1993-1997
↓
Porcelain Patrol Service was founded in 1993. Joe Seybert, owner of PPS, was a Science and Physical Science teacher in Elk Rapids, MI at the time. Joe was interested in controlling disease in restrooms and began cleaning a few restrooms in the evenings and on weekends. At the time he was the only employee and PPS was operated out of his home (more specifically his laundry room). As he took on more and bigger accounts, he hired a few people to help him with the workload. Eventually the business outgrew Joes home and he purchased a 600 square foot building on 8th Street in Traverse City.
And so PPS started out as a restroom cleaning company. Joe developed and coined the term “Restroom Shock Treatment™” (terminal clean). Most of our original customers were local restaurants and gas stations located anywhere from Traverse City to Grand Rapids. Our business continued to grow and by 1997 our staff increased to 10-12 employees. During this phase of our history, we focused on controlling disease in restrooms, but we also felt that medical establishments needed our attention. Like any company, through hard work and diligence we landed our first medical facility. We continued to grow and established ourselves as the leader in medical cleaning throughout Northern Michigan.
↓
1998-1999
PPS quickly started adding more employees and continued to grow in the Traverse City market as one of the leaders in the industry. Our focus was to establish the best customer service available. As the company grew, so did the need for more space and a larger facility. In 1998 PPS moved to a 1200 sq. ft. facility on Garfield Avenue in Traverse City.
↓
2000-2004
As of 2004, most of our business was coming from: the medical arena, restroom shock treatments, car dealerships, and general office cleaning. At this time we also started to expand our floor program to include: hard surface floors, gym floors, and carpets. Our business continued to expand and our reputation grew as well.
↓
2005-2008
In 2005-2006 PPS started working closer with Munson Medical Center. Munson awarded many of their outbuildings to PPS because of our expertise in the industry. We cleaned over thirteen outbuildings for Munson. We also cleaned most of the Munson Professional Building and the new Heart Center. PPS serviced Munson floors inside the hospital itself because of our reputation and superior service.
During the same period, we formed a sister company called Northern Michigan Janitorial Supply. NMJS supplied PPS and all of Northern Michigan with a complete array of chemicals, green products, major lines of equipment, paper, hand soap, and can liners. We started an onsite and a mobile repair service for certain lines of cleaning equipment.
In 2008 PPS was cleaning more than 80 commercial accounts with 60 employees. We also employed two full time floor crews who worked in accounts from Big Rapids to Sault St. Marie. Clearly, the company was expanding beyond the capabilities of the building we were currently occupying. In 2008 we moved into our current building on the corner of Hastings and Parsons. This 8000 sq. ft. building offers office space, warehouse space, a break room, and ample storage for both PPS and NMJS.
↓
2009-Present
In the fall of 2009 we were awarded our first school. After our foot was in the door, we added more and more schools to our list of accounts. We cleaned both public and private schools across Northern Michigan. It only makes sense that PPS would clean schools; Joe’s father was a superintendant, which meant that Joe was well versed in assisting with the maintenance of the schools. Joe has been cleaning schools and stripping/waxing floors since he was 12 or 13 years old.
Present: PPS Cleans 80+ accounts weekly and employs around 80 people. Our accounts span across Northern Michigan including buildings in Grand Traverse, Leelanau, Antrim, Emmet, Kalkaska, Otsego, Crawford, and Charlevoix Counties. Our floor crew reaches further, leaving gorgeous floors as far as Roscommon and Cheboygan counties. We are responsible for the cleaning of six schools, numerous medical facilities, and true to our humble beginnings: many, many restrooms.
We continue to pick up more schools, medical facilities, and offices where terminal cleans are done daily. Our focus is, and always will be, on the cleanliness and sanitation of restrooms; we have created a Super Shock Treatment™ program to accommodate all restrooms and budgets.