Steve Jones had a simple vision when he started Cleantech in 1995: Clean carpets, work for himself and earn a paycheck.
He wasn’t planning on expanding his service lines. He wasn’t planning on hiring a bunch of employees.
But that all changed in 2010 when Steve met a Divisions Maintenance Group District Manager at a gas station. The pair started talking, and soon, Cleantech had joined DMG’s provider network. Shortly after, Cleantech was signed up to handle floor care for a major retail store in Columbus, Ohio.
In a fairy tale, the floor care job would have gone perfectly. In reality, Steve said, “we bombed it.”
But the partnership with DMG didn’t end there. The DMG District Manager, Dale Brown, helped train and coach Cleantech on the specifics of floor care for a large retail customer. He even brought in the provider that used to handle that particular job to help get Cleantech up to speed on the scope.
“From that point forward,” Steve said, “Dale and I, we built a great working relationship. We started getting more work from DMG for restroom cleaning. And then Dale approached us and said, ‘Hey, have you ever thought about power washing?’”
Growing a business with DMG
Over the years, Cleantech has added a slate of services just to take on more DMG jobs: power washing, painting, porter and janitorial services. Recently, DMG had a need for lot sweepers, so Cleantech bought a lot-sweeping truck and started picking up jobs.
Then there were so many lot-sweeping jobs Cleantech had to get a second truck. And then a third.
“All of that is through DMG,” said Steve’s wife and Cleantech CEO Angie Jones. “When they have a need for something, they always call. And if it’s something we can feasibly make happen, we will, 100% of the time.”
Their first year as a DMG provider, Cleantech did $40,000 to $50,000 worth of jobs with DMG. That’s since grown to almost $400,000 a year, Angie said, about half of Cleantech’s total business.
Of the 25 people on Cleantech’s staff, all but five or so are exclusively handling DMG jobs.
“The latest service we picked up with DMG is a janitorial account, which allowed me to hire nine more people,” Angie said. “That’s nine more families in our area that have solid income, food on their table and opportunity to grow even more. And I think a lot of that particular credit will go to DMG.”
A true partnership
For Angie and Steve, the best parts about their partnership with DMG are the people and the consistent work. Their main DMG contact is still Dale Brown, the district manager who ran into Steve at the gas station in 2010.
It’s a give and take relationship, Angie said. Cleantech works incredibly hard for DMG, and in return, DMG takes care of Cleantech.
“If there’s ever an issue, we know we can call any one of them at any time, and they’ll help out,” she said. “Or they’ll be calling us at 5 o’clock in the morning because they need help. That happened this week.”
Angie prioritizes her work with DMG because she knows it’s a long-term relationship. She’ll rearrange schedules to meet a tight deadline because she knows DMG is going to call again tomorrow. And the next day — offering more and more work for her and her team.
For more information on joining DMG’s provider network, visit DivisionsMG.com.
