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Woman’s Navy Service Pays Off with Franchise’s Veterans Discount

North Port Couple Opens Local Coverall Cleaning Concepts Franchise

NORTH PORT, FL – (January 30^th, 2007) – When Ricardo and Arlene McKen Sutherland moved from New York to North Port in November 2005, they began looking for a way to start their own business. Their search led them to consider purchasing a Coverall Cleaning Concepts franchise, in part because they realized that the continual influx of new companies into Sarasota County offered a good market for a commercial cleaning service. Then they learned they would be eligible for a discount on the franchise fee because of Arlene’s service in the U.S. Navy. That clinched the deal.

“We had a limited amount of money to spend, and that veterans discount saved us valuable dollars,” says Arlene, who opened a North Port-based Coverall Cleaning Concepts franchise with her husband in September 2006. “That was money that we could put into buying some of the equipment we needed to offer some of Coverall’s special services.”

Franchise discounts are one of the more unusual perks of military service. Coverall Cleaning Concepts and more than 200 other franchisors participate in VetFran, a program that was started by the International Franchise Association to help qualified veterans acquire franchise businesses through a variety of financial incentives. The VetFran program has helped fund more than 600 total franchise purchases to date, with another 150 franchise agreements currently being negotiated.

“We have offered a veterans discount since 1993, and many franchise prospects have taken advantage of it,” said Ted Elliott, President and CEO of Coverall Cleaning Concepts. “It’s our small way of thanking veterans for their service to our country.”

The Sutherlands came to Coverall Cleaning Concepts with a broad set of skills. Ricardo is a former security guard who ran his own construction company in New York for three years, while Arlene worked as a British Airways customer service representative after leaving the Navy. Their mutual career switch has proved to be a good fit.

In just the first 90 days of working their business, the couple acquired cleaning accounts from Sarasota to Punta Gorda including a doctor’s office, phone store, daycare/preschool facility, Morgan Stanley, Coca Cola Bottling offices and the common areas and offices of a local resort. They are currently the local franchise’s only employees and do all the cleaning themselves, keeping busy seven mornings and six nights per week. Their schedule is so full that they expect to hire an employee as soon as their next new account comes in the door.

“We can take business anywhere in Sarasota or Charlotte counties. That’s 14,000 square miles that stretches 75 miles from north to south. The driving alone takes time,” Ricardo says. “If we keep expanding, we’re going to need some help.”

Coverall Cleaning Concepts’ Franchise Owners provide cleaning services 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Service offerings include routine cleaning as well as a menu of specialized and premium services including hard floor care, carpet cleaning, window/blind cleaning, restroom sanitation, ceiling and wall cleaning, and fire/flood restoration. All technicians meet U.S. standards for minimizing risk of disease transmission through proper cleaning techniques.

About Coverall Cleaning Concepts

Coverall Cleaning Concepts is one of the world’s leading commercial cleaning franchising companies, servicing nearly 45,000 customers in over 90 metropolitan cities. Coverall’s extraordinary growth is attributed to its system-wide network of regional support centers, Franchise Owners and support staff that are dedicated to serving the needs of its customers. Small and large office buildings, industrial complexes, medical facilities, banks, department stores, and corporate headquarters are among the many types of accounts Coverall services. When it comes to value, quality and responsiveness, Coverall Cleaning Concepts is the company facility managers have trusted for more than 20 years. For more information about Coverall Cleaning Concepts, please visit www.coverall.com.

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