Aging-in-place CAPS-certified general contractor — residential GC focused exclusively on home retrofits (zero-step entries, curbless walk-in showers, stairlifts, widened doorways, kitchen reach modifications, smart-home falls monitoring) for the 1990s and 2000s suburban subdivisions in Union, Hebron, Burlington, and Florence whose original buyers are now 60 to 80 years old.

Four things line up. First, the demographics. The 2022 ACS 5-year puts Boone's 65-and-up population at about 20,788 — roughly 14.5 percent of total. Of that cohort, about 12,000 are in owner-occupied households (this needs verification via ACS B25007 by age). The median home value is $353,000 (Redfin Boone County, March 2026; up 13.7 percent year over year; 29 days on market). Retrofit spend at 8 to 15 percent of home value gives an average ticket capacity of $28,000 to $53,000 without distress on the household side. The 1990s and 2000s suburban subdivisions in Union, Hebron, Burlington, and Florence — built when buyers were 50 to 60 — now hold those buyers at 75 to 85, in homes designed without aging-in-place features (multi-step entries, narrow doorways, tub-shower combos, second-story master bedrooms).

Second, the Boone specialty bench is absent. We have not yet pulled the NAHB CAPS directory but expect zero to two Boone-headquartered CAPS holders versus six to twelve Cincinnati-side CAPS contractors who travel across the river. Cincinnati-side competitors include Legacy Builders Group of Montgomery, Ohio (founded 1991; 35 years of tenure; "Top 60 Remodeling Firm" Qualified Remodeler 2016; lists Northern Kentucky in service area) and DeVol Design Build Remodel of Loveland, Mason, and Montgomery (east-side focused, cross-river travel rare). Mr. Handyman of Northern Kentucky and West Cincinnati handles small grab-bar and ramp work but does not compete at the $25,000-plus retrofit ticket. Five Star Bath Solutions Northern Kentucky is bath-led, not aging-in-place specialized.

Third, the demand channels are named and well-defined. The Northern Kentucky Area Development District Council on Aging and its Aging and Disability Resource Center cover eight Northern Kentucky counties — Boone, Campbell, Carroll, Gallatin, Grant, Kenton, Owen, and Pendleton (ADRC 859-692-2480, [email protected]; Anne Wildman, Associate Director, Human Services Division, 859-283-1885). It does not publish a contractor referral list, so the relationship is one-to-one with social workers, not a vendor sign-up. Boone County Senior Center (5874 Veterans Way, Burlington, 859-334-6518) and Skees Senior Activity Center (7431 US-42, Florence, 859-282-4061) are direct senior-touch partnership targets for lunch-and-learn universal-design talks. St. Elizabeth Home Care, with Edgewood and Florence locations, is the physical- and occupational-therapy discharge-to-home flow channel — the relationship takes 12 to 18 months to produce referrals. St. Elizabeth Hospice (preferred provider for seven Northern Kentucky counties, 16-bed inpatient unit) carries end-of-life retrofit demand. Dr. Laura Trice, MD, is a geriatric-medicine and palliative-care specialist with discharge-planner adjacency at St. Elizabeth.

Fourth, this works at Boone's income level in a way it would not work in lower-income Kentucky counties. A $99,414 median household income, a $353,000 median home value, owner-occupied senior households that can spend 8 to 15 percent of home value to stay put, and adult kids in Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and Atlanta who would rather wire $50,000 toward a curbless shower than fly in for a quarterly assisted-living visit — that combination underwrites a $1.2 million to $2.5 million revenue, $200,000 to $400,000 take-home construction shop. The operator profile is a trades operator with crew adding the CAPS credential, or a capital partner paired with a credentialed trades founder. The credential path is three NAHB courses, about $1,200, six months elapsed. The demand channel runs through hospital discharge planners, not Facebook Marketplace.

Ticket sizes (NKY market, 2026, verified from NAHB / Zonda 2025 Cost vs Value Report): Single mod (grab bars + comfort-height toilet + lighting): $3,000–$8,000. Curbless walk-in shower conversion (single bath): $22,000–$38,000. Whole-bath universal-design conversion (zero-threshold, widened doorways, cabinetry): $45,000–$90,000. Stairlift install + door widening + entrance ramp: $15,000–$30,000. Whole-house aging-in-place package (entry + bath + kitchen reach mods + lighting + smart-home falls monitoring): $75,000–$150,000. Average mid-ticket job target: $35,000–$55,000.

Conversion-rate sensitivity (assumption-driven, not a found number): 20,788 seniors aged 65 and up, of which about 12,000 are in owner-occupied households (estimate; verify with ACS B25007 by age). At 0.3 percent a year, about 36 jobs a year. At 0.5 percent, about 60. At 0.8 percent, about 96. At 1.0 percent, about 120. The 0.5 percent center-point underwrites the Year-2 revenue line below; cut the household count or the conversion rate by 30 percent and the job count halves. Both numbers — the household denominator and the realistic conversion rate — need verification through Northern Kentucky Area Development District and St. Elizabeth Care Coordination interviews before the revenue projection ships.

Year-2 stable-state revenue: 50 jobs × $40,000 average = $2.0 million revenue. Gross margin 30–35% (specialty trade with owner-PM): $650,000 gross. SG&A + 1 FTE estimator + insurance + truck + marketing: approximately $300,000. EBITDA approximately $300,000–$350,000. Less debt service on $150,000–$250,000 SBA 7(a) entry capital: $200,000–$250,000 owner take-home in steady state.

Capital range for entry: build path (existing trades operator plus CAPS): $60,000 to $120,000 for the credential, working capital, truck, and first-job float. NAHB CAPS designation runs three courses, about $1,200 in fees, and six months elapsed. Acquisition of a Boone-headquartered remodeler with a CAPS pivot: $400,000 to $900,000 (1.5 to 2.5 times seller's discretionary earnings on a $150,000 to $300,000 SDE remodel shop). Inputs: NAHB CAPS designation framework; the 2025 NAHB and Zonda Cost vs Value Report (Universal-Design Bath ROI 61.2 percent national average); Redfin Boone County housing market, March 2026 ($353,000 median, up 13.7 percent year over year); ACS B25007 owner-age tabulation (verification pending); BizBuySell residential-remodel SDE multiples for 2024 and 2025.

• Legacy Builders Group

  Cincinnati-side CAPS competitor (cross-river)

  Out-of-county

  7791 Cooper Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45242 (Montgomery). Founded 1991 by Chris Otte and Bill Haussler; 35 years of tenure. CAPS-credentialed, with a multigenerational and aging-in-place service line. "Top 60 Remodeling Firm," Qualified Remodeler, 2016. Lists Northern Kentucky in its service area; cross-river travel is the moat a Boone-headquartered entrant attacks.
• DeVol Design Build Remodel

  Cincinnati-side CAPS competitor (cross-river)

  Out-of-county

  Loveland, Mason, and Montgomery focus — east-side Cincinnati. CAPS-recognized, bath-led, universal-design. Cross-river travel is rare for Boone retrofits.
• BOLD Company

  Boone-HQ residential builder + remodel arm — pivot candidate

  Active in market

  Union, Kentucky. More than 500 custom homes built. No published CAPS credential — a pivot candidate to add aging-in-place as a specialty. Long operating history; we have not verified ownership tenure against the Kentucky Secretary of State.
• Chris Hollon Construction

  Boone-HQ residential remodeler — pivot candidate

  Active in market

  Hebron, Burlington, and Florence service area. BBB A+. No CAPS credential today — a pivot candidate for the aging-in-place specialty. Existing trades crew and a customer base in the target subdivisions.
• Mr. Handyman of Northern Kentucky & West Cincinnati

  Small-ticket adjacent (franchise)

  Active in market

  Franchise. Safety-and-mobility service line — grab bars, ramps, shower-bench installs. No CAPS claim verified. Adjacent at the small-ticket tier; not a competitor on $25,000-plus retrofit work.
• NKADD Council on Aging / Aging & Disability Resource Center

  Demand channel — 8-county aging-services agency

  Institution

  Covers Boone, Campbell, Carroll, Gallatin, Grant, Kenton, Owen, and Pendleton. ADRC 859-692-2480, [email protected]. Anne Wildman, Associate Director, Human Services Division, 859-283-1885. Title III aging funds. Does not publish a contractor referral list — the relationship is one-to-one with social workers, not a vendor sign-up.
• Boone County Senior Center (Burlington)

  Direct senior-touch partnership target

  Institution

  5874 Veterans Way, Burlington; 859-334-6518. Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. YMCA-operated. Lunch-and-learn universal-design talks are the natural partnership channel.
• Skees Senior Activity Center (Florence)

  Direct senior-touch partnership target

  Institution

  7431 US-42, Florence, 41042; 859-282-4061. YMCA-operated. Same channel; west-Boone reach.
• St. Elizabeth Home Care + St. Elizabeth Hospice + Dr. Laura Trice MD (geriatric/palliative)

  Hospital + clinical referral channel

  Institution

  St. Elizabeth Home Care has Edgewood and Florence locations (483 S Loop Road, Edgewood). St. Elizabeth Hospice is a preferred provider across seven Northern Kentucky counties with a 16-bed inpatient unit at Edgewood, plus Florence, Fort Thomas, and Grant County. Dr. Laura Trice is in geriatric medicine and palliative care, with Edgewood and Florence affiliations. The physical- and occupational-therapy discharge-to-home referral pipeline takes 12 to 18 months of relationship-building.
• Boone County Sheriff Veteran Response Team + VA HISA grant

  Veterans referral channel (adjacent)

  Institution

  The Boone County Sheriff Veteran Response Team is Kentucky's first such unit (18 deputies). The Cincinnati metro has about 140,000 veterans. The VA Home Improvements and Structural Alterations grant program has a $6,800 lifetime cap — a door-opener for veteran clients, not primary revenue.

Two paths converge here. The build path fits a Donnie-partial profile — a journeyman trades operator with crew (general contractor or specialty-trade owner with carpentry, plumbing, electrical, tile-setting capability) who adds CAPS credential. NAHB CAPS designation is 3 courses, approximately $1,200, 6 months elapsed. Capital tier $60,000–$120,000 covers cert, working capital, truck, first-job float, and 12 months of relationship-building with St. Elizabeth Care Coordination, NKADD Council on Aging, and the senior centers in Burlington and Florence.

The acquisition path targets two named Boone-headquartered residential builders without published CAPS or institutional-vendor credentials: BOLD Company (Union, more than 500 custom homes built) and Chris Hollon Construction (Hebron, Burlington, and Florence; BBB A+). Both have existing trades crew and a Boone-resident customer base in target subdivisions. Pivot acquisition: buy and reposition toward aging-in-place specialty alongside the residential remodel base. A Kentucky Secretary of State entity-age check on each is the first step before chamber introduction.

Adjacent statistical pool: Boone-resident NAICS 2382/2383 specialty trade contractors with KY Secretary of State entity registrations pre-2000 — the same 6–10 succession-aged candidate pool referenced in the school-facilities subcontractor candidate. Some of these will fit a CAPS-pivot acquisition specifically (carpentry-heavy or remodel-heavy operators). KY SoS bulk pull plus chamber introductions emerge the named target list.

• — We have not pulled the NAHB CAPS directory for Boone and neighboring Northern Kentucky ZIP codes (41005, 41011, 41014-41018, 41042, 41048, 41051, 41091-41094) plus Cincinnati-side (45040, 45230, 45236, 45242, 45249). The zero-Boone-headquartered-CAPS claim needs this verification.
• — We have not talked to Anne Wildman at the Northern Kentucky Area Development District (859-283-1885) directly. Confirming that the agency does not keep a contractor referral list, and asking what seniors call when they want to stay in place, is the demand-channel question.
• — We have not called the St. Elizabeth Care Coordination main line (859-301-3627) to reach the discharge-planning supervisor. "When a physical-therapy or occupational-therapy discharge requires a structural modification, where do you refer?" is the single most consequential call.
• — We have not talked to Dr. Laura Trice (geriatric medicine and palliative care). Her panel's home-modification referral patterns are the doctor-side cross-check.
• — We have not asked the Boone County Senior Center director (859-334-6518) whether contractors have asked to do lunch-and-learn talks — the partnership-channel signal.
• — We have not talked to the named Northern Kentucky elder-law attorneys (Greg Kriege, Matt Darpel) about their client-side referrals when families choose aging-in-place over assisted living.
• — We have not pulled the Kentucky Secretary of State FastTrack on Boone-headquartered entities under NAICS 2382 and 2383 with active status, sorted by registration year. The named succession target list emerges from that pull.
• — We have not pulled the Building Industry Association of Northern Kentucky member directory at members.buildersnky.com — the chamber-equivalent for residential builders.
• — We have not called the VA Cincinnati Prosthetic and Sensory Aids Service HISA program coordinator. Northern Kentucky HISA grant volume for fiscal years 2024 and 2025 would set the veteran-channel revenue floor.
• — We have not pulled fresh ACS B25007 and B01001 data on owner-occupied 65-plus households in Boone (variables B25007_009E, B25007_010E, B25007_011E for owner age 65 and up). That number anchors the conversion-rate math.
• — We have not cross-checked Redfin's $353,000 median home value (March 2026) against Zillow ZHVI. The retrofit-spend math hinges on this number being accurate.

Tonight, this week, this month — in that order. Each step produces a yes/no or a number, not a deeper understanding.