It is hard to believe we’ve reached the end of a year that has left a long-lasting impact on each of our lives. The challenges were abundant in all areas of life – from wellbeing to social interaction, to leadership, business operations, parenting, and the list goes on. The obstacles brought on by 2020 were significant, but I would be remiss to not recognize the joyful moments hidden throughout this year.

2020 put a spotlight on the facility services industry, creating an unprecedented demand for our services and fast-tracking innovation and new technologies that will improve our health and the way we do business for years to come. I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on a few profound milestones, for which I am incredibly grateful.

 

The CFS team
Each day, my greatest pride is for the incredible team at CFS and their outstanding commitment to our clients. Thank you to our team, for rising to the challenges and for helping keep our clients, their facilities, their customers and our communities safe. Facility service professionals were called to the frontlines this year, often with pressures for quicker turnarounds and increased frequency.

As a gesture of gratitude toward our employees as front line workers, our company was honored to reinvest more than $110,000 to employee bonuses in 2020. CFS employees: you should be incredibly proud of yourselves for showing up, working hard, and making a difference.
You are rock stars!

 

The CFS facility
In the midst of all the chaos this year, we decided it was time to make the move to a new facility! Our new 25,000 sq. ft. headquarters is still in Marion, Ohio, but is now on a 10-acre space with five buildings. We are so excited to have a place to call ‘home’ with plenty of space for our employees, equipment, and room for growth in the future. If you’d like to take a virtual tour, watch our facility video here.

In addition to a new location for our headquarters, we opened two offices; one is in Findlay, Ohio and another is in St. Joseph, Michigan. It’s so exciting to watch our company grow and impact new communities! In addition to adapting to our new locations, our employees embraced a modified schedule, with many of them working from home. This year certainly shook up the traditional office setting, but our team took it in stride. We’re excited for a time when we can truly dive into the space at our facility, safely together.

 

The CFS Impact
I’ve said before, that the Covid-19 pandemic was the jolting awakening for the cleaning industry, comparable to the impact of 9/11 on the security industry. Even in the face of so much fear, uncertainty and grief, these life changing occurrences are an opportunity to pause, problem-solve and persist with better innovations, technologies and practices. While innovation and continuous improvement has always been part of our foundation here at CFS, we worked harder than ever to bring new solutions to our work this year.

At the start of the pandemic, we quickly implemented new, targeted disinfection strategies using groundbreaking technologies to help our clients continue, or resume operating within recommended guidelines. Through open, continuous communication, we created and maintained a steady flow of information with our employees, clients and community regarding Covid-19 prevention strategies and updates.

 

While many factors were at play outside our facility, we were also working internally to implement facility data standards here at CFS. Our new headquarters now operates through one interface as an automated smart building! This means that there are sensors monitoring our facility’s HVAC, lighting, supply management and more for the highest standard in operations management. I am so proud to have turned this concept into a reality at CFS, and look forward to seeing it positively impact our industry and our world as time unfolds.

In addition, we had great expansion at Facility Genius – a certified solutions expert staffed by industry, engineering, and technical personnel to proactively and responsibly improve a company’s efficiencies, environment and facility management processes. This effort I began in 2018 continues to grow, with the foundational mission to deliver evidence-based cleaning tools and results.

Overall, there are too many new and exciting technologies in the queue to share here, but I will continue to update you on their progress in 2021. While this year is one we will never forget for many unwelcome reasons, I appreciate the opportunities it gave us to grow and become better for each other and for the future of our world. My commitment in 2021 is to continue believing in people, and our ability to work together in the face of adversity for a brighter, brilliant future.

Jill Frey, President & CEO
Cummins Facility Services, LLC