April 2014
| BusinessWorld | 3
Letter from the Editor
To reach our editorial staff with questions or comments please write to: fitz@bwmna.com
Lyle Fitzsimmons
Managing Editor, North America
Sometimes, size does matter.
And when it comes to handling projects of a contracting or a paving variety, or involves tasks in which specialized lifting equipment is a necessity, the Junior Sammy Group of
Companies is only too happy to flex its prodigious muscles across its Trinidad & Tobago home.
The three-pronged entity comprises a flagship contracting operation (Junior Sammy Contractors), an asphalt paving and concrete plant (Jusamco Pavers) and a heavy-haul, heavy
crane and heavy transport mechanical and construction company (Sammy's Multilift Service).
Its namesake, Junior Sammy, is owner of the whole enterprise, but the offices are separate and the companies are run independent of one another.
“It was never a conscious decision that he was going to look into developing it as much as he has,” said Hugh Murphy, the group's president. “I think he just saw opportunities and he
grasped them. He's very much someone who you would call a very 'feel' and 'gut' entrepreneur. He sees opportunities and he makes his decisions there and then. And once he's made his
decisions, that's it, he goes through with it.”
The family remains intimately involved with the operation, and several children and spouses serve roles as directors and senior executives. The full-time workforce typically ranges
between 1,200 and 1,500, Thomas said, though it can swell as high as 2,000 in the busiest work seasons.
“It's a nice, evenly balanced market, but it can have peaks and it can have quiet spells,” Murphy said. “We went from 10 years ago having two or three contractors of any size, now you've
got 20 or 30 who are maybe not in our league, but are half the size of us and certainly giving a lot more competition to the bigger boys. But to stay in the industry, you have to spend the
money.”
Meanwhile, the prodigious growth at U.S.-based AdvantaClean wasn't quite so scripted.
The company was created in suburban Orlando, Fla. in 1994 as a contractor specializing in emergency loss mitigation and structural repair to homes and buildings, capitalizing on
experience its founding partners had gained two years earlier in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew.
Over the subsequent two decades, it's developed and launched a franchise model, entered working arrangements with 100 franchisees operating 175 businesses and transitioned into a
leading provider of light environmental services for residential, commercial, institutional and governmental properties.
“We've consistently added around 20 or 25 franchisees and 40 or so territories a year, and we certainly want to continue to develop that. We've got plenty of room to grow in the U.S.
alone,” CEO Jeff Dudan said. “We're starting to talk somewhat about international expansion, and at some point that might be something we look at, too.”
Actual on-site work is performed out of company trucks – labeled corporately as “service units” or “mobile business units” – that are staffed with one or two technicians. The franchise
territories typically equal a local population of 250,000 to 300,000, so franchises that begin with one or two trucks will swell to three or four while growing their technician workforce
up to six or eight.
Prospective franchisees can sign on for a single territory or purchase a three-territory package and subsequently grow the operation to whatever size they choose.
“Anybody can come in, they can take multiple territories and ultimately scale the business as large as they want,” said Kevin Drudge, AdvantaClean's vice president of franchise
development. “It's a broad mix. We have guys operating as many as six. We're certainly open for and welcoming to expansion for the ones who can demonstrate success.”
Check out the Junior Sammy and AdvantaClean pieces as well as other feature stories in this issue, alongside supplemental content in the form of Top 10 lists, the Executive Summary
and the latest edition of our interactive feature – “One Last Question” – located on the back page.
As always, please feel free to contact me with any comments or critiques, as well as suggestions for ways we can continue to provide a publication that's pertinent, educational and
entertaining.
Until next month…
