MARSHALL — A New Ulm-based company is now providing residential services to people with disabilities in Lyon and Murray counties.

Tyler Berg, the CEO of EON (The Employee Ownership Network), Inc., said the business acquired facilities including two group homes in Marshall and an intermediate care facility in Slayton.

“We’re excited to be in these communities,” Berg said.

Berg said EON, Inc. has operated the Marshall and Slayton locations since Jan. 1, after acquiring them from previous owners LRN Management.

“It’s been going really well. We work with a lot of counties and case managers,” Berg said this week.

Berg said EON wanted to continue providing quality services for clients and being active in the community.

“We want to make sure people with disabilities are integrated with the community, just like everyone else,” he said.

EON provides home and community based services to clients including people with disabilities. The company started out in 1978, under the name MBW Company, for founders Mark and Brenda Wiger.

“The founders believed that individuals with disabilities should be able to live in the community,” Berg said. “Our core mission is to enrich lives by supporting independence.”

MBW started out by providing services in New Ulm for people with disabilities, Berg said. The company became an employee-owned corporation in 2006, and changed its name to EON in 2018.

“We’ve had some growth along the way,” Berg said. EON now has community residential services homes around the state. “We are primarily in Greater Minnesota,” he said.

Berg said EON acquired two group homes in Marshall and an intermediate care facility in Slayton from LRN. Currently, the facilities served five individuals in Marshall and eight in Slayton.

In spite of the ownership change, EON retained nearly all the local employees, Berg said.

“Our goal is to keep things as consistent as possible,” he said.

The services EON, Inc., provides range from independent housing services, to community residential care settings, assisted living and home care, the company’s website said. The company currently employs more than 300 people statewide, and provides services for 200 people, Berg said.

Berg said some of EON’s expansion has come from being approached by other small service providers.

“Over the past five to 10 years, what we’ve seen is a lot of smaller providers looking at their options,” he said.

The EON, Inc., website showed EON has services in a total of 15 counties, mainly in southern and central Minnesota. Some recent acquisitions have been in the Bemidji area, Berg said.

“There’s a need for the services we provide in all these areas,” Berg said.

Being able to offer disability services in greater Minnesota is valuable for rural communities, he said.

“We know we play a huge part in keeping services local, too,” he said.