JUST GIVE IT AWAY Yet another new, pandemic-inspired opportunity for pressure wash operators is less about growing their business and more about doing what’s right through charity, generosity, and community improvement. CALLING IN THE BIG GUNS Powerwash.com and Power<strong>Wash</strong> University recently contributed their cleaning services to a local daycare, spending a few hours applying sanitizer to all of their play equipment, including the structures and toys. Max Quat is their go-to disinfectant because it is USDA Food Grade Approved by the FDA and is an approved EPA Disinfectant use against the new virus. Company officials stated that they felt it was the least they could do during a time such as this – to donate their incredibly relevant service to their community and to serve as a resource for their community. It’s a feel good story for the entire exterior cleaning industry to know that stories like this exist. It’s even more exciting that similar stories exist nationwide and have been duplicated in small town newspapers across America since the outbreak of the coronavirus. As just one example, the Medford Sun in New Jersey recently profiled Revive Painting and Powerwashing of Medford, which donated its services to deep clean and sanitize the shopping carts at Murphy’s Fresh Markets and ShopRite of Medford, where management and employees were already working hard around the clock to provide groceries. “When the grocery stores started changing the slots where the older customers would go in the morning, we reached out to them and let them know we’re free in the nighttime,” co-owner Thomas Davis told the Sun. With fellow co-owner James Dalton, the company spread cleaning agents, then 140-degree water, on the shopping carts, spending roughly 90 minutes to two hours according to the paper. Denise DelMastro, owner of Medfordbased Del-Vel Chem Inc., donated the cleaning agent. Davis used his media platform to encourage anyone who has a pressure washing company or some other type of company to do the same in their community. It’s not just small businesses that have expressed their generosity amidst the crisis. For instance, Welch’s employer, American <strong>Pressure</strong>, has donated two MDM-1500 misters and 15 gallons of Vital Oxide with each to churches and schools in its area, including St. James in Howard Lake, Minnesota, and St. John’s in Corcoran, Minnesota. Now, granted, some more jaded readers might say such good works are also good marketing for the business. And it is. But questioning the altruism of what these people have done from their heart is a risky business. As Welch said, “Money is an outcome of it; but there have been a lot of people going out and donating, cleaning playgrounds, and using their business to clean up neighborhoods…There’s so much generosity out there with Americans and with pressure wash operators, too.” AN INDUSTRY RESPONDS The overall industry’s response to the COVID-19 crisis has also been nothing short of remarkable both in its pace and breadth. Ahead of even many government agencies, the industry has been rapidly replacing guesses with best practices, addressing how the pressure washer industry can not only assist the public on how to survive during this time (meaning play a big and important role in helping on this war on the virus) but also how to Davis used his media platform to encourage anyone who has a pressure washing company or some other type of company to do the same in their community. thrive as a business preventing the spread of COVID-19 while focused on opportunities to assist in the effort, (and, as discussed previously, have the byproduct of revenue for the industry). It did so largely through the work of the CETA technical committee, a 15-member entity representing every region of the country and which is steered by Welch. To face the Covid-19 crisis, the committee teamed up with other entities in the industry, including the PWNA (Power <strong>Wash</strong>ers of North America), and even entities outside of the industry. Understanding that as leaders in the industry, CETA and PWNA needed to provide their network of professionals a playbook for the “new normal” not only proved the value of the associations to the industry in general but has also arguably elevated the entire industry to a level of sophistication previously not realized. It started when Welch began hearing about business disruptions happening in China around the end of December 2019 and early January 2020. Welch started hearing from both friends and business associates about a lot of people getting sick. Then he started hearing similar news from contacts in South Korea and Taiwan. From Korea specifically he was hearing about military involvement in contact tracing, followed by action to clean outdoor areas as well as indoor areas, specifically subways and bus seats. “They advanced as fast as they could in that cleaning process and used pressure washers on the streets because their tracking system was showing suspects left their house at this time, walked down the street at this time, and potentially exposed a lot of people, because they could track cell phones,” Welch said. “They knew who those people were and send alerts to them; so, they didn’t just deal with cleaning indoors or washing their hands…or wear a face mask. They were doing those precautions, but they still had people getting sick.” Then in March, Welch made a trip from Minnesota to Denver for a visit. “I left and went to Florida…and saw that while you’re at the airport everybody was stressed about it, but no face masks were being worn or anything at that time because they weren’t available,” he said. “Questions were asked me on the trip, like ‘what are your thoughts?’ and I said ‘I would be wearing a face mask because I’ve traveled to Asia lot and I see that they wear face masks because we know the virus is airborne. “We decided then, let’s refocus the [CETA] technical committee, which already deals with safety standards and performance standards, get a meeting as soon as possible, meaning the following Monday, and expand the group to add more companies and to get more experience and perspective on the team,” Welch said. The first order of business was stating the case and making clear to state policy-makers that the cleaning equipment trade could be rightfully defined as an “essential business” under governmental regulations on which businesses were allowed to work amidst the pandemic outbreak. “We wrote the essential business letter, we got that advocacy on the website, we 28 | PRESSURE WASH NEWS | VOL. 2, NO. 3 | SUMMER 2020
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