WorldSweeper.com's Featured
Sweeping Contractors for 2012.
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December, Carolina Sweepers, LLC
After 25 years working as an architect, Thom Dixon was ready for something new. He also knew he didn't want to go to work for someone else. Having a friend who was in the parking lot sweeping business in nearby South Carolina, Dixon went to check out his operation and liked what he saw.
"I was determined to go at this in the right way, to find out all I could about the business from people who really had that information," said Dixon. He called our editor, Ranger Kidwell-Ross, who in turn provided contact info for a couple of experienced contractors who gave him advice. Based on all that, he purchased a TYMCO 210 and got into business.
Read the story.
November, Debris Free, Inc.
This story isn't so much about an instant, overnight success; in fact, it's more about the many different trials and tribulations that a sweeping contracting company that was started in the last quarter of 2008 could face.
"I guess if you were to hire an artist to paint a picture of a 4-year-old sweeping business that has managed to survive some pretty tough times," said Steve Mercer, "he would simply hand you one of our business cards... and say 'Here ya go, thanks for your business!'
Read the story.
October, Agua Trucks, Inc.
Scott Duscher started in business as a construction contractor. In Maricopa County, Arizona, where the business was located, someone's name had to be on a sign out in front of each project so they could be contacted if there was a dust or trackout problem. Scott was that person.
As an investment, the company bought a water truck to handle the needs of a community they were building. When the building economy tanked, they started expanding into the water trucking business as an alternative. The only problem with the water trucks, though, is that when it rains they don't work. And, when there is mud trackout from a job site that is leaving muddy tracks, the best solution is a broom-type street sweeper.
That conclusion led him to the purchase of a Sweeprite sweeper, since the two business types dovetailed with each other. Today, Agua Trucks has 8 employees that operate the company's three sweepers and three water trucks.
Read the story.
September, Custom Sweeping Services, Inc.
Michael Nawa has been involved in the parking lot sweeping industry almost since its inception. In 1976, Nawa founded Industrial Grounds Maintenance (IGM) with his father, Andrew. He ran that operation until 2002, when he quit over differences of opinion with his dad on the directions the firm should take.
When he sold his interest in IGM to his father, Nawa transferred his leadership skills to Custom Maintenance Services, Inc. That was a two-year-old company founded and still owned by Nawa's wife, Judy. Today, ten years later, the company sweeps about 240 properties with its fleet of 18 sweepers, as well as provides an extensive property maintenance solution for many of those customers.
Read the story.
August, Crown Property Maintenance, LLC
Through the years, we have showcased many dozens of sweeping contractors. The sweeper machines in their businesses have run from the largest street and municipal machines to the smallest of tow-behind and slide-in units.
Our featured contractor this month breaks new ground: Although the owner has been successful in running a parking lot sweeping operation for the last eight years, his company doesn't have any machine sweepers machines whatsoever. None, nada, zilch.
Read the story.
July, TKG Sweeping & Services, LLC
Rich Katz grew up in the construction and property management business. So, it wasn't much of a stretch for him to found – along with his brother, Daniel, and cousin, Brett – a firm to manage properties. However, when the crash of 2007 occurred, the trio found themselves scrambling for ways to continue their company's historical profitability.
"We decided one thing we could do was to provide sweeping on our own properties," said Rich. "So, we bought a sweeper truck, hired an operator and put him out sweeping on our six properties. That worked out well, so we put up a website and have continued to expand from there."
Read the story.
June, Superior Property Maintenance Services, Inc.
Ethics; Perseverance; Honesty: These are all traits that describe Leon Nelson, owner of Superior Property Maintenance, Inc. A native Jamaican, Nelson's first job when he came to Florida in 1997 was as a sweeper operator.
After working for two different sweeping companies over the course of the next six years, Nelson then went into the sweeping business with a co-worker partner. However, as you will read, it wasn't an easy road after that, either.
Read the story.
May, Sweeping and Vacuum, Unlimited Inc.
In the 1970s, Carlos Nevares made decisions for the sanitation department of San Juan, Puerto Rico. In that position, he became familiar with a wide variety of equipment, including a number of types of sweepers.
His long term goal became to get into the sweeping business, but he wasn't motivated to do so until he saw a magazine ad for an entirely new type of sweeper.
In late 1989, Nevares bought his first Schwarze sweeper and started a contracting business based on the unit's capabilities in early 1990. He also started selling the Schwarze machines. "Today," says Nevares, "I believe I'm the Schwarze company's oldest dealership."
Read the story.
April, Arrowhead Sweeping
Paul Lemmon, the president of Arrowhead Parking Services, entered the sweeping industry via an unlikely background. Drawing on his background in law enforcement – which included stints with both Canadian Customs and with Immigration – he started as a consultant helping customers make sure their business signage conformed to legal guidelines.
However, after a few years of listening to customers' needs, he decided to expand his firm into more hands-on areas of actually installing any needed signage. Then, it wasn't much of a leap to start assisting in another pervasive area of need, construction and parking lot sweeping.
Read the story.
March, Commercial Sweeping, Inc.
It's quite a stretch from being a wholesale mortgage broker in Nevada to running a sweeping contracting business in Oregon, but that's how Eddie Hamilton got his start in the industry.
Soon after having surgery for skin cancer he got a call asking him to come to Oregon to 'package up' a business so it could be sold. Knowing nothing about sweeping – but figuring that business was business – Hamilton saw the opportunity as something he could do and a way to get out of the mortgage business. Two years later, Hamilton decided to buy the company he'd made a success.
Read the story.
February, Best Sweeping Specialists, Inc.
Although Tim Skinner has operated his sweeping company for over two decades, his first ride in the sweeper occurred almost twenty years previously. After dropping out of college and spending time at home, his stepmother gave him three choices: go back to school, get a job or join the Army during the Vietnam conflict.
Our feature article discusses how Skinner, one night soon after that, filled out an employment application with a company that swept the Chicago expressways. Half an hour later he had been hired as a labor and found himself bouncing down the Dan Ryan Expressway riding shotgun in an Elgin Pelican. How he got to where he is today involves a series of even better stories.
Read the story.
January, Quiet Sweep, Ltd.
Eight years ago, Steve Dekelbaum had a good handle on the course that his future business life would take. He'd gotten his pastry chef certificate in 2004 and was utilizing it in the family business. At the same time, he managed the shopping center where their business was located. However, that's when fate stepped in.
Our feature article on the company discusses how, in the seven years since Dekelbaum and his wife purchased the company, Quiet Sweep has grown from three beat-up sweepers and five accounts to a 21-sweeper, 200 properties cleaned per night operation. And, they've added a host of other services on the way to becoming a force for event cleanup in their Washington, DC, area.
Read the story.
Be sure to also take a look at our previous Contractors of the Month.
If you have questions or comments about this section of the website, or would like for your company to be considered for this honor, please, let us know.
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