Senior Living

Website

https://shepherdpremierseniorliving.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Shepherd Premier Senior Living is a private, family-owned boutique senior living operator founded in 2014, running 11 residential assisted living and memory care homes across Illinois and Wisconsin with a 1:5 caregiver-to-resident ratio and typically 10-20 beds per home.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Assisted Living and Memory Care

NAICS

Assisted Living Facilities for the Elderly (623312)

SIC

Services-Nursing & Personal Care Facilities (8050)

akta.pro primary industry

Memory Care Units within Assisted Living Communities (HLADACAB)

Keywords

• Assisted living services
• Memory care facilities
• Residential senior care
• Boutique senior living
• Dementia care homes

Headquarters

HQ city

Mchenry

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices12 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Residential Senior Care Services: Monthly fees for assisted living and memory care services in residential homes. Pricing includes room, board, meals, housekeeping, laundry, 24/7 care, medication management, and activities. No specific pricing publicly disclosed - quote-based per individual care needs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Shepherd Premier Senior Living operates a portfolio of 11 boutique residential homes across Illinois and Wisconsin, each housing 10–20 seniors. The company provides assisted living and memory care services—including 24/7 caregiving, medication management, home-cooked meals, housekeeping, and activities—delivered inside converted residential homes rather than large institutional facilities. Memory care specialization for Alzheimer's and dementia, along with adjunct music therapy, rounds out the core service portfolio.

Product overview

Shepherd Premier Senior Living operates a portfolio of boutique residential homes across Illinois and Wisconsin, offering three core service lines: Assisted Living (providing daily living assistance in 10-20 bed residential homes), Memory Care (specialized dementia and Alzheimer's care in secure environments), and Music Therapy (therapeutic musical activities for cognitive and emotional support). All homes feature a distinctive 1:5 caregiver-to-resident ratio, home-cooked meals, and a homelike atmosphere as an alternative to large institutional facilities. The company was founded in 2014 and operates 11 locations serving communities in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Boutique Senior Living: The company's branded niche market term for its small residential home model (10-20 beds) as an alternative to large institutional senior living facilities

Products and services

• Assisted Living Round-the-clock assisted living services delivered in small (10–20 bed) residential homes, providing help with activities of daily living (dressing, personal care, mobility), medication management, home-cooked meals, housekeeping, laundry, and daily activities for seniors who can no longer live independently. Distinguished by a 1:5 caregiver-to-resident ratio and a homelike COVID-resistant environment.
• Memory Care Specialized 24-hour supervised care for seniors with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, provided inside secure residential homes with controlled access, cognitive stimulation programming, emotional support, and behavioral management. Designed for residents with wandering risk and cognitive decline.
• Music Therapy Therapeutic music activities delivered to elderly residents with Alzheimer's and Dementia to provide cognitive, physical, and psychological benefits through structured musical engagement.
• Home Care Services In-home health care and personal support services for aging seniors in the Oregon, Illinois area who prefer to remain in their own residences rather than move into a Shepherd Premier residential home.

Quantifiable outcome

• 1:5 caregiver-to-resident ratio vs industry standard 1:20
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Senior Helpers: National in-home senior care franchise offering personal care, dementia care, and respite. Competes with Shepherd Premier for dementia families at a different delivery model (in-home vs residential), creating overlap on the family/caregiver acquisition side.
• Comfort Keepers: Franchised in-home care provider offering personal support, dementia care, and respite services. Adjacent competitor targeting the same families considering residential placement.

Broad incumbents

• Atria Senior Living: National senior living operator backed by private equity, offering assisted living and memory care across the US. Competes for similar private-pay residents and families, though its communities are typically much larger than Shepherd Premier's 10-20 bed homes.
• Brookdale Senior Living: Largest US operator of senior living communities with an extensive AL and memory care portfolio. Provides broad market context on pricing, occupancy, and competitive positioning for boutique operators like Shepherd Premier.
• Sunrise Senior Living: One of the largest US assisted living and memory care operators, with hundreds of communities and dedicated dementia care programs. Same core service lines as Shepherd Premier but at much larger scale and broader geographic reach.

Direct peers

• Bickford Senior Living: Family-owned Midwest-based operator of assisted living and memory care homes, often operating in converted residential properties. Strongest direct comparable given shared Midwest footprint, family ownership, and AL/MC dual-service focus.
• JEA Senior Living: Family-operated assisted living and memory care provider with a small-house operating philosophy similar to Shepherd Premier's boutique residential model. Direct service-mix overlap and a similar emphasis on personalized dementia care.
• Enlivant: Assisted living and memory care operator owned by TPG, focused on resident-centered care in mid-size communities. Comparable service mix and dementia programming to Shepherd Premier, though typically larger community footprint.
• Inspirit Senior Living: Mid-size operator running assisted living and memory care communities across the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest. Comparable in operating philosophy (residential-style communities) and resident profile to Shepherd Premier's homes.
• Brightview Senior Living: Brightview Senior Living operates assisted living and memory care communities across the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, with a portfolio mix of larger flagship and smaller 'pods' in a similar boutique-plus-scaled model. Comparable in service offering (AL + dementia care) and target demographic to Shepherd Premier, though more concentrated in eastern states.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/shepherdpremier
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@shepherdpremierseniorliving
• Facebookfacebook.com/ShepherdPremierSeniorLiving
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/shepherd-residential-care-home-for-seniors

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Shepherd Premier Senior Living