By Steve Kemme
The Cincinnati Enquirer

HAMILTON - In response to the escalating needs of the elderly in Butler County, Senior Citizens Inc. has formed a three-person team to manage day-to-day operations.

Shelly Gills was promoted to director of contract services and Renee Denney was promoted to director of personal services. The third member of the team is John Anderson, a retired Cinergy executive who was recently hired as the agency's director of administration.

Steve Schnabl, executive director, said the change in management structure allows him to spend less time on day-to-day operations and more time on programming, fund raising and developing relationships with businesses and other agencies.

One reason for the management changes is the growing elderly population in Butler County.

By 2010, there will be more than 51,000 Butler County residents over 55, a 35 percent increase from 2000, Schnabl said. That's twice the rate of increase of people over 55 in the previous decade.

"I want to build good working relationships throughout our communities that would help the agency address the challenges of this growth," Schnabl said.

Senior Citizens Inc., which serves the southern half of Butler County, has branch offices in Fairfield and West Chester Township. Schnabl said he hopes to open another branch in southwestern Butler County.

E-mail skemme@enquirer.com