O2B Kids offers a childcare 'super center' for families

Company founders Andy Sherrard (left) and Danny Stevens.

In 1995, best friends Andy Sherrard and Danny Stevens — single guys who'd never had children, never worked with them, never even studied kids in college — conceived a childcare "super center" for families, offering multiple recreational and educational classes at an all-inclusive membership rate.

Sherrard and Stevens studied at the University of Florida and met while working at Gainesville Health & Fitness Center, a local company with a successful membership model. With two other partners, they opened their first O2B Kids in Gainesville in 1998. Preschool and after-school programs offer everything from karate and cheerleading to technology and languages. Today, the company operates five centers in Alachua County and a sixth in Fleming Island near Jacksonville.

Today, O2B has more than $9 million in revenue and 300 employees. Sherrard says the next step is taking the company national. He and Stevens are considering whether to offer franchises or bring in additional investors.

Tags: Northeast, Education