North Ridge Village Nursing & Rehabilitation Center was named the Albion Business of the Year Thursday by the Albion Chamber of Commerce.

"For all that you have done for the community, we would like to give our award to our new nursing home," said chamber president Phyllis Herendeen in announcing the honor.

Actually, the nursing home has been open for more than a year. Mark Ide of Ide Management, which owns 25 nursing homes in four states in the Midwest, explained that it began with a call from Albion developer Keith Leatherman about three years ago.

Ide recalled Leatherman saying, "We've got people having to leave town to get nursing home care. We want you to come to Albion." It located in the North Ridge development on the north side of town.

Fortunately, they were able to figure the right size facility for the community, Ide said. That leads to being a large employer.

North Ridge Village administrator Mona Ruble said the facility now employs 106 people.

Ide said the company's policy is that residents come first, with employees coming in a very close second. It's also important to be part of the community, something Ide works to do wherever his company locates nursing homes, he said.

North Ridge offers long-term care, rehabilitation suites and respite care for those whose caregivers are going on a trip, said its community liaison director, Robin Urso. It also has 12 assisted living apartments and some independent living duplexes that it acquired Sept. 1 next to the main building. The result is a continuum of care, Urso said.

"We have all our own therapists," Urso added.

The nursing home also interacts with the community in other ways, such as the children's trick-or-treat there for Halloween, or when it provided a dinner for the football team at Central Noble High School, Urso said. Players came to the facility to visit and say thanks afterward.

Chamber board member Chris Magnuson said the benefits are also financial. For instance, several people have stayed at the Brick Ark Inn Bed and Breakfast who had family members at North Ridge, and other businesses benefit as well.

The board also re-elected Lanette McGuire, Kevin Dreibelbis and Gregg Gorsuch each to two-year terms, and Sharon Leitch, Magnuson and Barbra Kirkpatrick to one-year terms.