Sometimes, you have to make your own fit

Heather Miller, Outreach Faciitator

“People need help. They are not just a number.” Jennifer Simmons explained as she began sharing her journey of starting her own business at the BB2C Epicenter through our Small Business Incubator. Jennifer is the Founder and Owner of the Family Counseling & Rehabilitation Center of Ohio (FCRCO). Her path started, in many ways, as an accident. She needed a job and had a degree in counseling. Her first job was working in a methadone clinic, where the person hiring her said, “I don’t know why you want to do this job.” Her passion for helping people who face barriers to accessing assistance grew from there.

FCRCO has been in existence for two years. After she received her counseling degree from Grand Canyon University and working for numerous mental health organizations in the area, Jennifer realized that instead of trying to find the right fit that enshrines her philosophy of existing for the client, she would need to start her own business. She had heard about the BB2C Small Business Incubator and how they support entrepreneurs looking to start or expand small businesses. She was particularly drawn to the chance to have her own office space and a mailing address that she could use to get her business off the ground. But starting her own business was just the beginning.

Now, she employs three other individuals and is looking for candidate to hire as a counselor, a social worker, and a supervisor. She has also started working with a nurse practitioner and physician and is in the process of brining a lab to the Epicenter for testing and treatment purposes. She has partnered with Washington State Community College to provide mental health and counseling services to their students and assists other students in Washington County as well. And she is busy herself as she finishes her PhD in Psychology from North Central University.

Director of Logistics and Epicenter, Pamela Lankford, had many positive things to say about Jennifer’s work and business. “It has been amazing to watch the growth that Jennifer has directed within her business. When she started with us it was just her, now she has full-time employees as well as part-time employees and the services she has been able to add in a short amount of time will truly help provide needed services for our community in the behavioral health field. The next few months will continue growing her additional services and staff and we anticipate that she too will graduate from our incubator in the next year or so as she continues her upward trajectory.”

For more information about the services provided by or job opportunity available at FCRCO, you can call 740-249-8061 or email jsimmons@FCRCofOhio.com.

For more information about starting or expanding your own business through the BB2C Small Business Incubator, you can email Pamela Lankford, Director of Logistics and Epicenter, at plankford@BB2Careers.org or call 740-370-6399 extension 4.