Contract Sweepers & Equipment receiving the 2019 Sweeper of the Year award at the National Pavement Expo in Nashville, TN
We are pleased to announce that Contract Sweepers & Equipment has been selected to receive the award “2019 Sweeper of the Year” by Pavement Maintenance Magazine, a national trade publication. The award was officially presented on February 27, 2019 during the opening of the National Pavement Expo in Nashville, TN.
In citing some of CSE’s qualities, the magazine’s editors recognized CSE as possibly the most unique sweeping company in the country.
“…it’s not just because the 58-year-old company is 100 percent employee owned, though that certainly plays a big part. It’s also because the management team believes in and pursues an openness and clarity of information provided to employees, including detailed bottom-line, dollars-and-cents figures the likes of which would make many owners cringe.”
Unlike most service-only power sweeping companies within our industry, Contract Sweepers & Equipment maintains a multi-faceted, mix and match approach to solving customer’s needs.
We do provide traditional ongoing and emergency-need contract sweeping. But we also run an equipment dealership which sells new and used sweeper vehicles. In addition, renting and repair of sweeper vehicles provides companies and municipalities with a broad variety of options for service whatever the customer’s needs are.
People, Pride, Purpose: A solid Foundation for Team Members at Our Award-winning Company
Front row (from left) Candice Justus, Jennifer Hatem, Tami Rowell, Kenny Crabtree, Mike Edwards and Doug Flowers. Back row (from left) John Edmundson III, Dottie Rose, Bill Miller, Bruce Nichols, Dave Fox, Kevin McMahon, Tony Maranto, Mike Hiser, Gerry Kesselring, Cecil Nibert
When we first explored the idea of purchasing the company from its founders using an ESOP – an Employee Stock Ownership Plan – we recognized that each employee’s contributions to the company held value. At the time, Contract Sweepers & Equipment’s management developed the “People, Pride & Purpose” campaign. Today, with over 100 people working at our award-winning company, our management team makes it a point to make sure all those people are healthy and feeling part of the team.
“Internally,” says company President, Gerry Kesselring, “we’re constantly talking about People, Pride and Purpose – the three Ps. That’s our mantra and it’s what drives every decision we make.”
Kesselring walks the building every day, and as he says: “It’s not to be seen — it’s to see how our people are doing,”
Family is Recognized as the Basis for All Employee’s Lives
Recognizing that family issues or life issues that affect employees at home will carry over and affect them at work, CSE makes sure we provide every opportunity for the people we work with to get financial and other support assistance they might need.
The company’s quarterly newsletter is sent to each employee’s home “because the whole family is something we’re supporting,” evidenced also by the fact that spouses are invited to all ESOP meetings. “They are part of what we’re doing here, too,” Kesselring says.
Tied into the holistic work life / home life balance, CSE conducts training sessions for operators on the importance of proper sleep and provides insights to help that happen. Sessions also are run on how to help family adjust to a third-shift worker.
Pride in Work – Pride in Work-Space
Kesselring says the “pride” aspect of the three Ps mantra comes from how people feel about where they work. Therefore, Contract Sweepers makes it a point to invest in its facility and invest in new equipment.
“We make sure that where we’re all working is a nice, clean, inviting place to go to work,” he says. “I’ve seen places where the third shift comes in and no one’s there and the lights are out and the heat is turned down. That’s not a place too many people are going to look forward to going to work at. We want this to be a good place where people want to come to work.”
Understanding Our Purpose
Kesselring says the management team and the employee-owners talk a lot about purpose, about why they are in business. And it’s not just to sweep. “We’re sweeping and that’s the job we’re supposed to be doing for our customers,” he says. “But sweeping has a greater importance. There’s an environmental impact to what we do, and we make sure we focus on that, too.”
In addition, we are very focused on making sure there’s a future for the people who work here. That’s the reason we have 401(k) contributions and it’s why we’re always encouraging people to contribute.
We are honored that Pavement Maintenance & Restoration’s editors selected Contract Sweepers & Equipment as Sweeper of the Year based on our corporate philosophy.
If you are interested in joining our team, please visit our JOBS page.