Bob Wilson, owner of Fort Collins-based Columbine Health Services, is one of those lucky people who found their calling early in life.

Wilson grew up on a farm in Iowa, came to Colorado to attend CSU and then turned a job as a maintenance man at a Fort Collins elder care home into a highly successful career.

Forty years after becoming the manager of the facility, Wilson is sole proprietor of 22 businesses, including four health and rehabilitation centers, along with three independent-living and two assisted-living facilities for the elderly.

Columbine also provides home-care services and operates a pharmacy, a medical equipment and supply business, a geriatric education center, and a health club.

“I was attracted to the job originally because I enjoyed being around the people who worked (in the home),” Wilson said. “I had a flair for business and it's worked out.”

Wilson has been an innovator from the start, said Yvonne Myers, Columbine Health's director and Wilson's second-in-command.

He bought a defunct grocery store and turned it into a successful restaurant, lounge and catering company.

He also hired a computer firm to develop a software