Home | Join | Find Service | Courses | Log-In | Help
Storm Damage Update 10/31/24 - We are experiencing high call volume. To find a certified water damage restoration service near you please click here.
IJCSA Updates & Industry News
MaidPro, one of the largest home cleaning franchises in the U.S. and Canada, smashed the previous World Record by short sheeting 10,236 beds in a single day. The previous record holder, Niles Fulton, held the record for exactly fifteen years by short sheeting 332 beds in his college dormitory on April 1, 1998.
Short sheeting is a prank commonly performed at camps, boarding schools and military barracks. A bed sheet is untucked at the foot end of the bed and folded toward the head, making it look as if it is two sheets (an undersheet and top sheet). When the victim attempts to enter the bed, they are unable to extend their legs, leaving them in an awkward balled up position.
MaidPro was able to accomplish this feat by tapping into their large customer base and putting into action a one day Short Sheeting Campaign across all of their locations, short sheeting all customer beds for all cleans performed that day.
The response from this campaign has been dramatic. MaidPro’s phones have been ringing non-stop from puzzled customers and congratulatory observers. A long-time customer, Anne Hallway, wrote, “Congratulations on such a monumental achievement! I never thought the record could be broken. Please never do that again.”
MaidPro prides itself on forming close relationships with their clients. “How else could we have gotten away with this,” laughed Mark Kushinsky, MaidPro CEO. “Of course we only did this with clients we really knew and had a great connection with.”
About MaidPro MaidPro is a Boston-based franchisor of housecleaning services with over 150 offices throughout the U.S and Canada. The company, which began franchising in 1997, takes pride in its strong owner community, cutting-edge technology and creative marketing. It has been honored with the Franchise Business Review's Franchise 50 Award in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 for owner satisfaction. The company can be found online atmaidpro.com.
Contact: media(at)maidpro(at)com. 617.742.8787
Window Genie is the nationally ranked franchise of home services known to, “Clean Windows and a Whole Lot More!” A whole lot more includes window tinting, pressure washing, gutter clean-out and giving back to the community. Window Genie of Charlotte, NC performed another free window cleaning at the home of local Korean War Era Veteran, Robert Williams. Peter Cogan and his team went out on Tuesday to the home of Robert and his wife Gail to show their gratitude for his service to our country.
Cogan calls his project, “Windows 4 Wishes: Cleaning the homes of those who protect ours.” This is his second job for a local veteran. Cogan hopes to eventually establish enough relationships with other local veterans so he and his team may perform at least one free cleaning per month. “I’m glad we’ve come up with a way to use my business and my team’s skill set to give back to local Veterans,” said Cogan. “I just wanted to thank Robert for his service. They’re all heroes and deserve much more thanks than we can give.”
If you, or a veteran you know would like to learn more about Window Genie, call Peter Cogan at 704-489-0616 or email him at pcogan(at)windowgenie(dot)com.
Window Genie franchises available nationwide. Window Genie corporate shows their support for the US Military by offering Veterans exclusive deals when purchasing franchise territories. To learn more, call 800-700-0022 or visit the online virtual brochure at windowgeniefranchise.com.
RJB Properties, Inc., a minority-owned and operated janitorial services provider, announced today that it has reached a settlement with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in EEOC v. RJB Properties, Inc., et al., Case No. 10-cv-2001 (N.D. Ill.), to resolve remaining claims following the district court’s summary judgment ruling last year in RJB’s favor.
“Our client is very pleased with the settlement,” according to RJB attorney Peter Roeser of the law firmRoeser Bucheit & Graham LLC. “Although RJB was confident that it would ultimately prevail on the few claims that remained following its victory on summary judgment, it was able to settle those claims for a fraction of what the EEOC originally sought before the majority of its claims were dismissed on summary judgment.”
The EEOC originally filed suit against RJB Properties, Inc. in 2010, accusing the company of committing over 150 purported acts of national origin discrimination, harassment and retaliation against 20 Hispanic and two African-American employees. Among other things, the EEOC alleged that RJB discriminated against janitors by asking them to mop floors, shovel snow, remove garbage, by not providing overtime opportunities, and by not promoting employees for jobs to which they never applied.
At the close of discovery, RJB moved for summary judgment on the grounds that the complained of actions did not give rise to cognizable claims of employment discrimination, and that there was no evidence to indicate that they were in any way motivated by national origin. In April 2012, the district court issued a ruling rejecting the EEOC’s expansive interpretation of what constitutes employment discrimination under Title VII and finding that there was no evidence on most of the EEOC’s claims to indicate that the various employment actions were motivated by national origin discrimination. Among other things, the court entered judgment in favor of RJB on all of the EEOC’s claims for failure to promote, all of the EEOC’s failure to provide overtime claims, and twelve harassment claims. The court’s 120-page opinion dismissed over 130 acts of purported discrimination.
RJB Properties was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in Orland Park, Illinois. It is a premier provider of janitorial services and facilities management services. RJB was represented by Peter Roeser, John Bucheit and Darrell Graham of the law firm Roeser Bucheit & Graham LLC, a Chicago-based business litigation firm with a substantial employment law practice.
Vanguard Cleaning Systems, a leading franchisor of commercial cleaning businesses, announced that it has added Tulsa, Oklahoma to its growing presence in the Southwest. The regional office will sell janitorial franchises which provide cleaning services to businesses throughout the greater Tulsa market. This is the first Vanguard office in the State of Oklahoma.
Owned and operated by Phillip Clark, the Tulsa officeis already open for business. “Phillip’s expertise and reputation stemming from his current offices in both Northwest Arkansas and Southwest Missouri will be of great value to local businesses and franchisees in Tulsa,” said Mark Heisten, Vice President of Business Development and Marketing, Vanguard Cleaning Systems. “We look forward to working with him and his team as they grow their business in the Southwestern U.S.”
Phillip opened his first Vanguard regional office inSpringdale, Arkansas June 2009 and Springfield, Missouri in January 2012. Vanguard Cleaning Systems of Tulsa is located at 1831 E. 71st Street, Tulsa, OK 74136. For information about Vanguard Cleaning Systems commercial cleaning services and franchise opportunities in Tulsa, contact Phillip Clark at 918-960-4450 or email at pclark(at)vanguardcleaning(dot)com.
About Vanguard Cleaning Systems
Founded in 1984, Vanguard Cleaning Systems is a franchisor with 65 regional offices and 2,500 franchisees across 38 states and provinces in the U.S. and Canada. Franchisees provide commercial cleaning services for more than 10,000 corporate customers.
Vanguard has been consistently ranked among the top franchises in North America, achieving a rank of #7 in the 2011 Entrepreneur Magazine’s Franchise 500 and #15 in the 2012 D&B AllBusiness AllStar franchises. Additionally, Vanguard was selected as one of USA Today’s 50 Top Franchises for Minorities, PODER Magazine's Top 25 Franchises for Hispanics and Black Enterprise Magazine's Top 40 for African-Americans. You can learn more about Vanguard Cleaning Systems at http://www.vanguardcleaning.com.
Property E.R. Specialists, a multifaceted Boise-basedproperty preservation and foreclosure company, announces they are now servicing the Treasure Valley area. A company spokesperson says they hope this is the first of many expansions throughout the Northwest.
“We are excited to be offering our Preservation & Inspection services in the Treasure Valley and Ontario, Oregon areas,” states Dr. Damaris Conrad, CEO/Founder. "Property E.R. Specialists is able to provide property preservation and tenant cleanout service for lenders, loan services, asset managers and REO agents; all of which is long overdue because of the backlog of foreclosure inventory at the national banks.”
Dr. Conrad continued, “Throughout this area there are many defaulted properties that are left unkempt with abandoned vehicles, growing debris, tall grass and weeds, and broken windows and doors, all of which invite vandalism to the neighborhood and decreases property values. Our team works to bring the property into compliance and assists in maintaining the property as it is being marketed and until it sells.”
Dr. Conrad says the service they provide is mutually beneficial for all parties. “I can't tell you the number of times local neighbors will come up to our onsite team and thank them profusely for all of their attention to a defaulted property, so it is no longer an eyesore,” she says. “We take great pride and pleasure in the quality of our work as we ready a defaulted property for market. Neighbors and compliance officers often drop by and take notice of the diligent effort of our teams, the changes in the property, and compliment us on the difference our work makes in the neighborhood."
Besides expanding their coverage area, Property E.R. Specialists is also happy to announce new services. They are now offering carpet cleaning to both residential and commercial clients. The company uses the highly rated Rotovac 360 for all carpet cleaning jobs. The Rotovac is known in the industry for making a significant difference between just "cleaning" a carpet and restoring a carpet to its original luster.
Property E.R. states that by offering the carpet cleaning services in-house, they can save the banks, asset managers and investors money since they are able to restore most carpets which would otherwise have to be replaced or pulled up, as part of the preservation services. Using just this one service can add value and give the house a “sales-clean” appearance.
As an experienced full-service property preservation company, Property E.R. Specialists, invites local real estate agents, brokers, asset managers, investors, and property managers located in the Treasure Valley and in need of preservation services or tenant clean-outs, to go to the webpage at http://www.propertyerspecialists.com and learn more about the affordable services specifically available to the real estate industry, investor, property managers and field service professional.
According to one national field service manager, "Most of our property assets are left in deplorable conditions by the former owners. However, our experience with the team at Property ER is their continued commitment to provide timely turn-around services for all of our defaulted properties, and they consistently go beyond our expectations in doing so! They really work hard to turn our defaulted property liabilities into sales-conditioned assets, ready for the real estate market."
About Property E.R. Specialists Property E.R Specialists, LLC, is a full-service property preservation and inspection company for foreclosure and defaulted properties. The company’s goal is to provide the highest quality field asset services in the Reo & Pre-Reo market for major financial institutions, realtors, government-based M&M contractors, property management companies, and real estate investors. Services include, but are not limited to, securing foreclosed homes, construction site cleanup, tenant house cleanouts, commercial cleanouts, janitorial services, Cash for Keys program, maintenance of properties during the sales process, commercial and residential carpet cleaning. The philosophy of the company is to turn a property liability into a sales-condition asset. We strive to provide experienced, licensed, insured specialists who are experienced in their field and provide superior workmanship in a timely manner.
Elkay Plastics Co., Inc. of Los Angeles – the leading supplier of flexible poly packaging to the industrial, foodservice, and healthcare industries for over 40 years – has awarded its President’s Distinguished Distributor Sales Performance Award for 2012 to Unisource Worldwide’s Atlanta Division.
To earn this award, Unisource Worldwide Atlanta Division demonstrated outstanding performance in sales volume and sales growth during calendar year 2012. Meeting the award criteria is an impressive achievement, one achieved by only a handful of Elkay’s thousands of distributor customers.
“It’s a great honor to bestow our Distinguished Distributor Sales Performance Award to Unisource Worldwide Atlanta Division. We know such an achievement does not come easily, and we compliment them on their hard work, said Louis Chertkow, President of Elkay Plastics. “ They’re setting a high standard for others to follow. We are fortunate to have them as a partner and look forward to many more years of growth and success together.”
“It is an honor to receive this performance award and we value the ongoing partnership we have with Elkay Plastics,” said Darin Tang, President of the Packaging Solutions Group for Unisource Worldwide. “This is an example of how by working closely together with a valued supplier we can share in the growth of our businesses.”
About Unisource Worldwide, Inc.
Unisource Worldwide, Inc., headquartered in Norcross, Ga. is one of the largest privately held companies in the United States and offers a comprehensive suite of customer solutions – including engineered design capabilities, eBusiness technologies, logistics expertise, paper brokerage services, and environmentally-responsible options. The company also markets a full line of commercial printing and business imaging papers, packaging materials and systems, and facility supplies and equipment. With more than 4,500 Team Members located worldwide throughout business units in the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia; and a fleet of “Big Red” trucks based at approximately 90 locations across North America, Unisource is the company that provides Customer Solutions in a Global Market. Unisource can be found online at http://www.unisourceworldwide.com.
About Elkay Plastics
Founded in 1968 and headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Elkay Plastics has grown to 8 distribution service centers across the country. Elkay Plastics provides flexible packaging solutions in the form of plastic bags to wholesale distributors of industrial, foodservice, and healthcare products. Elkay specializes in: 1) The immediate availability of a broad selection of poly bags used in industrial, foodservice, medical, hospitality, janitorial, electrical and retail markets; 2) The manufacture of custom poly bags up to 100" wide and 120" long, printing two sides and twelve colors. Elkay maintains a nationwide network of field sales consultants who are available to provide product information, training, and to assist in the sales process. Selling only through distribution, Elkay offers a complete array of services to the distributor and their customers. Services include maintaining stock bag requirements and electronic data interface programs to ensure accuracy and the reduction of total procurement costs.
For more information contact: Kevin Feeney Senior Director, Corporate Communications Unisource Worldwide, Inc. (770) 209-6552
© Copyright 2004-2024 International Janitorial Cleaning Services Association "The Home Of Professional Cleaning Companies"