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Second annual program recognizes the home service heroes, smooth operators, career builders, and community caretakers who demonstrate excellence in their industries

Jobber, the leading provider of home service operations management software, today announced the recipients of its $150,000 Jobber Grants program. Twenty-five entrepreneurs were selected from thousands of applications and rewarded with funds ranging from $2,500 to $15,000 USD to help grow and amplify the community impact of their home service businesses.

“Jobber Grants is the only program specifically designed to spotlight the hardworking and often overlooked entrepreneurs who make up the home services category,” said Sam Pillar, CEO & co-founder of Jobber. “We are thrilled to recognize these people and to support their ambitions to build something out of nothing. The contributions of these individuals, whether they’re new to home service or industry veterans, are helping to create stronger and more robust communities across North America, and it’s our honor to recognize that.”

Recipients from this year’s program fit into four categories: home service heroes who keep our homes safe and running; career builders who help hardworking people build meaningful careers; smooth operators who strive for high standards in every area of their businesses; and community caretakers who give back to the communities where they live and work. Individuals were selected based on written submissions, followed by interviews with a Jobber judging panel.

The top grant of $15,000 was given to Shane Fast, founder of Renew Painting located in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The company, which provides an array of painting and staining services, focuses on giving a diverse group of employees including women, minorities, and individuals from low socio-economic backgrounds valuable experience in skilled work while providing fair living wages and profit-sharing. Shane also donates 10 percent of all profits to non-profit organizations in his community.

“I spent many years in the inner city near St. Louis where I saw a lot of poverty and watched people really struggle to overcome obstacles,” said Shane. “The experience molded me to love people more deeply, recognize the position they’re coming from, and inspired me to give back to my community as much as I can. Jobber created an opportunity for us to ramp up our plans to provide meaningful employment to more people and equip existing staff in various ways, an investment that will also relieve some of the stress and pressures that come with juggling family life with rapidly scaling a business. To be entrusted with this Jobber Grant leaves me with profound excitement and gratitude.”

Shaylyn and Timothy Bliss, new entrepreneurs and founders of Home Roots Lawn Care in San Marcos, Texas, received a $10,000 Jobber Grant. Home Roots Lawn Care was founded in the middle of the pandemic while Shaylyn was pregnant and Timothy was mowing lawns in between shifts as a firefighter, working roughly 150 hours per week. The business quickly grew large enough to provide full-time roles for both Shaylyn and Timothy who are using the grant to expand their team and purchase equipment. Home Roots Lawn Care recently donated a significant amount of resources and time toward cleaning up low-income properties as part of a city-wide event, which they plan to participate in annually. Shaylyn and Timothy intentionally purchase supplies and equipment from local small businesses and employ many individuals who struggled to find work during the pandemic.

“This Jobber Grant is such a big push forward for our business, and comes at a great time, too,” said Shaylyn. “We’re in the process of training several new hires, which will allow us to focus on more complicated jobs and big picture planning.”

“It’s important that our people have a positive onboarding experience and that we create a strong sense of community among our employees,” adds Timothy. “We want to instill the importance of giving back to the community with every new hire, and Jobber is helping us achieve this.”

When asked how the grant will impact their companies, Justin and Jolene at Double J Plumbing and Heating shared, “The impact this grant will have on our business is monumental. We are very calculated with our expenditures, relying only on credit when absolutely necessary, and only take growth steps once we have saved the investment required, or when our monthly budget has grown enough to allow for investment. We have been saving each month in hopes to be able to hire in the New Year, but this grant will give us the ability to make this move ahead of our busy 2022 fall season, which will give us an incredible benefit going into the new year, and a headstart on our other future business goals! We also recently had some very unexpected vehicle repairs, so this has allowed us to redirect some of our savings towards the necessary repairs required to keep Justin working.”

In addition, Brandon Arnold, BDA Comfort Heating & Cooling stated, “As an aspiring business owner, it is my pleasure to soon be able to offer customers a myriad of HVAC services from residential maintenance and troubleshooting to commercial rooftop unit replacements. Like with most bourgeoning business owners, I have quickly identified there are a number of administrative costs associated with legally establishing a business name and the various day-1 essential items required for a service-based business to be considered operational. The Jobbers Grant will be used towards the goal of managing those costs, which allows me to be one step closer to my dream.”

The full list of Jobber Grant recipients:

The Career Builders:

• Mohamed Bouryal & Krista Keithly, Tidy Vibe (Tacoma, WA)
• Shane Fast, Renew Painting (Spartanburg, SC)
• Jenny Joy, Ruby Red Cleaning (Orlando, FL)
• Michal Kenins & James May, Vista Tree Management Inc. (Toronto, ON)
• Chris Reid, Shoreline Plumbing (Tampa, FL)
• Jason & Joelene Sturm, Sturm Plumbing Inc. (Harrison City, PA)

The Community Caretakers:

• Andrew Kennedy & Dave Sera, Streamline Renewables (Gibsons, BC)
• Ashley Loveless, Organwize Professionals (Columbus, GA)
• Stefanie Menzie, Tree Wizard LLC (Norman, OK)
• Doug & Kristen Shoup, Shoup’s Cleaning (New Philadelphia, OH)
• Antonio Taylor, Pressure Family Exteriors LLC (Oklahoma City, OK)
• Garvin Thomas, Philtrin Holdings LLC (Philadelphia, PA)
• Alycia Wolosezky & Nicholas Twigg, Twigg Transformations (Victoria, BC)

The Home Service Heroes:

• Brandon Arnold, BDA Comfort Heating & Cooling (Houston, TX)
• Ashley & Matthew Grant, Mosquito Mom (Courtice, ON)
• Alex Neville-Verdugo, Lefty’s Handy Services (Springfield, MO)
• Justin & Jolene Shewchuk, Double J Plumbing & Heating (Okotoks, AB)
• Katharyn Snyder, Full Swing Land & Tree Care (Lake Clear, NY)

The Smooth Operators:

• Shaylyn & Timothy Bliss, Home Roots Lawn Care (San Marcos, TX)
• Nathan Fournier, HomeHarvest Central MA (Worcester, MA)
• Nick Kilburg, Fayette Ecological Restoration and Design (Fayetteville, GA)
• Callum Ng, Green Grads Window and Gutter Cleaning (Vancouver, BC)
• Ben Pennoyer, Ben’s Electric Solutions Team (Calgary, AB)
• Esteban Rodriguez, Esteban Land Design, Inc. (San Tan Valley, AZ)
• Ethan Rossler, Wash Wizards (West Palm Beach, FL)

Asked how the challenges of the past couple years (supply chain, pandemic, economy, and workforce) created an impetus for looking outside the box for opportunities like the Jobber Grant, From Jason & Joelene Sturm, Sturm Plumbing Inc., shared their thoughts.

“We never got the time off that a lot of other industries did through the pandemic. We were extremely busy throughout and yes, add in all the supply chain issues and everything else and it was a bit overwhelming! Once I realized everyone was dealing with this and there’s nothing I can do, I relaxed a lot.  We use jobber every day and applying for the  grant was an instant gut feeling when I received the email, I knew I had to apply and sent it to some others I knew could use the opportunity just starting out in business,” they said.

 

To learn more about this year’s Jobber Grants recipients visit: https://www.jobbergrants.com/.

Salary guides provide detailed breakdown of earnings across the HVAC, plumbing, roofing, cleaning, electrician, handiwork, landscaping, and painting industries

Jobber, the leading provider of home service management software, today announced the launch of comprehensive salary guides to help home service entrepreneurs hire and retain the right people to grow their home service business and scale operations. Jobber’s salary guides outline salary information for the HVAC, plumbing, roofing, cleaning, electrician, handiwork, landscaping, and painting industries. Guides feature easy-to-read graphics that display average salaries organized by state, years of experience, and title.

With job openings outpacing qualified candidates in many home service industries, hiring and retaining employees have become major challenges. The fierce competition has left many home service entrepreneurs with questions about what qualifies as a fair salary for employees in today’s market. Jobber’s salary guides are designed to address these questions and provide home service leaders with the information they need to grow their teams.

“When home service companies expand their teams, they strengthen their communities by providing meaningful local job opportunities and the training and skill development needed to build lifelong careers,” said Sam Pillar, CEO & co-founder of Jobber. “Our salary guides are just one of the ways Jobber is helping to equip home service businesses with the resources and tools they need to compete with large organizations and achieve success.”

A few highlights from the salary guides include:

Average Annual Salary for Experienced Roles by Industry:

• HVAC Service Manager: $72,899
• Journeyman Plumber: $56,054
• Experienced Roofer: $50,558
• Experienced Cleaner: $35,299
• Journeyman Electrician: $58,180
• Experienced Handyman: $66,086
• Experienced Landscaper: $41,553
• Industrial Painter: $40,598

Average Hourly Rates by Industry:

• HVAC Technician: $20.29
• Plumber: $22.64
• Roofer: $17.95
• Cleaner: $12.58
• Electrician: $23.00
• Handyman: $24.30
• Landscaper: $14.62
• Painter: $17.00

Data for Jobber’s salary guides was sourced from Payscale, the world’s largest salary database made up of more than 65 million salary profiles and 15,000 job titles.

To learn more about Jobber’s salary guides, visit https://getjobber.com/resources/salary-guides/. For additional resources around hiring best practices and other management best practices, visit https://academy.getjobber.com/.

Second-annual grant program helps launch, grow, and strengthen home service businesses across the U.S. and Canada

Jobber, the leading provider of home service management software, today announced that Jobber Grants, the first program of its kind designed to support and shine a spotlight on the hard-working entrepreneurs within the home service sector, is now accepting applications through May 26, 2022.

New and experienced business owners alike are invited to apply for free grants ranging from $2,500 to $15,000. Applicants are asked to share what sets their businesses apart in the areas of excellent service, leadership, business acumen, and community support, and how they would further impact their local communities with funding. Twenty-five home service businesses across 50+ industries, including lawn care, plumbing, residential cleaning, and painting, will be awarded $150,000 in total. Finalists will be announced in August 2022.

“Home service entrepreneurs help keep our homes and offices running smoothly, provide meaningful employment to millions of people, strive for the highest standards in all areas of their businesses, and give back to the communities where they live and work,” said Sam Pillar, CEO & co-founder of Jobber. “Jobber Grants continues our company’s tradition of supporting and celebrating this well-deserving yet underserved segment of the small business community. For all you do, this $150,000 is for you.”

Branden Sewell, owner of Seal Pro Painting and a 2021 grant recipient, is committed to paying his employees a higher than average salary and providing them with the right equipment to do their best work. His existing team was booked two months in advance and he needed to hire more people to accommodate the jobs that were coming in.

“We allocated our funds toward growth,” said Sewell. “Now as a team of seven full-time employees, we’re also starting a new marketing department, launching a podcast and creating an internal series of training videos for all employees. On top of all that, we were able to acquire our first physical location for an office. We are incredibly thankful for our partnership with Jobber and all they have done to help us achieve our mission of making a positive impact.”

Jobber Grants are organized into categories that reflect various stages of company growth, from ideas on paper to recently launched ventures and established businesses. Categories include:

• Almost-entrepreneurs (pre-business): Entrepreneurs who have the drive to start and run a home service business.
• New business owners (0-3 years): Entrepreneurs who are in the early stages of building their team, client list, and services.
• Experienced business owners (3+ years): Entrepreneurs who are ready to scale their mature business to its next growth stage.

Recipients have the freedom to choose how to use the grant to support their ambitious business goals and innovative ideas. Whether a company is looking to purchase new equipment, increase its marketing investment, launch a new service, or train their teams, funds from the Jobber Grant program are designed to help small business owners be more successful.

Meaghan McVicker, owner of Green Clean Machine and a previous Jobber Grant recipient, organizes beach cleanups and contributes to several local business boards and councils when she’s not busy running her business and working on a franchise plan.

She shared the impact of this grant on her plans to expand her service area: “It was instrumental in the progression of my business. I was able to afford new equipment, supplies, and I saved up enough to give my crew an extra treat for Christmas! Being able to show my employees that I want to give back to them and support them in the ways they needed was relieving.”

The Jobber Grants program is one of many initiatives within Jobber’s ecosystem dedicated to supporting the home service entrepreneur, whether it’s through the company’s award-winning business management software, free resources such as Jobber Academy and the Jobber Home Service Economic Reports, events such as Jobber Professional Development Day, and more.

To learn more about Jobber Grants or to apply, visit: www.JobberGrants.com.