Twenty20 Management Ceo: Formula 1 Mindset Shaping Our Team, Strategy

Twenty20 Management is focusing on creating more efficient senior living operations as the company considers adding new communities under management and pursuing new development.

The Blacksburg, Virginia-based senior living management company currently operates 12 communities, of which the company owns four through joint venture arrangements. Twenty20 Management owns the English Meadows senior living brand and its memory care brand, Lavender Hills.

In 2023, Twenty20 Management “decided to change things up,” both in staffing and operations, CEO Mike Williams told Senior Housing News. The company added Louis Coetzer as chief operating officer, and since then, Twenty20 Management has overhauled operations by adding new technology partners and focusing on staff retention and training.

As a fan of the Formula 1 racing series, Williams said Coetzer serves as the company’s chief technician and car builder, constantly reviewing systems, policies and procedures, while Williams helps decide where the car is going to race. That means having the ability to select markets and identify ideal properties for the portfolio.

Putting the right team in place also has meant making some hard decisions.

“We ended up saying goodbye to some people that had helped us get to that point but also brought on new people that could help us get to the next level,” Williams said.

Shaping operations, growth to prepare for incoming demand

To maintain the company’s portfolio and structure to stand the test of time, Williams is focused on developing relationships with capital partners that are committed to staying in the senior living sector for decades, not just a handful of years before a community is sold.

“We don’t want to be transient and we want to be long-term partners, whether it’s through us owning properties or with strong ownership groups,” Williams said. “That could mean new builds, existing buildings, but it all comes back to having long-term vision alignment.”

To get there, Williams said he and company leaders are in talks with “several” ownership groups about future opportunities for management agreements alongside a growing ownership portfolio. New development is also a possibility, with Williams identifying Texas as ripe for new development given the strong demand and limited new supply in certain markets.

Future development, made possible through a partnership with a firm in Kerrville, Texas, could include construction of a three-community portfolio in Central Texas. Pending approval and design, construction on the communities could start in early 2027, Williams said.

Those new builds will include larger units to align with what incoming baby boomers want in senior living, Williams noted.

“I think this is going to be really strong for us,” he said.

Finding the ‘sweet spot’ in management, ownership and development

In the future, Williams sees Twenty20 Management having a portfolio of between 25 and 50 communities, calling that a “sweet spot” for maximizing scale to support operations and create bottom-line growth. He sees the opportunity to have some sort of minority ownership stake in a third of the company’s communities as new partnerships with ownership groups are forged.

Finding ownership and management partnerships with industry-savvy groups is critical because having to build relationships from scratch with new senior living investors can cause friction and lead to disagreements regarding the future direction of a portfolio, Williams added.

On future growth, Williams said the company would continue to look in areas where it currently operates or in states where the company previously worked across the mid-Atlantic, spanning Washington, D.C., to Tennessee and Georgia.

“We love those areas and we see opportunities ranging from 50 units to 80 and above,” Williams added.

That’s because Twenty20 has “learned its lesson” regarding the operating challenges associated with a smaller unit base, where operators can sometimes run into difficulties with staffing and maintaining a strong margin.

Future communities the company takes on for management must offer a full continuum of independent living, assisted living and memory care. This is what capital partners want to see in a building, Williams said.

Technology, staff training help shape future of operations

Operators in recent years have made tough decisions when choosing technology partners and systems that work for them.

Twenty20 Management is in a similar situation, having changed seemingly “everything” in recent years.

The company replaced its financial and expense management platforms to create stronger financial reporting and give communities greater visibility into their bottom lines, Williams said. As part of this wave of change, Twenty20 Management also evaluated its electronic health record, medication management and billing systems to create more unified platforms.

Twenty20 Management also shifted to a new sales and customer relationship management system that provides a standardized, system-driven sales process and allows for better lead tracking. Currently, an in-community pilot is underway using sensor technology to monitor falls and help staff better respond with care changes for residents, Williams said.

In recent years, the company also changed its human resources system, centralizing HR functions and streamlining back-office administration. Williams said the move was a “game changer” in how the company oversees its talent pipeline.

This year, the company has focused on creating more training opportunities for hourly employees and direct care staff through refresher courses while also creating an internal learning management system used to track educational courses and training programs, Williams said.

“We changed everything to better fit what we’re trying to do today and that is to meet the incoming demand we’re seeing at our communities,” Williams said. “This puts us in the best possible position to adapt to changes and prepare for the future.”

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