Building Service Contractors Association International’s (BSCAI’s) second annual Virtual Operations Summit is less than a month away, and organizers are promising attendees that they will walk away ((virtually, of course) with new ways to rework their current contracts, as well as a better understanding of how to implement a training program companywide. Others will take with them new retention strategies, while gaining a better sense of how technology is changing the direction of the BSC industry.
The second annual summit is scheduled for Tuesday, June 14, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. CDT. Among the industry professionals who developed content for the Summit is Dan Cline, Executive Vice President of 4M Building Solutions. In a recent interview, Cline said he is especially excited for those BSCAI member-readers who will be attending this event for the first time. What can they look expect?
“I think first-time attendees will see great content with opportunities to network with peers that they have never met or only visit with occasionally,” he answered. “The hope is that they create relationships that help us all improve as an industry.”
All attendees will get the opportunity to learn from a variety of different perspectives. Cline says, “We have Subject Matter Experts [or SMEs] from across the industry, from small firms to large companies. We have also included experts from technology and facility management teams.”
The Summit will feature four sessions. Cline comments, “As we developed the content, we determined that each of the sessions would be great discussion topics. Each session will be led by a subject matter expert with knowledge of the topic. We worked hard at bringing speakers from within and outside the industry.”
Session 1 will center on Contract Negotiations and be presented by Bradley S. Klein, President of The Building Professionals of Texas, and Sean Litvak, Senior Director of Business Development for the Vonachen Group. In the last two-plus years, the pandemic has changed the industry’s contracts, and it is now time to revisit the way these contracts have been handled in the past. This session will look to do that.
Session 2 will explore Training for Supervisor Management. It will be presented by Holly Borrego, Head of Cleaning Products and Performance, Americas, for ISS A/S. The focus will be on implementing training across all team members, no matter where they are located.
Session 3 will emphasize Employee and Customer Retention. Three panelists -- Paul Senecal of AffinEco LLC; Blake Dozier, co-founder of OnPoint Building Services; and Chris Paxos, founder of A-Quality Facility Services – will discuss tips and tricks that they and other BSCs have employed to keep their employees and customers.
Finally, Session 4 boasts the title “All Things Technology: Where Is Tech Going and How Are BSC’s Using It?” It will be presented by Lisa First-Willis, CEO and co-founder of Truvelop; CrowdComfort CEO Eric Graham; and Bob Hurd, Director of Global Janitorial SME Support for JLL. This last session of the day will provide an industry update on where technology is headed and what to look for in the near future.
Cline says he is most looking forward to watching people come together and collaborate. “Our industry has been incredibly impactful over the last couple of years,” he remarks. “It will be interesting to hear others’ stories and how they have and will continue to learn, evolve, and grow from the pandemic and its aftermath.”
Cline says he has certainly grown during this time of global health crisis. He credits a stable home life – he is married and has two adult children – with helping him navigate the turmoil for his company and for BSCAI. “My wife, Trish, has been the cornerstone and support for everything we have achieved,” he beams. “I started in the industry in 1991, owning a small cleaning company in Kansas City. In 2001, I connected with Tim Murch and became part of the 4M family through acquisition. I was given the opportunity through great training and resources to grow with 4M. I now support 1,500-plus custodians in eight states, mainly in the Midwest and Southeast, with responsibility for $55 million of business. My customers include Corporate/ Owner Occupied, Education, Multi-Tenant, Medical, Industrial and Manufacturing.”
From that experience, Cline feels attending and participating in such events as the Virtual Operations Summit is key to continued success in BSCs’ day-to-day business activities and functions. He concludes, “I hope everyone walks away from this year’s Summit with at least one new way of looking at how they can improve their business
Dan Cline, Executive Vice President of 4M Building Solutions