As pandemic persists, commercial cleaning industry evolves in Reno

Chad Grayot, founder of Reno-based company Bio Sealed, uses a disinfecting fogging machine at a Duncan Golf Management golf cart storage facility in Reno. Courtesy photo published in the NNBW.

by Kaleb Roedel

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and businesses and offices shuttered across Northern Nevada, John Santoemma and Elsa Calderon were concerned about their commercial cleaning company, CC Cleaning Services.

“By the first week of April 2020, everybody started closing down and we had a sharp reduction in commercial clientele,” Santoemma said. “We probably lost 28% of our commercial clients. They essentially closed their doors and everybody was working from home.

“So, we were kind of panicked.”

It didn’t take long for that feeling to fade.

By June 2020, the phones at Reno-based CC Cleaning Services “started lighting up,” Santoemma said.

Clients, old and new, were calling for more than just routine cleaning services. They wanted COVID disinfection and sanitization done to protect their employees and customers from the coronavirus.

Restaurants. Gyms. Warehouses. CC Cleaning fielded requests come from every kind of business that could not operate remotely during the shutdowns.

Santoemma, who already had one disinfecting fog machine on hand, bought another last summer to meet the growing demand.

“By June, we were back at our normal revenue level and then and then some,” he said. “And we’ve been on a steady rise since then. We finished the year stronger than the year before, which we felt fortunate about.”

In all, CC Cleaning Services generated $1.3 million in revenue in 2020, a 30% increase compared to 2019, said Santoemma, who launched the company with his wife in 2014.

And demand has not slowed in 2021. Santoemma said the company expanded from 48 employees to 62 and is looking to hire at least four more. He expects to hit $1.8 million in revenue this year.

Read the entire article in the NNBW: https://www.nnbw.com/news/2021/sep/06/pandemic-persists-commercial-cleaning-industry-evo/