Who is ServiceMaster SouthWest? We are a franchised professional cleaning company of the parent company ServiceMaster™ Residential/Commercial Services Limited Partnership dba ServiceMaster Clean™ whose parent company is The ServiceMaster Company, founded in 1947 and whose home office is in Memphis, Tennessee.

ServiceMaster Southwest is one of the leading companies in Houston, Katy and Fort Bend County for all types of heavy cleaning services, 24 hour fire & water damage mitigation, residential project cleaning, carpet & upholstery cleaning, and much more.  In addition, there is a division, dba ServiceMaster Building Services that specializes in business services including a full line of janitorial services, as well as hard-surfaced floor maintenance.

In 1989, Jerry and Paulette Janak, along with their five children moved to Sugar Land.  Following 25 years in the geophysical industry and the oil bust of the late 1980’s, they decided it was time for a change.  They had listened to “Paul Harvey News” for years and were influenced by his advertising to buy a ServiceMaster franchise.   They believed that doing business with servant’s hearts and having the backing of the ServiceMaster Company would ensure success.

Today Jerry & Paulette are blessed to have daughter Karin involved in the family business as the Office Manager, many top-notch dedicated employees, and their three franchises listed among the top successful ServiceMaster Clean franchises (selected from over 4000 locations in over 39 countries). ServiceMaster SouthWest provides cleaning and 24-hour emergency services to the Greater Houston Metropolitan area.

Jerry and Paulette are industry-certified in all phases of cleaning, pack out and fire & water damage services. And they are proud of their many trained and certified staff members and technicians.

ServiceMaster SouthWest is a training organization for Insurance Continuing Education offering classes in water damage mitigation, mold remediation, smoke and odor and other industry related topics. They host monthly approved continuing education classes for various levels of professional certification. They also team with other industry leaders to provide project management training on related industry topics.

Jerry & Paulette Janak are native Houstonians and have been married since 1968. They are both graduates of The University of St. Thomas, Jerry with a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Computer Science and Paulette with a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and a background in teaching.

Nationally

The ServiceMaster Company has come a long way since its incorporation in 1947.

Founded as a moth-proofing company in 1929 by Marion E. Wade, a former minor league baseball player, ServiceMaster had its beginnings in Chicago where Wade worked out of his home. Wade had a strong personal faith and a desire to honor God in all he did. Translating this into the marketplace, he viewed each individual employee and customer as being made in God's image - worthy of dignity and respect. His successors, Ken Hansen and Ken Wessner, also shared this view. These three leaders shaped what became our Company objectives: To honor God in all we do; To help people develop; To pursue excellence; and To grow profitably.

In 2005, The Board of Directors ratified the first change to these company objectives in over 30 years: The objective "Excel with Customers" has now replaced "Pursue Excellence".

Realizing that helping every employee develop to their full potential would result in a greater quality of work, training at all levels became a cornerstone of the ServiceMaster approach. Operating under this basic philosophy, ServiceMaster expanded to carpet cleaning in 1952, establishing one of America's first franchise businesses. In 1962, the Company took its expertise to the healthcare arena and pioneered what is now known as outsourcing. In 1980, we began serving the education market and expanded our work offerings to business and industry.

In the 1980's, Chairman and former Chief Executive Office C. William Pollard lead further expansion of our consumer business. Under his leadership, and the leadership of former Chief Executive Office Carlos Cantu, ServiceMaster built on the original franchise business to form a network of quality service companies. Jonathan Ward was named President and Chief Executive Officer in the spring of 2001. The Board of Directors and Ward concluded that ServiceMaster should focus on its residential business and on the commercial business served by its branch and franchise model.

This marked a significant transformation of the company, which included the sale of the Management Services business to ARAMARK.

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The ServiceMaster Company Objectives

To Honor God In All We Do

Our first objective has an impact on every aspect of our business - from the way we serve customers to the relationships we have with other ServiceMaster associates. We believe that every person - regardless of personal beliefs or differences - has been created in the image and likeness of God. We seek to recognize the dignity, worth and potential of each individual and believe that everyone from service worker to company president has intrinsic worth and value.

This objective challenges us to have commitment to truth and to deliver what we promise. It provides the basis for our belief in servant leadership. It is not an expressions of a particular religious belief, or a basis for exclusion. Rather, it is a mandate for inclusion, and a constant reminder for us to do the right thing in the right way.

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To Help People Develop

At ServiceMaster, work is about developing, contributing, and feeling the accomplishment of a job well done. ServiceMaster believes in not only empowering people, but enabling them to succeed. By concentrating on what people are doing and what they are becoming, we contribute to the professional and personal development of every individual. Our second objective is an important way for us to demonstrate our belief in the value of each individual and to underscore the importance of understanding and respecting people's differences. The pursuit of excellence is a never-ending process. By giving people the tools and training to develop, we increase their productivity and earnings, and enhance the dignity, self-respect and worth of each individual.

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Excel with Customers

The purpose of our business is to create and keep customers. This can be accomplished only by delivering superior quality. We continually seek better methods of delivering service and believe that every time we touch a customer's life, we should provide added value for that customer. Our third objective reinforces the importance of viewing quality not as something to attain, but as a journey and continuous process. We may be pleased, but never satisfied with our service delivery. Pursuing excellence requires us to continue to ask ourselves whether we are delivering on our promise of value to our customers each and every time we serve them. Pursuing excellence means that we must know our customers, understand their needs and expectations, regularly listen to them, and adjust our processes and procedures to more effectively serve them. It is only when our customers feel that they have received service that is worth what they have paid - and more - that we have made a difference and provided excellence in value.

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To Grow Profitably

Many companies view profit as their sole reason for existence, and indeed it is necessary for business survival. At ServiceMaster, profitability is not an end in itself, but rather a means of accomplishing our other objectives. By achieving economic success, we will gain the resources to positively affect the lives of our shareholders, customers and associates. Profitability is a way to test and challenge ourselves. Profitability, productivity and quality reflect added value for our customers, improved opportunity for our people, and a fair return for our shareholders.

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