Environmental Service Systems Proves To Be A Leader In Building and Facility Maintenance Contracts

This year, Environmental Service Systems (ESS) celebrates the number 13. For some, it’s an unlucky number. For ESS, the number 13 represents the number of years the firm has been in business, and the number of states where the company has contracts.

Founded in 1998 by Edgar Ruth, Environmental Service Systems has moved from Atlanta to locations throughout the United States. The core business was and remains janitorial services, but the company also offers facility maintenance services, as well as landscaping and other tasks that cover the top to bottom beautification of partner locations. Through it all, ESS has learned the power of building a quality reputation and the value of strong employees. The firm has fully embraced green cleaning and continues to build on its 13-year tradition of excellence.

Building a Reputation

ESS has built a reputation on perso-nalized contracts and dedicated managerial service. Their main areas of work are corporate headquarters and industrial facilities, though they also clean medical facilities and retail establishments. The key difference is that most contracts are of a size that allow for an on-site staff member to ensure continuous delivery of high-quality cleaning services.

The company has also worked hard to be able to offer itself as a one-stop solution center for its customers. Toward that end, ESS offers a diversified set of cleaning services. This provides customers with a value proposition they appreciate and helps the company rapidly respond to service demand trends and industry shifts.

Gregory Harris, Supplier Diversity Manager at Meritor Inc., says ESS has made the transition as a supplier to being an intricate part of his organization. “By incorporating some of their processes and their knowledge of carbon footprint reductions and waste diversion techniques to our organization, they have assisted us in advancing our workplace environment and assisted in improving our efforts towards corporate sustainability and corporate social responsibility goals.”

The Value Of Strong Employees

Another key difference for ESS has been the quality and long tenure of its employees. A concern for many corporate clients in the building and facility maintenance space is ‘who is coming to work each day’ as this affects both security and job quality. To respond to that, Ruth and ESS put extra time and effort into their hiring process to ensure they provide the best staff for each job and people who will be reliable, long-term employees.

“One big thing in this day and time is to make sure background checks are done, that you have people who are legal, and you want to make sure that security measures are met,” says Ruth. Yet the upfront work is just a part of the employee process for ESS. “We put a lot of emphasis on retaining people so we won’t have any turnover.” he added.

ESS has become a leader in the building and facility maintenance space by putting in the extra time to find and hire good employees. Ruth notes that incentives play a big part in the ongoing retention process, particularly on-the-spot forms of recognition. This helps on site managers instantly reward good work and provide employees with the real-time feedback they need to stay engaged in their work while delivering a superior level of service. As a result, the long tenure of the average employee with ESS provides a competitive advantage when bidding and helps keep turnover costs down.

The Role of Green Cleaning

Green and sustainable business practices are a major trend in all industries, and building and facilities maintenance is the ground floor of the movement. Rather than being a new thing, green cleaning is an established practice for ESS. When Ruth first came into the industry in the 1980s, it was not a presence, but it is something that has grown continually since he founded ESS.

One thing that ESS is particularly proud of is their Cleaning Industry Management Standards –Green Building with Honors (CIMS-GB) certification. Awarded to the firm in 2010, the CIMS certification is the result of a rigorous third-party inspection of the ESS cleaning delivery system. The firm earned its CIMS-GB certification with honors not just for regular cleaning but also in the green cleaning area. This is a point of pride for ESS, and is beneficial while working with customers seeking LEED certification or improving their sustainability levels.

ESS is able to offer partner firms green cleaning at a cost that is comparable to standard cleaning. Paper supplies, cleaning materials, and cleaning chemicals that are environmentally friendly and biodegradable make up a large part of what ESS uses, and the company also has the ability to provide low decibel (low noise) cleaning equipment. “When the green cleaning phenomena first came out, it was considered a higher cost because there were so very few people requesting it ... Nowadays it’s so readily available that the cost is basically the same,” says Ruth.

Kevin Price, Supplier Diversity and Performance Manager at Novant Health says ESS is one of the few minority suppliers to really adapt to industry price changes. “ESS understood and responded to those challenges skillfully transitioning from being known as a good supplier to a strategic partner by delivering invaluable industry intelligence and innovative services reflective of industry challenges,” said Price.

Building for the Future

Looking to the future, ESS will continue going above and beyond for its clients. “The secret [to success] is doing what you say you are going to do,” states Ruth. By adhering to this rule, ESS has been able to develop strong contract relationships, navigate challenges, build partnerships to expand their service base, and position themselves as a trusted partner with their clients.

His advice to other minority businesses is to stay true to their passion, hang in there, and work to offer a complete service package to their clients. He advocates expanding client pools so that no one client is 25 percent of their book of business, as this can bring unnecessary risk. By seeking new clients, it builds a layer of insurance to your client book, and building a diverse client base across different industries helps boost stability even in tough business cycles.

Looking out at the economic landscape, Ruth encou-rages minority business leaders to stick with it. “Someone told me that if you can make it through the first two years, everything else is gravy. So many people don’t wait that long. They get out early. My first years were a struggle, but it’s been good ever since. You have to stay true to your goals, really get out there and market the business, and you will succeed.”

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