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4 Generations of Family-Operated Business

Local family business celebrates 100 years
By Stephanie Garber

Exactly 100 years ago, Benjamin Presser founded a window-washing business on Euclid Avenue. Now known as Euclid Industrial Maintenance and Cleaning Contractors, Inc., the business has been owned and managed by four continuous family generations. Benjamin's endeavor is now run by his grandson, Martin Presser, and great-grandson, Mark Presser, (who likes to joke that he's the fourth generation and feels every bit of it).

Euclid Industrial has the distinction of being the oldest cleaning contractor in the Cleveland area. Over the years, the Presser family business has branched out from window washing to include numerous maintenance services like supervised janitorial services, wall washing, construction cleanup and "state-of-the-art" acoustical ceiling cleaning.

Mark Presser attributes the longevity and expansion of the business to good communication with customers, in addition to the fact that his business is a family business.

"A major governing factor in our success is that we're family-owned and treat all of our employees as if they're family as well," says Mark. "Every employee calls both my father and me by our first names."

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How They Did It
A look at how small business owners tackled a challenge
- Deanna Bottar
Originally published in "Crain's Cleveland Business", for the week of February 10-16, 2003.

Who? Euclid Industrial Maintenance and Cleaning Contractors Inc. of Cleveland.

Did what? Handed a business down through four generations of one family over the course of 100 years.

When? The late Benjamin Presser founded the company in 1903 as a window-washing enterprise on Euclid Avenue. Today, it's a full-service cleaning company on East 40th Street that's run by his grandson, Martin Presser, and great-grandson, Mark Presser. (216-361-0288)

The past: The story of Euclid Industrial Maintenance is a tale of family, commitment and loyalty, of Presser husbands, wives and children working with often multiple generations of employee families to grow the business.

There’s window-cleaning supervisor Bob Patterson who came on board in 1956, general supervisor Danny Kocevar who counts 43 years of employment, and manager Jacquelyn Motz whose tenure goes back 30 years.

“It reflects a lot on the integrity of the company when you treat your employees the way we do,” Martin Presser said.

In fact, Martin Presser, CEO, whose wife Carol, company president, has done bookkeeping and office work since 1970, chuckles when he realizes he can’t pinpoint the year his mother, Sadie, now 94, stopped working. The mid-1980s, maybe?

“I know she worked until she was in her mid-80s,” Carol Presser said of her mother-in-law’s tenaciousness. “She’d still like to come down (and work).”

Sadie Presser started coming to work back in 1956 when her husband, the late Jack Presser, was running the show – a post he was handed by his father, the company founder, in 1938.

As the years passed and the company’s ownership channeled through the family, Euclid Industrial Maintenance’s array of cleaning services expanded to include janitorial work, carpet cleaning, wall washing, floor maintenance, acoustic ceiling cleaning, construction cleanup, duct cleaning, walk-off mat rental service and sales, and really just about meeting any request a client makes.

“If they ask, do the work even if it’s not in the contract,” Martin Presser said of the customer service policy his company maintains. “We’ll settle a price later.”

That’s what keeps the company rolling ahead – dealing face-to-face with clients and meeting their needs.

“One of our greatest assets is that the customers and employees deal directly with the owners where decisions can be made, not with salespeople,” Mark Presser said.

The Future: Even though the slumping economy has resulted in some layoffs among cleaning crews – the staffing level typically ebbs and flows with the economic tide – the Pressers plan to continue to build on their company’s tradition of consistently high-quality service.

“We want to keep growth within the realm of things we can keep our fingers on.” Mark Presser said, “We like the personal touch.”

Euclid Industrial Maintenance relies on recruiting business from clients who appreciate consistency and quality from a homegrown company, Mark Presser said. The company does not release its annual sales figures, but the Pressers admitted the company’s budget is top-heavy with salary costs because of its pool of long-term employees.

There are plans in place to build on the company’s base of long-term contracts, including industrial cleaning for General Electric, which has taken Euclid Industrial Maintenance crews to Anaheim, Calif., Atlanta, St. Louis, New Orleans, Tampa, and Mobile, Ala.

The future also includes further specialization into areas such as construction cleaning, kitchen cleaning, hood and duct cleaning and maintenance, and a continued reliance on what started it all – window cleaning and janitorial work.

It’s left to be seen how the Presser family will transition the company’s ownership when the time comes. The family business didn’t appeal to Mark Presser’s brother, Gregg, who opted to become a social worker. Mark Presser said his two daughters, ages 12 and 8, are welcome to pick careers of their own as their uncle did or to carry on the family tradition of their dad and grandparents.

But, there’s one condition: “They have to love it,” he said. “It’s here for them if they’re interested in it.”

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Euclid Industrial Maintenance and Cleaning Contractors, Inc.
By Diane DiPiero

While learning the ropes during the 1950s in his family’s business, Eulid Industrial Maintenance and Cleaning Contractors, Inc., Martin “Marty” Presser cleaned windows, floors and offices in buildings. The idea was for the young Marty to understand the importance of each service the company offered and the duties expected of each of the company’s employees.

After he got an office at Euclid Industrial Maintenance and Cleaning Contractors, Marty’s father, Jack, who headed the company at the time, gave him a nameplate.

“It said, ‘Martin Presser, VP in Charge of Latrines,’” says Marty with a hearty laugh. “As you can see, titles don’t really mean anything here.”

More important, according to Marty, is that employees take responsibility for their work and that each customer is treated on an individual and personalized level. This philosophy has carried Euclid Industrial Maintenance and Cleaning Contractors from its inception in 1903 as a window-cleaning company to its current full-service capabilities, including all phases of janitorial services, carpet, cleaning and floor maintenance, construction cleanup and duct cleaning.

For 101 years, Eulid Industrial Maintenance and Cleaning Contractors has prided itself on treating employees like family and each customer like it is the only one the company has.

“We’re not a big conglomerate,” says Marty. “There’s no middle man here, just us. It gives our customers a comfortable feeling to know that we’ll go the extra yard for them.”

Marty’s grandfather, Benjamin, founded the company and his father, Jack, took over following his death in 1938. Today, Marty, his wife Carol and their son Mark work together to ensure the company’s continued success.

“Employees and customers all call us by our first names,” says Marty. “The door is always open, day or night.”

To offer the best services to its customers, the company trains employees to be proficient in particular areas.

“We have a very regimented training program,” says Mark, who has been working with the company since he was a teenager. “Employees start out part-time doing crew work under supervision. Then they work part-time without supervision. From there, they move to full-time, if that’s what they’re looking for. By the time they’re done with training, they’re proficient at what they do.” All of the company’s employees are bonded.

Eulid Industrial Maintenance and Cleaning Contractors has about 100 employees, some of whom have worked here for 30 or more years.

“We instill in our employees the idea that they take pride in what they’re doing,” says Marty. “We promote from within, based on the capabilities our employees show us.”

The company is a four-time winner of the North Coast 99 Awards, given to the 99 Best Companies to Work for in Northeast Ohio.

Eulid Industrial Maintenance and Cleaning Contractors has many long-time customers who appreciate the company’s hands-on approach. All of the services the company offers are performed by its employees; there is no sub-contracting of jobs. Marty and Mark visit sites regularly to make sure service is up to snuff.

On new projects Marty or Mark walk their supervisors and employees through the site to show them everything that will be involved.

“We even take Carol out to see a job, so that if the customer ever calls the office, she’ll know what they’re talking about,” says Marty.

Customers soon learn that Eulid Industrial Maintenance and Cleaning Contractors is willing to go above and beyond to ensure satisfaction.

“If we’re doing a janitorial job and the customer needs something else done, we can take care of it for them,” says Mark. “We take the property managers’ headaches so they don’t have to deal with them.”

The company is certified in handling hazardous waste and complies with all OSHA and plant safety standards.

Eulid Industrial Maintenance and Cleaning Contractors also prides itself on satisfying specific individual needs on a particular site.

“A purchasing agent or building manager may not know a tenant’s likes or dislikes,” says Mark, who, like his dad, has worked in all areas of the company’s cleaning services. “We take the time to get to know each tenant’s idiosyncrasies because we believe that personal service means a lot.”

Special touches such as these have brought hundreds of customers to Eulid Industrial Maintenance and Cleaning Contractors.

“Some people will call to get an estimate and say we’re a little too expensive. Then they check around and they call us back,” says Marty. “We give people a little more than what they pay for. We try to base our estimates on each individual customer. It’s a partnership between us and them.”

Customers appreciate working with a small, family-owned entity, a concept that is rare in today’s mega-size business world. And Marty, Carol and Mark intend to keep the company personable and professional.

“The company has spent 101 years building a reputation,” says Marty. “I don’t see any reason to change now.”

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