Catholic couple brings commercial cleaning service to Utah

Intermountain Catholic

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Carol and Tom Richter, owners of Jan-Pro Cleaning Systems, have received numerous recognition for their business, including the 2011 Utah Business Diversity Award. IC photo/Christine Young

SALT LAKE CITY — Tom and Carol Richter bought a franchise from Jan-Pro International in 1995 and brought the commercial cleaning business to Utah. "Salt Lake City was the 12th city to start with Jan-Pro," said Tom Richter. "Jan-Pro International Cleaning Systems started in 1991, and are now in over 100 cities in 10 countries with over 10,000 franchises across North America. They have been ranked as the fastest-growing franchise business in the last three out of five years in Entrepreneur magazine."

The Richters, members of Saint Thomas More Parish in Sandy, have been married 29 years. They have two children: a son, 26, and a daughter, 23. Before going into the cleaning business, Tom spent 21 years in corporate America working at Zellerbach Paper in sales and marketing, and Carol worked for Intermountain Healthcare for 17 years in accounting.

"The skills we learned in the corporate sector we now use daily in our Jan-Pro business, including accounting, budgeting, planning, team building, operations, management, presentation skills, and janitorial product development," said Carol Richter.

Jan-Pro materials are in both in English and Spanish "because about 75 percent of our franchise owners are Hispanic," said Tom Richter. "Between our employees and our franchise owners, we represent 27 different countries."

The Richters are members of the Catholic Business Network and were among three recipients of the 2011 Utah Business Diversity Awards presented by Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and the Salt Lake Society for Human Resource Management, the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce and Utah Diversity Connections.

"We currently have about 80 active franchise owners from Logan to Payson," said Tom Richter. "We clean about 400 different buildings and all types of buildings, excluding fast-food restaurants, big box retail like Home Depot and lodging facilities. About 20 percent of our businesses are medical-related facilities, and 20 percent are banks and credit unions. We also clean automobile dealerships, multi-tenant buildings, private schools, day care centers and manufacturing facilities."

Jan-Pro provides basic janitorial services, carpet cleaning, window washing, striping and waxing floors and tile and grout restoration.

When someone comes into buy a franchise from the Richters at Jan-Pro, they will pay a franchise fee and then Tom and Carol will train them and get their clients for them, get them started, do the inspection services, provide the feedback reports and do the invoicing and collections for them.

"We are able to help people do things for themselves they wouldn’t be able to do on their own," said Tom Richter. "We’ve helped people buy new cars, get their own apartment, qualify for their first homes and maintain a Jan-Pro franchise full time and leave their current job. In that respect it has been very rewarding. In tough economic times, it has been great to see the growth and development in our franchise owners."

Tom grew up in Nebraska on a farm in a family of nine siblings and he was the only one to receive a bachelor’s degree. "I was the only one who worked in corporate America," he said. "So when I left Zellerbach, I looked back and seven of my nine siblings were all entrepreneurs, with one sister working in college administration. My parents were farmers – entrepreneurs at their finest."

Tom also is a board member of the Utah Hispanic Chamber of Commerce "as a way to give back to the community, our franchise owners and our employees," he said. "I am also on the Catholic Business Network board."

Carol Braak Richter grew up in Salt Lake City and attended J. E. Cosgriff Memorial School and is a 1981 graduate of Judge Memorial Catholic High School.