Our World Sweeping Association Contractor Profile for May features an interview with Sean Wolf, a third generation family member of Wolf Paving, which was founded by his grandfather in 1941.
Sean started out emptying garbage cans and performing other low-level tasks for the company before he could drive. Ultimately, he worked his way up through the ranks by running every piece of equipment in the company, including its sweepers.
Joe Baumgardner grew up working in his father’s masonry supply business, which was located in Missoula, Montana. Although he was still involved in that company as an adult, Joe says he simply wanted to take on a project that would allow for more business growth. Now, 16 years later, the company is a dominant force in the Missoula, MT, marketplace with between 15 and 20 employees and providing a wide range of services.
Our Featured Contractor for March 2016 is someone that many of our readers/listeners will have had contact with over the last 3+ decades he has been involved in the power sweeping industry. Although recently he has become an owner/operator of the power sweeping company he called SweepCo, Mike Dyke’s experience far transcends that of a typical contractor.
Bruce Christianson founded North Dakota-based, Pro Sweep, Inc., in 2000. “I got started in the business due to being parked in a parking lot in January of 2000 when the lot was hit by a big gust of wind,” said Christianson. “When I saw all the trash blowing I wondered if anybody swept it. The next day I went to my local grocery store and asked if anybody swept. The next day I did some research, probably through WorldSweeper, found out some pricing info to go back and tell him and since then we’ve been growing and expanding.”
Stuart Smith virtually grew up in the parking lot sweeping business in his hometown of Newberry, SC, which is near Columbia, the state capitol. At the tender age of 10 he started helping out his father, who took over the sweeping business of a friend who died in the early 1970s. They had a Clark-brand push sweeper that collected debris in a cloth bag. The machine had to be trailered to the single account that came with his dad’s newfound company.
Stuart helped out in the mornings before school, which meant getting up before 5am. Their activities took about two hours to complete. Both his sister and his mother also went on the routes in order to get everything done as quickly as possible. Today, Smith’s son sometimes goes out on the job with his dad even though he’s only six years old. However, says Smith, he’s rarin’ to go and loves to run the backpack blower.
In 1978, Scott Perasso was a carefree 22-year-old mechanic. Then, his fiance’s father secured the parking lot sweeping contract for the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Sparks, Nevada. At the time, this was the largest such enterprise in the world. He moved from California to South Lake Tahoe, bought a used FMC sweeper and was suddenly making big money for 1978: $100/night.
Then, five months later, Scott was struck by a drunk driver, which required an above-the-knee amputation of his right leg. Although friends stepped in to try and keep his MGM account, after five weeks in the hospital and further recovery time before he could work, the couple had lost the contract. Our feature story is one of battling back to regain and maintain their business, which Scott and Sherry Perasso continue to operate today, 37 years later.
