Advisory Board

Presenting the WSA Contractor Advisory Board

in alphabetical order by company name; logos link to company websites

 

Gale Holsman, American Sweeping, Inc.; Kansas City, MO Gale founded American Sweeping, Inc. in 1984 and grew it into one of the largest sweeping companies in the U.S. marketplace.  Through the years, he has also founded and acquired a number of other companies. Today, his American Sweeping Companies provide a host of services, including pavement and exterior maintenance services, garbage services, portable toilets, event planning and much more to its thousands of clients throughout the greater Kansas City metro area. Through the years, Gale has been actively involved in efforts to improve the parking lot sweeping industry. Dating  back to the early 1990s, many in the industry would agree that Gale was long the leading contractor spokesperson for the power sweeping industry. Gale has worked with start-up and other contractors on many occasions to help them become successful in their business ventures. many contractors have become more successful through following the hands-on, practical advice Gale provided them with. In 2000, Gale was one of the initial founders of the North American Power Sweeping Association (NAPSA) as well as a Founding Member of WorldSweeper.com’s Ethics in Power Sweeping program. In 2006, Gale’s and American Sweeping, Inc., were chosen as the inaugural winner of WorldSweeper’s Award of Excellence in Power Sweeping annual award. To learn more about Holsman and his company, view his Featured Contractor article originally published at WorldSweeper.com.

Advisory Board Emeritus: Ray Confer, C & J Parking Lot Sweeping; Warren, MI Ray started C & J in 1978 and, in his intervening 42 years at the helm, grew the company to over 1500 customers, including the world headquarters of both General Motors and Ford – while proudly retaining his first account. The company was one of the initial founders of the North American Power Sweeping Association (NAPSA) and has long been a Certified Sweeping Contractor through that organization. C & J was also a Founding Member of WorldSweeper.com’s Ethics in Power Sweeping program. In 2011, Confer’s company was honored as the winner of WorldSweeper’s Award of Excellence in Power Sweeping annual award. To learn more about Confer and his company, view his Featured Contractor article originally published at WorldSweeper.com. In retirement, Ray is still willing to assist WSA Members when the need arises for his counsel.

Warren Burge, Clean Sweep, Inc.; Baker, LA Warren founded Clean Sweep, Inc. in 1992 with his wife, Bridget. The two bring a rare combination of business acumen, overall knowledge and fair business practices to their home state of Louisiana – and well beyond. In addition to handling all types of sweeping, Clean Sweep has a multifaceted exterior maintenance team that allows it to offer its clients a diverse menu of services. The firm operates throughout the state of Louisiana, as well as in portions of Arkansas, Mississippi and Texas. Warren’s and his company were a Founding Member of NAPSA when it was first organized and was one of the first companies to gain the organization’s Certified Sweeping Contractor status. He is also a former NAPSA Board Member. The company is a Founding Member of WorldSweeper.com’s Ethics in Power Sweeping program. Both Warren and Bridget have contributed to the power sweeping industry in numerous ways for many years.

Karl Stauty, Commercial Power Sweeping and Services; Suffolk, VA Karl Stauty started Commercial Power Sweeping and Services in 1986 with a single sweeper from the now defunct Hako Sweeper Company. Since then, he and his wife of many years, Lorean, have built their Virginia-based company into one of the most professional sweeping firms in America. Commercial Power Sweeping was the second company in the United States to become a Certified Sweeping Company through NAPSA and the company is also a founding member of WorldSweeper.com’s Ethics in Power Sweeping program. To learn more about Stauty and his company, view his Featured Contractor article originally published at WorldSweeper.com in 2008.

Michael Nawa, Custom Maintenance Services, Inc.; Newville, PA Michael Nawa has been involved in the parking lot sweeping industry almost since its inception. In 1976, Nawa founded Industrial Grounds Maintenance (IGM) with his father, Andrew. He ran that operation until 2002, when he quit over differences of opinion with his dad on the directions the firm should take (Michael wanted to become a full-service sweeping and maintenance company). When he sold his interest in IGM to his father, Nawa transferred his leadership skills to Custom Maintenance Services, Inc. That was a two-year-old company founded and owned by Nawa’s wife, Judy. Although the couple sold Custom Maintenance in 2017, which at the time had a fleet of 18 sweepers, as well as provided extensive property maintenance solutions for many of those customers, Michael has chosen to remain with WSA as our primary ‘Mentor-in-Residence.’ In that capacity Michael has worked with a number of WSA Members to assist them in becoming more professional and profitable. To learn more about Nawa and his former company, view his Featured Contractor article originally published at WorldSweeper.com in 2008.

David Ross, Millennium Maintenance & Power Sweeping; Medford, MA Ross purchased his first sweeper in 2000. Like many contractors before him, for the first year of business Ross personally performed the sweeping services for his customers at night, while also playing the role of salesman during the day. The Millennium organization (MMPS) has become a sweeping and maintenance leader in the New England area. David and his team have established one of the New England area’s largest power sweeping and exterior facility maintenance companies.

MMPS has expanded to three strategically-located offices. The MMPS headquarters is located on a modern, two-acre recycling facility in Medford, Massachusetts. The other locations are Osipee, New Hampshire; and, Pawtucket, Rhode Island. At present, the company has over 50 employees and owns dozens of pieces of specialized equipment and support vehicles in addition to its 50+ sweeper fleet. To learn more about Ross and his company, view his Featured Contractor article originally published at WorldSweeper.com in 2012.

Mike Dyck, SweepCo; Santa Clara, CA Mike Dyck graduated from the University of Oregon in the late 1970s with an Education degree. In those days, which marked the early days of parking lot sweeping, TYMCO sweepers were the only ones that were well known in the market. And, they were more known as street sweepers. His brother, Larry Dyck, was a schoolteacher at San Jose High School. In conjunction with Leonard Vella, Larry had recently started a sweeper manufacturing firm they called ‘Mr. Air Sweeper’ company. Business was good so it wasn’t long until Larry quit teaching high school and started making sweepers full time. Then, Mike came to work to help out one summer and, says Mike, “stayed for 35 years.” Over that time, Mike became one of the most knowledgeable individuals on all aspects of the power sweeping industry. His decades of assisting contractors in dealing with their issues — which made them more profitable so they could then buy more MASCO brand sweepers — gives him a unique insight into the needs of the contract sweeping community. Although Mike has now retired, in his retirement he founded SWEEPCO, which is a parking lot sweeping and exterior maintenance company in the Santa Cruz/San Francisco area of California. At the same time, Mike is interested in “giving back” to the industry where he has had such a positive career. That spurred his acceptance to become a member of the World Sweeping Associations advisory board in March 2021. In the works is planning for a series of webinars on topics of interest to WSA Members. if you have topics you would like to be covered in this series please let us know. You may also want to read the article in WorldSweeper.com’s History section that provides more detail about Mike’s 40+ years in the power sweeping industry, as well as view the associated hour-long Zoomcast that provides some of his reminiscences over that timeframe.