Romans' cleaning business cleaning up across 4 states - Rome News-Tribune: Business

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Sunday, January 25, 2015 7:00 am

Barry and Larry Alford have taken their Rome-based ServiceMASTER by Twins to three adjacent states over the last 25 years.

The company restores residential and commercial buildings damaged by water or fire. It has expanded south to Destin, Florida, west to Huntsville, Alabama, and north to Nashville and Knoxville in Tennessee. They are still looking to expand.

Back in 1990, Larry Alford was starting out as a paramedic at Floyd Medical Center, while his twin brother Barry was working in shipping and receiving at the hospital.

Ken Sledge was the owner of ServiceMASTER. Barry Alford was a best friend of Sledge’s son Shayne in high school and the twins frequently helped the Sledge ServiceMASTER crews on weekend jobs.

When Ken Sledge was ready to sell the business, Shayne Sledge approached Barry Alford about the two of them buying it. At the time, Ken Sledge declined to sell it to the two of them for fear it might ruin the friendship.

Several months later, Shayne Sledge called again to say that his father had someone interested in buying the business, so the twins put their heads together. They approached the Sledge family together and bought the business.

Fast forward 25 years and the Alfords have ServiceMASTER franchises in three other states and in Griffin, Augusta, Gainesville and Douglasville.

“Rome and Griffin are my two biggest markets right now,” Larry Alford said. “Knoxville will be one of our biggest markets by next year.”

Alford said he treats the expansion of the business a lot like an accordion.

“You never know when or where the disaster is going to hit,” Larry Alford said. By having offices spread apart he can send crews to other areas without a lot of difficulty.

Alford said that is one reason they are looking at the possibility of selling the Destin business. It’s just a little too far south of his core markets.

“A lot of people in this business live for that one big hit, that really big disaster,” Larry Alford said. When that happens, he said, other companies flock to those areas and oversaturate the market.

The company now has some 65 employees spread out across its franchises.

“Our monthly payroll is more than what we made in business the whole first year,” Larry Alford said.

Since Jan. 1, the Alfords ServiceMASTER has responded to 95 fire or water damage jobs, keeping his crews as busy as ever.

Larry Alford attributes the company’s growth and success to the hands-on approach and a hard work ethic.

“We don’t play golf. We don’t do stuff like that; one of us is always here,” Larry Alford said. “Plus, God has blessed us more than we really deserve.”

ServiceMASTER by Twins was the Greater Rome Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year in 2013.

Branching out

Along the way the twins started EDR Restoration, a restoration dry cleaner in conjunction with Shayne Sledge. And the brothers ended up buying Rome Cleaners five years ago. They paid off the note on that acquisition within the past month.

Larry Alford said they decided to move Rome Cleaners from 116 Broad St. in the Cotton Block to the former Firestone/Expert Tire shop, 712 Broad St., at the corner of East Eighth Avenue and Broad Street. Rome Cleaners will open in its new location Monday.

One of the primary reasons Alford decided to move the cleaners was the ability to install a drive-through window at the new site. The old building in the Cotton Block is not air-conditioned, and Alford said it could be miserably hot during the summer months.

Alford said he contacted real estate officials about the old tire building as soon as he knew it was for sale.

The ServiceMASTER headquarters, 1 Hillindale Drive off U.S. 411, is the first business visitors coming into Rome from Cartersville see.

The new Rome Cleaners will be one of the first businesses visitors to downtown Rome see after they turn onto Broad Street off Turner McCall Boulevard.

Another business the twins own is ServiceMASTER Construction, which was previously known as First Choice Restoration. They decided to move it under the ServiceMASTER banner to keep customers from getting confused.

“We do full construction after disasters. If somebody has fire or water damage, we go in there and make the repairs from the time of the loss,” Larry Alford said.

The brothers also own Twins Properties. They started with a couple of lots and now have about 20 residential properties and about 11 commercial properties — not just in Rome but also in communities their businesses serve.

“My goal is to get out of the residential side,” Larry Alford said.

He wants to focus on buying and fixing up commercial properties, much like the old tire shop downtown.

Aside from his work, Larry Alford and his wife, Missy, are active with the Greater Rome Chamber of Commerce and the United Way. Each has been named a Chamber Ambassador of the Year. They stress community involvement with their employees. Some are active volunteers at the Open Door Home, Family Promise and Girl Scouts.

While Larry Alford is, for the most part, the face of the company, his brother, Barry Alford, is more than an operational partner.

“I’m definitely the PR person, I like the sales and marketing side. He’s definitely more technical than I am,” Larry Alford said. “We work well with each other, having different mindsets and different personalities.”


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