A look at how small business owners tackled a challenge
Who? Euclid Industrial Maintenance and Cleaning Contractors Inc. of Cleveland.
Did what? Handed a business down through four generations of one family over the course of 100 years.
When? The late Benjamin Presser founded the company in 1903 as a window-washing enterprise on Euclid Avenue. Today, it´s a full-service cleaning company on East 40th Street that´s run by his grandson, Martin Presser, and great-grandson, Mark Presser.
The past: The story of Euclid Industrial Maintenance is a tale of family, commitment and loyalty, of Presser husbands, wives and children working with often multiple generations of employee families to grow the business.
There´s window-cleaning supervisor Bob Patterson who came on board in 1956, general supervisor Danny Kocevar who counts 43 years of employment, and manager Jacquelyn Motz whose tenure goes back 30 years.
"It reflects a lot on the integrity of the company when you treat your employees the way we do," Martin Presser said.
In fact, Martin Presser, CEO, whose wife Carol, company president, has done bookkeeping and office work since 1970, chuckles when he realizes he can´t pinpoint the year his mother, Sadie, now 94, stopped working. The mid-1980s, maybe?
"I know she worked until she was in her mid-80s," Carol Presser said of her mother-in-law´s tenaciousness. "She´d still like to come down (and work)."
Sadie Presser started coming to work back in 1956 when her husband, the late Jack Presser, was running the show — a post he was handed by his father, the company´s founder, in 1938.
As the years passed and the company´s ownership channeled through the family, Euclid Industrial Maintenance´s array of cleaning services expanded to include janitorial work, carpet cleaning, wall washing, floor maintenance, acoustic ceiling cleaning, construction cleanup, duct cleaning, walk-off mat rental service and sales, and really just about meeting any request a client makes.
"If they ask, do the work even if it´s not in the contract," Martin Presser said of the customer service policy his company maintains. "We´ll settle a price later."
That´s what keeps the company rolling ahead — dealing face-to-face with clients and meeting their needs.
"One of our greatest assets is that the customers and employees deal directly with the owners where decisions can be made, not with salespeople," Mark Presser said.
The future: Even though the slumping economy has resulted in some layoffs among cleaning crews — the staffing level typically ebbs and flows with the economic tide — the Pressers plan to continue to build on their company´s tradition of consistently high-quality service.
"We want to keep growth within the realm of things we can keep our fingers on," Mark Presser said. "We like the personal touch."
Euclid Industrial Maintenance relies on recruiting business from clients who appreciate consistency and quality from a homegrown company, Mark Presser said.
The company does not release its annual sales figures, but the Pressers admitted the company´s budget is top-heavy with salary costs because of its pool of long-term employees.
There are plans in place to build on the company´s base of long-term contracts, including industrial cleaning for General Electric, which has taken Euclid Industrial Maintenance crews to Anaheim, Calif., Atlanta, St. Louis, New Orleans, Tampa, Fla., and Mobile, Ala.
The future also includes further specialization into areas such as construction cleanup, kitchen cleaning, hood and duct cleaning and maintenance, and a continued reliance on what started it all — window cleaning and janitorial work.
It´s left to be seen how the Presser family will transition the company´s ownership when the time comes.
The family business didn´t appeal to Mark Presser´s brother, Gregg, who opted to become a social worker. Mark Presser said his two daughters, ages 12 and 8, are welcome to pick careers of their own as their uncle did or to carry on the family tradition of their dad and grandparents.
But, there´s one condition: "They have to love it," he said. "It´s here for them if they´re interested in it."
This article originally appeared in Crain's Cleveland
Deanna Bottar can be reached via email or at http://crainscleveland.com.
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