Meet the Stratus CEO Dennis Jarrett

Have you ever talked to Dennis Jarrett with Stratus Building Solutions? If you call the 877-731-2020 on the weekend, you've spoken directly with the CEO of a world-class franchise operation. Pretty cool, huh?

Here's a little more about who we call DJ:

Currently residing in Chicago, Illinois, this world traveler is always on the go. Before he co-founded Stratus, the 20 year veteran of the franchising industry served as President of Jan-Pro International, a national janitorial franchise company based in the Atlanta, Georgia area. Prior to his work with Jan-Pro, he was Vice-President of Coverall North America, Inc., also a national janitorial franchising company based in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

Bringing his experience and innovation with him enabled Stratus to grow exponentially and win awards such as the annual 2010 & 2011 Inc. 500|5000 Fastest Growing Companies, three Top Ten spots on Entrepreneur’s Franchise 500 – including 2nd time #1 Fastest Growing Franchise, Franchise Times Fast 55, Black Enterprise Top 40 Best Franchises for African Americans, Poder 360′s Top 26 Franchises for Hispanics and the 50 Top Franchises for Minorities by the World Franchising Network. He is married with three daughters and enjoys reading, traveling and even more than executing a successful business, time with his family.

Here is, too, at the LouFest St. Louis music festival where Stratus participated in the EcoZone.

 

What is Dirt?

In the professional cleaning industry, we are always talking about dirt. Sure, it goes by a variety of pseudonyms such as soils, contaminants, impurities, unwanted matter, particulates, and the like. But ultimately, what we are talking about is plain old dirt—what we in the professional cleaning industry are tasked to remove from facilities every day.

But have you ever wondered what’s in dirt? Street dirt, the kind that most often finds its way into the facilities we clean, is comprised of many of the following (starting with the largest amounts first):

• Humus: Organic material such as compost


• Cement powder or dust: Composed of limestone and carbonate rock


• Silica: Sand or quartz


• Clay: Fine-grained materials, with variable amounts of moisture trapped in the mineral structure of the particulate


• Sodium chloride: Salt


• Gelatin: Solid substances from animal skin and bones


• Oleic acid: Derived from the fat from animals and plants


• Carbon black: material produced by the incomplete combustion of heavy petroleum products.

Much of what is in dirt is so small it becomes airborne. And studies indicate that as much as 80 percent—possibly more—is tracked in by people using a facility. And now you know the dirt on dirt.

Article found on ISSA By John Holibaugh  

Visit Stratus Building Solutions on Pinterest

We are pleased to announce the newest hub for everything clean, green and healthy to make your life simpler: The Stratus Building Solutions Pinterest  Profile!

Here you can check out all the cleaning tips, healthy cooking tips, organizing and decorating tips and much more.

The only way to get involved is to go check it out! 

Keep Your Space Organized

Keeping that New Year's resolutions to stay organized just got a whole lot easier. Using simple things like plastic bread tags, popsicle sticks and PVC pipe can turn your home or office into DIY organizational heaven.

Use these little tips and tricks to keep your areas neat and organized.

Plastic bread tags are great to organize the wires going into your powerstrip that always get twisted and confused.  

Popsicle sticks can be used as a letter marker to alphabetize your DVD collection.

PVC pipe can be used to hold a variety of things - here they show it used in a bathroom to store curling irons and such.

Click here to see a variety of ideas you can do yourself.

Benefits of a Professional Wellness Program

Ever wonder how wellness affects the bottom line? How do
you accurately place a value to determine Return On Investment? Well, the good
folks over at Workforce have found a way. Check out this question and answer they provided:

We are planning a program next year to focus on health and wellness as a key strategic element of our economic growth. Is there any conclusive evidence to support the idea that wellness produces a direct financial gain?
—Health-Conscious, clinical director, health care, Cleveland

A:

Dear Health-Conscious:

A great deal of evidence demonstrates that health and wellness yield significant financial gains. Here is a sampling of conclusions drawn from a wide range of credible global research:

• "Employers get a good return on investment from health; for every US$1, [invested] up to US$6 back." World Health Organization

• "When health and well-being are promoted, organizations are seen as 2.5 times more likely to be a best performer and 4 times less likely to lose talent within the next year." World Economic Forum

• "An organization [that actively promotes wellness] is 3.5 times more likely to encourage creativity and innovation among employees, who are 8 times more likely to be engaged in what they do." World Economic Forum

Even a company that dispassionately views employees purely as "assets" would logically want to invest in wellness, just as they invest in maintaining their physical plant and equipment. Like well-maintained machinery, healthy people perform better and cost less.

Direct medical expenses are but the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what poor health actually costs your company. The World Economic Forum estimates that medical payments total less than 40 percent when compared to the productivity losses that organizations suffer from employee absenteeism and "presenteeism"—people who are well enough to show up for work, but not able to perform at full capacity.

Healthy employees are more present, more attentive, more energetic and more focused. Of course, if you have healthy people working in an unhealthy company, the environment will soon undermine the benefits of your wellness initiatives. Global research conducted by Healthy Companies International over two decades suggests that a "healthy" company is one in which healthy leaders build healthy cultures that inspire healthy people to drive healthy performance.

Healthy leaders are healthy not only in the physical sense, but also emotionally, spiritually, socially and intellectually.

Healthy culture unites people around a higher purpose and promotes freedom, self-discipline and responsibility.

Healthy people are agile, optimistic, curious, collaborative and self-motivated.

Healthy performance fits classic business definitions, e.g., sustained profitable growth. Healthy companies achieve healthy performance by intrinsically valuing the health of their leaders, culture and people.

In sum, if your goal is economic growth, you want to invest strategically in the wellness of individual employees and in the health of your organization.

SOURCE: Stephen Parker, president, Healthy Cos. International, Arlington, Virginia

LEARN MORE: In light of recent research, it may be more vital than ever that companies nurture a culture of wellness.

Workforce Management Online, January 2012 -- Register Now!

The information contained in this article is intended to provide useful information on the topic covered, but should not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion. Also remember that state laws may differ from the federal law.

Stratus Building Solutions Ranks Highly in Book of Lists

St. Louis, MO (January 13, 2012)…Stratus Building Solutions maintained its #1 position as the Fastest Growing Private Company in St. Louis, MO, for the second year in a row, as reported by the St. Louis Business Journal.  The company, based out of St. Louis’ Overland area, is a global brand with over 5,000 franchise units. Stratus Building Solutions was mentioned six different places in the St. Louis Business Journal’s annual Book of Lists.

Stratus tied for the 129^th place on the Top 150 Largest Privately Held Companies with Mills Properties Inc. and Peak Resorts at $90,000,000 total revenue for 2010.

Stratus Co-founder and CEO, Dennis Jarrett, states, “A prominent position on a highly-valued list certainly brings attention to us locally, but also nationally. Through that national attention, we are able to show the country – and the world – just where St. Louis, MO is and give it the attention it deserves as a business metropolitan area.”

Stratus began in the St. Louis area in 2004 and has since won many award such as inclusion in the Inc. 500, as the #1 Fastest Growing Franchise in the country for the second year in a row and the #1 Commercial Cleaning Franchise by Entrepreneur Magazine.

 The Stratus Green Clean Program features environmentally-friendly products to help sustain healthier, more productive facilities.  Included in the program is the Stratus Green Clean line of Green Seal Certified cleaning chemicals along with other proprietary products and processes. 

The Franchise Handbook

The Franchise Handbook has been a guide to those interested in learning about the franchising options available for years. Here is a direct link to access the 2012 edition. Happy Franchising! http://bit.ly/yLewoA 

Stratus Building Solutions Welcomes David Farrell to St. Louis Office

Stratus wants to take a moment to welcome our newest St. Louis addition: Executive Vice President David Farrell. Welcome, David!

IFA Invites Veterans to Expo Free of Change

From the IFA:

With nationwide veteran unemployment rates climbing as high as 30%, IFA
is inviting U.S. veterans and military spouses to attend the Franchise Expo South Jan. 20 to 22 in Miami and the 2012 IFA Convention Feb 11 to 14 in Orlando, Fla.

Veterans are invited to attend free of charge as part of Operation Enduring Opportunity, a campaign to hire as team members and recruit as franchise business owners 75,000 veterans and 5,000 wounded warriors by 2014. Veterans and military spouses should register and use VETGP as their registration code. To learn more about IFA's VetFran program, visit VetFran.com.

Clean Kitchen Vital to Business

Did you know 1 in 6 Americans will get sick from food poisoning this year? (USDA)

Don't be like the "healthy" eater in this video: http://bit.ly/zpntzU

Make sure to clean all kitchen surfaces, utensils and hands with soapy water to keep you and your family safe!

Healthy Kitchens Vital to Business

Did you know 1 in 6 Americans will get sick from food poisoning this year? (USDA)

Don't be like the "healthy" eater in this video: http://bit.ly/zpntzU

Make sure to clean all kitchen surfaces, utensils and hands with soapy water to keep you and your family safe!

Clean Kitchens are Vital to Healthy Living

Did you know 1 in 6 Americans will get sick from food poisoning this year?  (USDA)

 Don't be like the "healthy" eater in this video: http://bit.ly/zpntzU

Make sure to clean all kitchen surfaces, utensils and hands with soapy water to keep you and your family safe!

January is National Radon Action Month

Did you know that January is National Radon Action Month?  Now is the time to test your home for radon.

What is Radon?  Radon is an invisible radioactive gas that causes lung cancer, and testing is the only way you can know if your home or business contains high radon levels.
Exposure to radon in the home is responsible for an estimated 20,000 lung cancer deaths each year. - EPA

To learn more about what radon is, how it affects you and what to do about it, click the link below.

EPA info on Radon 

Stratus Building Solutions Joins IFA to Announce Veteran Hiring Initiative

Stratus joins IFA in support of Veteran Hiring Initiative. To learn more about veteran support, visit here! http://bit.ly/x2CLv0