By Dave Anderton
Deseret Morning News

John Malthus predicted a future period when population growth would overrun the world's capacity to produce enough food.

While some discount Malthus' prophecy, many agree that the real population issue facing the world today is an aging society.

For Kregg Chidester, president of Spectrum Home Services in Davis County, that is good news.

Chidester is positioned to capitalize on a rising wave of aging baby boomers, offering a host of services for those needing help.

From handyman projects and yard maintenance to relocation help and personal care, Spectrum Home Services was born to tackle the challenges of those growing gray.

And even though Utah boasts the youngest population in the nation, the state is projected to gain 270,331 people age 65 and older by 2030, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, more than double the 2000 senior population.

Our niche is the elderly, but we service anybody that asks," Chidester said. "We train our people on pretty much everything. They can cook a meal, they can clean, they do the laundry, they can take somebody to the store or to the doctor. We do pretty much anything inside or outside that needs to be done."

Chidester, a former nursing home administrator, employs a licensed contractor. Many requests include making existing homes wheelchair accessible.

Spectrum Home Services was started in Salt Lake County in 2000. It soon expanded to Utah County and most recently opened its Davis County operation. It also has locations in California and Missouri.

The company sells franchise rights for a fee of $25,000. Start-up costs are roughly $70,000.

Being brand new, we have about 10 clients right now," Chidester said. "I just painted a living room for a lady, changed out all her baseboards. We do carpet as well. The things that we don't provide ourselves, we have vendors that can provide us with lower-rate service. We then pass on that rate to our customers."

In summer months, the most frequent request is lawn care.

Chidester said his target group is people 55 and older.

The semiretired who don't want to worry about the lawn, want to be out in their Winnebago, we take care of everything," Chidester said. "We'll clean their house, we'll mow their lawn, we'll pick up their paper while they're off visiting grandkids. And then as they age and need more services, they increase it from there."

Spectrum will contract with its customers on a one-time project basis or for daily, weekly or monthly arrangements.

Maintenance services run about $50 an hour. Lawn care is $25 an hour.

More information is available by calling Spectrum at 801-355-3499 or going online to www.spectrumhomeservices.com.

All of our employees are on our payroll," Chidester said. "We do full background checks on everybody. We can really supervise them well that way."

Chidester employs two people full time, but he is looking to hire a third.

It's a service that is very well needed," Chidester said. "We want to keep people independent as long as we can."