2019 Speakers

Keynote

Stephen M. R. Covey, cofounder of CoveyLink and the FranklinCovey Speed of Trust Practice

The SPEED of Trust

Stephen M. R. Covey is a cofounder of CoveyLink and the FranklinCovey Speed of Trust Practice. A sought-after and compelling keynote speaker and advisor on trust, leadership, ethics, and high performance, he speaks to audiences around the world. He is the New York Times and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The SPEED of Trust, a groundbreaking and paradigm-shifting book that challenges our age-old assumption that trust is merely a soft, social virtue and instead demonstrates that trust is a hard-edged, economic driver. He and business partner Greg Link also coauthored Smart Trust: The Defining Skill That Transforms Managers Into Leaders, which shares enlightening principles and anecdotes of people and organizations that are achieving unprecedented success from high-trust relationships and cultures. Covey resides with his wife and children in the shadows of the Rocky Mountains.

Marilyn Sherman, Certified Speaking Professional^TM

Front-Row Leadership™ How Top Performers Never Settle for Balcony Seats

Marilyn Sherman is dedicated to training people to let go of obstacles and live and work with courage, commitment, and confidence. For the last 22 years, she has motivated audiences all over the country, and internationally with topics about hope, inspiration, and practical tools to implement immediately. With clients in government, corporations, and hospitality, Marilyn is known for giving people success strategies to overcome obstacles, have a more positive mindset, and reduce conflict in the workplace. Her live presentations and her accompanying motivational books have been described as ‘life-changing’. She is the author of 4 motivational books including her latest on goal-setting released this year called “Is There A Hole In Your Bucket List?”. Marilyn is a Certified Speaking Professional TM, the highest earned designation in the speaking profession with only 12% of speakers worldwide holding this designation. She loves living and working in Las Vegas with her French Husband, Yves.

General Session

R. Collie King III, CEO and President, Kwantek

Industry Labor Trends: Why Retention Data is Crucial for Measuring Supervisor Performance

R. Collie King III has amassed over 25 years of entrepreneurial experience in IT development, business management, and organizational leadership. His role in Kwantek, which he founded in 1999, is to provide an overall vision for the company, while challenging, simplifying, and streamlining operations to help the company achieve its goals. Collie is passionate about finding solutions to employee turnover and retention in industry verticals where new analytics are challenging traditional thinking. Prior to Kwantek, he successfully built a Regional Telecom Company followed by a National Internet Access Provider, which he sold in 1998 to IXC Communications (Austin, TX).

Jill Davie, President, TEAM Software

Industry Labor Trends: Why Retention Data is Crucial for Measuring Supervisor Performance

Jill Davie started with TEAM Software, leading provider of integrated financial, operations and workforce management software for building service contractors, in May 1998 after working at the company as an intern during college. Over the next two decades, she held various roles in sales and customer service, including senior vice president of client experience. After working with building service contractors of all sizes across North America, Davie is now using her deep industry knowledge, her focus on customers and her passion for TEAM’s people to serve as TEAM’s president. She earned her Bachelor of Science in business administration and marketing from Iowa State University.

Featured Peer-to-Peer

April Bertram, Business Development Manager, GOJO Industries

IoT and the BSC – Why It Matters to You

April Bertram is the Senior Business Development Director of IoT Solutions at GOJO Industries. April joined GOJO in 2002 to lead the product development efforts for the Healthcare vertical market. Since then, she has reinvented the GOJO innovation process, from the front end of innovation, to market and product development, through to strategic portfolio management. Most recently, April has created new IoT business models in healthcare, commercial building and other core vertical GOJO markets. She develops and cultivates new partnerships in emerging ecosystems to support strategy execution. She has written a number of publications on product innovation and IoT, including several for the Frost & Sullivan Quarterly eBulletin. Prior to her role at GOJO Industries, April was a small business owner and served in Product and Market Development positions for market-leading brands for The Hygenic Corporation (TherabandTM and Biofreeze®), GE Lighting and CompuServe Network Services/UUNet. Several patents have been awarded through these development capacities.

Mark Herbick, Founder and CEO, Pursant

Knowing, Growing and Capturing the Value of Your Business

Mark Herbick is the Founder and CEO of Pursant, LLC. Pursant is an Investment Bank that helps middle market business owners optimize the value of their businesses, manage strategic transactions and orchestrate liquidity events. Prior to founding Pursant, Mark was a serial entrepreneur and buyer/seller of businesses, having bought, sold and operated over a dozen companies of his own and advised on countless strategic transactions in numerous sectors. His businesses employed as few as a dozen people and as many as 1400. He grew his companies, including companies in the BSC sector, through acquisitions, strategic divestitures of divisions and managed organic growth. The businesses operated at local, regional and national levels. During his time as an operator, Herbick found that to best grow enterprise value, it was necessary to become proficient at optimizing company performance and executing strategic transactions. He honed his skills in these areas and in 2009 founded, Pursant, LLC.

Annika Jeppesen, Global Customer Insight Manager, Nilfisk

Looking Beyond Our Borders and Into the Future: Global Trends Reshaping the BSC Industry

Annika Jeppesen is Global Customer Insight Manager at Nilfisk, a leading provider of professional cleaning solutions and services. For more than ten years, Annika has worked with customer insights and how to use these insights to develop solutions that truly meet the needs of customers across the globe. Most recently, Annika has headed the Nilfisk Global Trend Study. A study where buyers of professional cleaning equipment share their view on the trends impacting the professional cleaning industry. Annika and the Global Customer Insights Team at Nilfisk integrate findings from studies such as this across the value chain in Nilfisk; from R&D to Marketing to ensure a customer centric approach across the organization.

Spencer Moore, CPA, President & CEO; Transcend Facility Management Company, LLC

5 Ways This Year You Can Improve Your Company’s Value and Marketability!

Spencer Moore is the President & CFO of Transcend Facility Management Company. Spencer has a bachelor degree in accounting from Pace University, a master degree from Eastern University, and a professional certification in international labor relations from Cornell University. Spencer is a CPA and has been developed by attending seminars nationally and internationally in leadership development, commercial excellence, and operational excellence. Spencer worked ten years as a financial professional and business administrator for a global Fortune 100 public company. Spencer also served as a business unit controller, commercial and operations excellence business partner for a national healthcare services Fortune 100 global company for several years.

Heather Parker, RBSM, Vice President of Client Services / Business Development, CleanOffice, Inc.

Using Tools and Analytics to Measure and Improve Client Retention and Overall Services

Heather Parker was originally hired by CleanOffice in 2004 and handled a variety of customer-oriented roles that helped her form a deep base of knowledge in the building-services industry. In her role as Director of Client Services, Heather is in charge of overseeing all aspects of the client-experience and focuses on client-retention and expanding existing client relationships. Heather is an active member of BSCAI and serves as the Vice President/President Elect for the Mid-Atlantic Chapter. Heather is fully bilingual in English & Spanish and is a graduate from George Mason University with a B.A. in Psychology. She currently resides in Delaplane, Virginia where she enjoys relaxing with her two “kids”, Dexter the French Bulldog and Grenada the oriental ebony cat rescued from the country of Grenada.

David Stein, Area Developer, Office Pride Commercial Cleaning

Creating Your Leadership Dream Team

David Stein is a speaker with a wide array of experience. In 1979, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. For over 30 years, David’s professional career was in technology and medical devices. He held positions in business development, managing, and executive leadership including serving as Vice President of Sales for a division of a Fortune 500 medical device company. David was also involved in County Government serving as a Commissioner in Smith County. He now is President of Office Pride of East Texas and Area Developer for Office Pride, in Tyler, TX. David stays very active in his local community as Campaign Chair for the United Way of Smith County, Executive Board Member for the East Texas Center for Nonprofits and Tyler Chamber of Commerce Government Committee Chairman. He lives in Tyler with his wife Stella of 33 years Stella; he has three daughters, Michelle, Erica and Lindsey.

Peer-to-Peer

Laurence Abrams, Founder and Chairman, ClientPoint

How to Use Technology to Gain Customers Faster and Keep Them Longer

Laurence is a serial entrepreneur and passionate mentor regarding the use of technology and innovation within organizations to differentiate, streamline, and automate the organization’s sales processes and solutions to create explosive growth. He is Chairman & CEO of GMI Facility Solutions, a $45MM standing guard security and janitorial services company in Southern California, a company he acquired from his Father several decades ago when it had just $1M in revenues. Laurence invented the original ClientPoint concept in 2008 as a way to strengthen GMI’s staying power in Southern California in the face of major global and national competition attempting to achieve a regional Southern California foothold. The effort was a massive success, allowing him to almost double the size of GMI, and giving him the freedom to be able to make ClientPoint his number one focus. In 2010, still a skunkworks inside of GMI, Laurence launched the company under the name Paperless Proposal, and led its development and growth until the end of 2017, when the company spun out as its own company and Laurence hired a growth CEO, Andy Jedynak to take it to the next level.

Chase Carlson, President and CEO, Pioneer Building Services

Scaling Your Operational Infrastructure

Chase is President & CEO of Pioneer Building Services, a building service contractor based in Washington, DC. He leads a company of 1,000+ employees in the highly competitive mid-atlantic market. Since joining Pioneer in 2009, Chase has grown Pioneer from a small contractor with $5M annual revenues to a dominate player of +$30M in revenues. Additionally, Chase lead Pioneer to achieving GS-42 certification in 2010, becoming just the 4th company in the DC area and just the 14th nationwide. Chase served on the Board of BSCAI (Building Service Contractors Association International) from 2016 – 2018 as well as past-president of CABSC (Capital Association of Building Service Contractors) from 2014 – 2015.

Doug Christian, Strategic Accounts Director, Nilfisk

Looking Beyond Our Borders and Into the Future: Global Trends Reshaping the BSC Industry

Doug is from Chicago, Illinois and is responsible for supporting Strategic Accounts and Federal, State and Local government customers throughout the United States. Doug has traveled throughout the United States to lend his expertise to customers with unique cleaning challenges. As a Director, Doug works closely with our Government and Strategic Corporate Partners, and end user customers developing and implementing economical, common sense green floor cleaning solutions. He is also training on new equipment and old, as well as developing innovative solutions for floor care needs. Doug joined Advance in 2007 from a family distributor business where he spent 15 years in the sales and marketing of metal finishing equipment and supplies. Prior to that he spent several years selling industrial floor cleaning equipment. He often jokes that when he started working at his church as a janitor when he was 13 years old, he had no Idea what he was getting into…

Dan Cline III, CBSE, Executive Vice President; 4M Building Solutions

Attracting & Retaining World-Class Team Members

Dan joined 4M Building Solutions in 2001 when he sold his company to 4M and brought over 20 years of experience in the facilities service industry with him. Starting as a branch manager, his proven leadership qualities and consistent record of achievement lead him to be promoted to executive vice president. In his current role, Dan oversees all operations in Central and Southeast United States with a portfolio of over 50 million square feet. Dan has a proven track record of success within his areas of responsibility and has broad experience in all aspects of the cleaning industry, including office, industrial, educational, medical and corporate services operations. He is an active member of 4M’s Executive Leadership Team, Board of Directors and Strategic Planning Committee. Under Dan’s direction, his division has earned the Albert E. Willson Division of the Year award in seven out of the last eight years, along with being recognized as the “safest” division in the company in every year since 2008. He is an active member of Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA), International Facility Management Association (IFMA), ISSA—The Worldwide Cleaning Industry Association and Building Services Contractors International (BSCAI).

Gary Collins, VP of Operations, Supreme Maintenance Organization

Being All-In With Customer Retention

Gary graduated with a degree in Business Administration from Elon University in 1988. He and David Murphy founded Supreme Maintenance Organization in 1989, a janitorial service company based in Greensboro, North Carolina. Gary received his CBSE designation from the BSCAI in 2000. He has over thirty years of experience in the cleaning industry and is the co-author of “Rags to More Rags”. Gary and his wife, Lisa, have three children and live in Summerfield, NC. Gary is known as an excellent speaker and has spoken at the BSCAI Annual Convention as well as many training classes, banquets and conferences. Gary enjoys spending his spare time with his family, coaching youth sports, and serving at his church.

Patrick Comansky, Founder and CEO, IBS Direct

Using Tools and Analytics to Measure and Improve Client Retention and Overall Services

Patrick J. Comaskey is the Founder and CEO of IBS Direct, a firm he launched in 1988. He founded the company only two years after arriving from his native Ireland, and has seen the firm experience tremendous growth, and become an industry leader. Patrick commenced the firm with just a few residential properties in Tribeca, and soon expanded the company’s portfolio to many commercial properties within the New York Metropolitan area. Patrick takes a hands-on approach to running the company, and he has been at the heart of countless successful industry innovations, including environment-related. A graduate of the University College of Dublin, Patrick is an active member of many industry organizations, including ISSA, BSCAI, and the World Federation of Building Service Contractors.

Tim Conn, President & Co-Founder, Image One USA

Marketing for Growth

In 1985, at age 14 Tim started his first cleaning company to earn some “extra” money as a teenager. By the end of high school, he had built a small company that had 3 employees and several clients including AT&T. The “part time job” for extra cash for a teenager was developing into a real business. Tim continued to operate his business throughout his college years, growing the business at a modest pace. When the opportunity to begin franchising with a competitor presented itself, he saw the opportunity for further growth for him both personally and professionally while at the same time affording him the opportunity to help other people achieve what he had achieved at an early age. Tim and his new partner Mike worked together for 10 years under a franchise model that was pretty standard in the janitorial industry. After the agreement with that national franchise company expired, Tim and Mike decided that they wanted to offer something more to their franchise owners. In January 2011, Tim and Mike founded Image One Facility Solutions, Inc. When Tim is not busy training new franchisees, or working with current franchisees to achieve their goals and dreams, he likes to spend time with his family. In the summertime, Tim and Maria and their two sons enjoy time boating and waterskiing on the lake near there home. In the wintertime, they enjoy snow skiing and snowmobiling. Tim is a strong believer that family comes first; not just for him, but for everybody at Image One. Part of the training program covers the concept of getting the business running and then backing away to enjoy the benefits of being a business owner!

Jason Courtney, Franchise Owner, Office Pride Commercial Cleaning

Supervision Seminar

Jason has been in the commercial cleaning industry since 2011. Hired as a cleaning tech part time while attending school, Jason worked his way through every level of the organization. He was a floor technician, supervisor, Operations manager, account executive, and Director of multiple franchises .In 2015 Jason and his brother Simon purchased the franchise they worked for in Pensacola. Since acquiring the business 4 years ago they have tripled in size and are the 2nd largest franchise in the Office Pride System. Jason currently serves on the Franchise Advisory Counsel and recently acquired a franchise in Tampa Florida.

Michael Fitts, Division Vice President / General Manager, 4M Building Solutions

Attracting & Retaining World-Class Team Members

Mike has been with 4M since July 2017. He is the DVP/GM for a large business unit in the mid-west with concentrations in Missouri & Illinois.

Pat Fragomeni, CBSE, Sr. Consultant; Concepts 4

Productivity Seminar

Pat Fragomeni (CBSE) , a Sr. Consultant with Concepts 4 with 30 years industry experience in consulting and delivery of services in healthcare, education, Class A offices, industrial, Parenteral Drug & Semi-Conductor manufacturing clean rooms. Passionate about systemic delivery of services delivered by competently trained personnel, Pat has committed most of his time focused on Team Cleaning and the development of operational leadership dedicated to improving the industry. In his free time, Pat is an avid golfer and skier and frequently travels with his wife, Jeanne of 32 years.

Barnett Gershen, MBA, President; Gershen Consulting

A High Performing Team Can Make Even YOU Look Good!

Barnett Gershen is the owner and CEO of Gershen Consulting, LLC., and specializes in business advisory, recruiting, and investing services to the building services industry. Prior to becoming an independent consultant, Barnett was Chief Executive Officer and co-owner of Associated Building Services (ABS), a company he grew to over 230 Million in revenue and over 12,000 employees (before a successful sale in 2004). He served as a Captain in the U.S. Army and completed his bachelor's degree at Texas A&M University and his MBA at The University of Texas. During his career, he completed Owner/President/Management certification at Harvard University. Barnett is a founding member of Crime Stoppers in Houston and has served on the downtown and metro YMCA boards. He is a recipient of the Lyla Mae Padon Character Award and the Hero of the Year Award from the YMCA. He was honored by his industry peers in 2015 with the Presidents Award from BSCAI. He is an avid sportsman and loves reading and playing handball.

Paul Greenland, VP of Sales and Marketing, GMI Integrated Facilities Solutions

How to Use Technology to Gain Customers Faster and Keep Them Longer

Paul is currently the VP of Sales and Marketing for GMI Integrated Facilities Solutions, a $50M janitorial and security guard company based in Southern California. Paul is a past President of the BSCAI and current Board Member of the World Federation of Building Service Contractors. Prior to joining GMI, Paul was the owner of Aetna Integrated Services, a $ 35,000,000 contract services company which he sold in 2017. After selling, Paul oversaw sales and marketing for the US division of a $ 2.5 Billion French contract service company. Paul has been the key note speaker at Clean China Forum (Beijing) in 2015 and 2018. In addition, Paul is the managing director of Only Best Practices Consulting.

Chad Hendley, CBSE, LDCP, President; IH Services, Inc.

Growth Mindset 2020

Chad is 3rd generation, his grandfather, Dick Hendley, started their family business back in 1955 and his father, Ryan Hendley, (BSCAI Past President) is currently the CEO of The IH Services Family of Businesses. IH Services, Inc. has a family rule that requires family members to go out and do something else for 5-7 years before working in the family business. Chad worked in the furniture business (sales) during college thru the end of 2004. Chad was offered a job with the family business in December 2004 and started with IH Services in January 2005 as an entry level Business Development Manager reporting to Parker Moore. Chad was promoted to Vice President of Business Development in November 2014. Chad is currently the President of The IH Services Family of Businesses; his responsibilities include leading the day to day Operations, the Sales/Marketing Departments, as well as the Supply/Equipment operations. Chad graduated from Liberty University with a BA in Business Finance in 2000 and holds BSCAI’s Certified Building Services Executive (CBSE) designation. Chad and his wife Sarah have been married for 14 years; they reside in Simpsonville, SC and have a 7 year old girl and a 13 year old boy that both attend Southside Christian School in Greenville, SC. Chad is an avid golfer and enjoys spending time with his family.

Josh Hendricks, Vice President/General Manager, 4M Building Solutions

Attracting & Retaining World-Class Team Members

Josh joined 4M Building Solutions in 2015. In his current role, he leads all aspects of operations for the 4M Central Division and works very closely with our customers to ensure we are providing the best level of service. Josh oversees operations exceeding 35 million square feet throughout the Midwest and South. In addition to his operations responsibilities, he also oversees Corporate Training and serves on 4M’s Executive Leadership Team. With an extensive background of commercial property management for multiple assets, Josh brings the customer’s perspective to 4M. His previous positions have required a specialty in corporate real estate management operations, asset management and financial performance. Throughout his career, his property experience includes mixed-use properties, Class A office, corporate facilities, industrial sites and many types of shopping centers. Josh holds a degree in business management from Saint Louis University, a Missouri Real Estate License and a CSM designation (Certified Shopping Center Manager). He is also an active member of Building Services Contractors Association International (BSCAI), Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA), International Facility Management Association (IFMA), and International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC).

Michael Herbst, Vice President of Training and Education, DKI Restoring Property

Increasing Revenue Through Strategic Partnerships

Michael Herbst serves as Vice President of Training and Education for DKI Commercial Solutions where he develops, oversees and implements programs that support the short and long-term vision of DKI. Mike joined the restoration industry in 2006 as a Project Manager after an extensive career in the construction industry. He quickly rose to a senior level handling the most complex of projects, including managing large scale remediation during both Hurricane Isaac and Sandy. Mike has experience in many facets of the industry including restoration, construction, as well as employee, asset and systems management. His technical specialties range from water, fire and smoke restoration, residential and commercial construction. Mike holds several IICRC and OSHA certifications and his leadership, knowledge and integrity have earned him industry-wide recognition.

Peter Holton, MA, CM&AA, Managing Director, Caber Hill Advisors

Financial Management of the Janitorial Business

Peter Holton has over 20 years of experience in sales, operations and M&A within the facility service industry. Peter is a proud member of BSCAI and extremely active within the Membership committee. Prior to joining Caber Hill, Mr. Holton worked with Craig Castelli at Bridge Ventures in Chicago. He began his career working in the construction industry, spending nearly a decade at Rose Paving Company where he held both regional and national positions in a variety of roles including business development, operations, sales and mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Holton received a Master’s Degree in Management and Leadership from Webster University and Bachelor of Arts in Communication from University of Dayton and he has received his CM&AA (Certified Mergers and Acquisitions Advisor). He is a member of the board of directors of The Resurrection Project The Resurrection Project’s mission is to build relationships and challenge individuals to act on their faith and values by creating community ownership, building community wealth, and serving as stewards of community assets. In addition, Peter is on the Leadership team for Chicago’s Exit Planning Exchange which helps business understand the entire process of an Exit Plan for their business. He is also a licensed Illinois Business Broker.

Troy Hopkins, Area Development Manager, Office Pride Commercial Cleaning

Cultivating Consistent Sales Growth

Troy Hopkins started his Area Development of Office Pride Commercial Cleaning Services in 2002, and travels to his 23 franchise locations, motivating and coaching the individual owners to achieve success in the janitorial industry. Troy coaches and speaks to a wide variety of companies, from motivating front-line employees in manufacturing to inspiriting executive management teams to achieve their goals. Troy is also the author of The Business Remodel- Transform Your Business to Love it (again) or List it, and his newest release, Making Cents of a Dirty Business – Survive and Succeed in Commercial Cleaning. Learn more about Troy at troyhopkins.com.

Tom Kruse, M&A, Senior Vice President; Marsden Holding

Manpower Stabilization: Taking a Strategic Approach to Impacting the Retention and Turnover Problem

Tom Kruse literally grew up in the commercial cleaning world, working side by side with his father on a cleaning route when he was in grade school. He officially entered the workforce in 1984 as a cleaner at Scioto Services in Columbus, OH. Over the next 15 years Tom took on management and administrative roles and earned his degree at Ohio State University. His passion for the business culminated with his purchase of Scioto Services in 1999. Tom’s first deal was selling his firm to Marsden Holding, LLC in 2005. Since 2005, Tom has brought over 30 companies to the Marsden family. His extensive involvement in the business community includes many charitable causes, a Business Leader of the Year recognition, and his recent ascension to the Board President of the Building Service Contractors Association International.

Eric Luke, CBSE, CPA, President & CEO; Varsity Facility Services

5 Ways This Year You Can Improve Your Company’s Value and Marketability!

Eric Luke has been Varsity Facility Services’ Chief Executive Officer and President since the beginning of 2011. He is responsible for all acquisitions and mergers, the strategic and tactical direction of the company, as well as all sales, operational and financial aspects of Varsity Contractors, Inc., / Varsity Facility Services and its subsidiaries, Nuvek (a software company) and System 1 (a janitorial minority company). He directs and supports Varsity’s executive team in improving Varsity’s risk management, operational effectiveness, growth, profitability and customer satisfaction, developing and maintaining key customer relationships with national accounts.

Curtis McLemore, CEO, McLemore Building Maintenance

Bidding and Estimating Seminar

Curtis has 20+ years of experience in the custodial services industry. He joined McLemore full-time in 1993, after working part-time with the company throughout high school and college. He managed the Special Services Division and served as Regional Manager for overall Operations outside Houston. In 1998, he was promoted to Vice President of Sales and Marketing. After Don McLemore (the company's founder) retired, Curtis assumed the responsibilities of CEO and now oversees the strategic vision and direction of the company. Curtis attended the University of Houston. He has also earned the RBSM (Registered Building Service Manager) certification from BSCAI (Building Service Contractors Association International), and is a past BSCAI President and Board of Directors member.