Rick McCann retired as a senior detective in Augusta, Georgia. He transferred the level of professionalism that job required to the sweeping and maintenance company he formed. Sweep-A-Lot is WorldSweeper.com's Contractor of the Month for September 2009.
Effective September 8, 2009, federal contractors with contracts in excess of $100,000 are required to use E-Verify, a free, internet-based program run by the federal government for verifying employment eligibility of workers employed in the United States.
One of the most frustrating parts of running a business is the never ending battle with employees. Some never seem to do what you need them to do. They are either working slow, working on the wrong things, or doing things the wrong way.
In today's economy, the central constant is change. Reports from across the country confirm that bidding has become more challenging, with general declines taking place in both average price per sweep and service level per customer.
Many contractors are responding by expanding their service areas and/or scope of work. At the same time, they are finding themselves competing with more other contractors than ever before, as well as with other types of service companies.
In late July of 2009, we contacted NAPSA's Executive Director, Sarah Gazi, for an audio update on the progress that NAPSA has made since switching to Association Management for services.
Bill Kappel, Public Works Director for Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, was one of APWA's Top Ten Public Works Officials for 2009. Our interview with him covers the current environmental challenges facing the city and the considerations about how to use sweeping to address them. Includes a 17-minute audio interview.
Like other coastal areas of the U.S., Puget Sound is facing an increasing level of degradation created by point and non-point source pollution. In the summer of 2006, Seattle Public Utilities began a one-year street sweeping study that determined that sweeping was effective as a front-line pollution prevention BMP. Results were released in mid-2009.
A great place to start on your journey of viewing the history of street sweepers is looking at the drawings from some of the first-ever models. We offer a number of pre-1900 and turn-of-the-century drawings and patent information.
Are you facing falling customer orders? Slower renewals? Cancellations? Requests for ever-deeper discounts? Those are silly questions. Of course you are experiencing these recession symptoms. And you have probably cut budgets and jobs more than you like.
If your fiscal year is January through December, you are about half-way through the year. Even if your fiscal time period has different starting and ending points the year is technically just about half over.
The Town of Crawford holds an annual town cleanup day each year. This year a local sweeping company, East Coast Industrial Services, Inc., donated a sweeper and operator to the event. East Coast's owner, Jay Presutti, also pitched in to help for the day, along with his 12-year-old son, Neil.
Christy Schmidt, president of Chamberlain Power Sweeping, Inc., is a fixture at the annual National Pavement Exposition. She stands out in her willingness to be involved, as well as in her communication skills. She's there ready to learn or to offer advice to others, whichever might be needed.
Elgin Sweeper, a provider of environmentally efficient street sweepers, announced that Canada's Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) Program has verified the data from air quality performance tests conducted by the Prairie Agricultural Machinery Institute (PAMI) on two Elgin Sweeper models - a Crosswind NX regenerative air street sweeper and a mechanical Waterless Eagle FW mechanical street sweeper.
The following practical information and preventative steps are some of the things employers should consider related to H1N1, commonly known as swine flu. Note that these guidelines may also be applicable with other general workforce general health situations.
In an apparent cost-cutting measure, Scott Cerosky, long the leading insurance proponent for power sweeping, has been eliminated by new owners of the Clean Streets program Cerosky founded.
This white paper, which will be presented at StormCon 2009 in August, provides complete details about the recent sweeper testing done by Roger Sutherland on several Elgin sweeper models.
New waterless Pelican version offers year-round sweeping that has proven to significantly increase pick-up of fine particles over traditional, wet-dust control sweepers.
Most people don't know that Wal-Mart, after their immigration scandals in 2001 and 2003, has led the country in enforcing sub-contractor compliance with requirements of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 ("IRCA"). This can mean strict compliance regulations and contractual agreements with sweeping subcontractors.
Jacob Rogers' Facility Maintenance Group, Inc. has a business model that includes most any service a property manager might like. Even if they don't perform the work needed, a phone call to Rogers' business will get it handled.
Carl Barton, incoming NAPSA president, moderates this participatory seminar at NPE. We offer the results of each of the 'break-out' sections at the roundtable, discussion-format seminar.
There are three potential "hot spots" for audits and investigations for the government related to the immigration and nationality laws. Here they, along with what you need to know to remain in compliance.
Starting in 2010, virtually all trucks sold in the U.S. will have to meet new, much more stringent emissions' standards. The following is a layperson's explanation of the two potential technologies that currently are being used to meet the new standards.
Elgin Sweeper, the leading manufacturer of street sweepers in the United States, has released results of a sweeper test performed by an independent group of storm water control experts, headed by Roger Sutherland, president of Pacific Water Resources, Inc. The results demonstrate the efficiency of Elgin Sweeper street sweepers in removing storm water pollutants.
The management team of Kentucky's BEJA Environmental educates its customers on sweeping's ability to combat storm water runoff pollution and help industrial facility clients meet EPA benchmarks.
Sweeper drag shoes are no longer 'one size fits all sweeping applications. When it comes to these necessary wear parts, today's sweeping professionals have choices to make. They need to consider what type of drag shoe is best for a given sweeping application, including performance life and the aftermarket industry's competitive features and pricing.
Joe Samuelian came to America from Syria in 1963 with dreams of running his own business and living the "American Dream." Today, 40 years later, the company he began has become one of the largest and most professional in the American sweeping industry.
Working for the University of Alaska in 1980, Dwan Hall saw an opportunity in the snow removal business so he bought a snowplow. Today, the combination sweeping and plowing business has assets worth over $1 million.
The North American Power Sweeping Association (NAPSA) will soon be celebrating its 4th successful year of existence. In an effort to leverage the successful growth the organization has seen to date, this past October 21st the NAPSA Board announced that it would transfer NAPSA management to a New Jersey-based professional management company named Association Headquarters, Inc. (AH).
Each year there are thousands of injuries and triple digit numbers of fatal accidents involving machine and equipment operations. Here's a 'top ten' list of items designed to minimize their occurrance.
In the current business climate, it's more important than ever to keep tabs on your customers in terms of their financial status. Don't keep sweeping for free!
Sam Danielson is Operations Manager for C and S Sweeping Services, Inc., the people responsible for sweeping Phoenix International Raceways. How this is accomplished, though, provides good insight for how trade-outs can be great for your sweeper contracting business.
Interview with Bill Haaker, CEO of California-based, Haaker Equipment Company, Inc. Haaker is an expert on the transformation of heavy equipment chassis vehicles, such as those used on street sweepers and catchbasin cleaners, to use alternative fuels such as CNG and LPG.
Officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the District of Columbia, the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority (DC WASA), the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA), and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation recently met along the banks of the Anacostia River in Washington, D.C., for a news conference to celebrate the 36th anniversary of the U.S. Clean Water Act.
For sweeping contractors, it's all about fuel consumption and performance. At the same time, even the most fuel-efficient sweeper is worthless if it doesn't sweep! A heavy-duty aluminum hopper is now standard on all Victory Sweepers' Mark I, single-engine sweepers.
When it comes to getting more for used equipment, including surplus sweepers, Greg Berry knows what municipalities want and need. Berry is both a borough councilman for his hometown, Pottstown, PA, and president of the online auction company he founded in 2006, Municibid.com.
Jose A. Almarza tells us about the sweeping in the City of Mairena del Aljarafe, Spain, population 40,000. The City is located about 20Km from the larger, and more well known, City of Sevilla.
An interview with Kevin Watje, president of Wayne Engineering, on Wayne's purchase of the Tennant Centurion and what is planned for the company's future in the sweeping industry.
The North American Power Sweeping Association has aligned itself with Association Headquarters, Inc., a 30-year-old professional association management company headquartered in Mt. Laurel, New Jersey.
Every company must do a few things perfectly in order to be successful. If these important things aren't adhered to in a systematic and standardized way, the customer gets confused and stops doing business with the company.
Even with the pressures of building a profitable company, you must build systems in order to ensure your employees don't to do things out of sequence or by the seat of their pants.
When kids grow up in the climate of their parents sweeping company, should they be brought into the business right out of high school -- or at all? This seasoned national construction industry speaker has "been there, done that," and offers his blueprint for how the decisions should be made.
The Center for Watershed Protection collaborated with a number of agencies, with the intent of quantifying the pollutant reduction that can be achieved by street sweeping and storm drain cleanouts. All of the information was used to provide locally-derived pollutant removal reductions for street sweeping and storm drain cleanout practices for Chesapeake Bay communities.
There are many business advantages to delegating like a goose instead of a buffalo. Hear how to increase delegation in your company - successfully - with this info from Ron Roberts.
Campaign called 'Not in OUR DC! Pledge to Keep the Capital Clean' was begun in July of 2008. This Washington, DC, initiative was backed up by a variety of multi-media programs designed to reduce both littering and graffiti.
Our editor went to New Orleans for the 2008 APWA Congress and Exposition. We offer a variety of products and other info of potential interest to those in the sweeping industry.
Steve Kibler, a 20-year veteran of municipal fleet management and head of that department for Loveland, Colorado, offered his rules of thumb for managing municipal fleets at APWA 2008. In this audio interview with Kibler, he transmits the many ideas he has developed for making his fleet management department accountable and productive.
Progressive Sweeping concentrates its efforts on sweeping, treats customer service issues like emergencies, and employs what may well be the best GPS system in sweeping.
Your ability to increase your gross margin by increasing income -- instead of focusing on reducing costs -- is substantially better.
"If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry.
He should sweep streets so well that all the
hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well."
World Sweeper
