Title: Custom Maintenance Services’ Michael Nawa Helped Define America’s Contract Sweeping Industry
Michael Nawa
Michael Nawa has been involved in the parking lot sweeping industry almost since its inception. In 1976, Nawa founded Industrial Grounds Maintenance (IGM) with his father, Andrew. He ran that operation until 2002, when he quit over differences of opinion with his dad on the directions the firm should take.
When he sold his interest in IGM to his father, Nawa transferred his leadership skills to Custom Maintenance Services, Inc. That was a two-year-old company founded and still owned by Nawa’s wife, Judy. Today, ten years later, the company sweeps over 240 properties with its fleet of 18 sweepers, as well as provides an extensive property maintenance solution for many of those customers.
A list of forms and handouts available for download from the WSA website. At the end of each description there’s a link you can click on to download the form or handout.
An introduction to street sweeping by Ranger Kidwell-Ross. Start with this article and then move to reading the others in this section.
Here is some common sense advice for those “unchangeable for a whole year” Yellow Pages ads.
Sweeping contractors, like any type of company, need to consistently find new sources of revenue so their businesses won’t stagnate and decline. Finding new leads and new customers – especially in the current economy – can be a challenge. For those who may perform services for any level of government, from city/state/federal to colleges and universities, a service like BidSync can provide bidding opportunities not seen elsewhere.
Most would agree that nothing on a jobsite should receive a higher priority than safety. However, a lot of effort is required to keep the information and emphasis on this topic current and foremost on the minds of your employees.
According to the National Safety Council, one out of four vehicle accidents can be blamed on poor backing techniques. Backing accidents cause 500 deaths and 15,000 injuries per year – and are almost entire preventable. Following are some practical tips to make sure you don’t become another statistic.
There has been increased attention on the danger of distracted driving recently, specifically on the dangers of cell phone use and texting while driving. Other secondary task involvement includes eating, drinking, conversing with passengers, as well as interaction with in-vehicle technologies (e.g., navigation devices and GPS), as well as portable electronic devices.
Whatever job you or one of your employees is performing in or around a sweeper, the fact is that danger exists. That’s why it is extremely important – no, make that mandatory – that anyone who is working on or around a particular sweeper has at the very least read the safety section of the operators manual and verifiably understood every part of it.
