smooth operators

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/.