Top Quotes from the 2017 NIC Conference

The 2017 National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC) Fall Conference just wrapped up in Chicago—or the home base of Senior Housing News. It was unseasonably hot in the Windy City, but that seemingly didn’t put a damper on industry players’ networking or dealmaking.

In case you weren’t able to make the event, here are some of the juiciest, most insightful quotes we heard at this year’s conference: 

On growth strategies:

“Part of what’s gone wrong in scaling management companies is people have gotten drunk on the management fee and didn’t pay attention to the fact that you get hired to drive the bottom line. If you pay too much attention to making a profit off the management fee, no one will hire you, if you’re not creating earnings growth for your owners.” — John Moore, CEO of Atria Senior Living

“Don’t be surprised if your lenders are asking you questions around [staff] training and culture. We’re making those kinds of assessments as we’re deciding who we want to partner with and provide capital.” — Brian Heagler, senior vice president and senior banker with KeyBank Real Estate Capital

“Fifty percent of assisted living properties are at 95% or above in their third year of lease-up. So you’re not a hero for having done that.” —  Larry Rouvelas, principal at Senior Housing Analytics

“I fundamentally believe that you can never run a perfect business, so you always need to enhance what you do.” — Thomas Wellner, president and CEO of Revera, Inc.

On the labor shortage:

“I cannot overemphasize the importance of looking at the emergence of all sorts of online and other kinds of learning systems that enable you to take somebody who comes in as an entry-level worker and actually improve their income and their capabilities in a series of steps over a 10- or 15-year period in a way that’s a fundamental change from the turnover models that dominate all too many of our systems.” — Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives

“It is in our interest to have immigrants, especially skilled immigrants, who can contribute to the economy, pay taxes to support the aging population, who can bring entrepreneurial spirit, and who can carry on what has been an extraordinary tradition of the United States welcoming people from abroad. I think those who want to see immigration only through the prism of walls and fences are really, very badly misguided.” — Lawrence H. Summers, former Secretary of the U.S. Treasury 

Written by Mary Kate Nelson