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14 Worcester Business Journal | January 9, 2023 | wbjournal.com B E S T O F B U S I N E S S O W N E R S H I P BY SUSAN SHALHOUB Special to WBJ Mass Commercial Cleaning provides stability, expertise M assachusetts Commer- cial Cleaning, founded in 1989 by Glenn and Peter Connly of Florence, has grown and evolved. With a second location in Sturbridge, MCC now has more than 120 employees and serves more than 170 facilities throughout New England. MCC, with clients such as South- bridge endoscope manufacturer KARL STORZ, goes beyond traditional jani- torial services for commercial facilities and is certified in clean room and IT data storage room standards. But the company is unique for another reason: With the Connlys now retired, the com- pany is owned by employees. MCC President Katerina Cai has been onboard since May, but works with employee-owners who have been with MCC as long as 20 years. She calls them experts. "I feel a tremendous honor to rely on the employee-owners and their years and years of wisdom," Cai said. "eir knowledge of each facility – right down to 'Don't forget to empty that trash can, third floor, behind that door'– is priceless in our labor-challenged envi- ronment." BEST EMPLOYEE-OWNED BUSINESS Mass Commercial Cleaning Sturbridge & Florence MassCommercialCleaning.com Top executives: President Katerina Cai, General Manager Bill Hickman, Operations Manager Charles Thurman Founded: 1989 Employees: 120 MCC employee-owners, meanwhile, get Cai's business guidance, such as the introduction of more technology, with MCC employ- ees out working at various sites. Video conferencing makes staying in touch with one another easier. Tech tools have been introduced wherever they make getting the job done easier: Cai tells of adding a simple Google Form meth- od for managers, but enabling speech-to- text for easier use, for example. Its attention to detail makes MCC successful, Cai said. Employees take great pride in the facilities to which they are assigned, said Cai, to the point they forget they are MCC employees and see themselves as working for that particular facility. "MCC isn't always top of mind," she said, "but we are here, making sure they have the right access code; are alerted if there is a function going on there; provide backup when they are sick; and be sure they have tools and supplies they need." MCC has up to 12 positions open at any given time, Cai said, the result of a yearslong labor shortage. Remote work has been a challenge to the bottom line: Fewer people are going to offices, so less office space needs to be cleaned. e goal – beyond outstanding quality of service – is showing business owners the importance of a really clean work building, Cai said, not only for employees, but for the building itself. "It's increasing the lifetime of their facilities – the carpet, window washing – making that facility last longer," she said. "It also gives that sense to employ- ees clocking into that building every day that they are valued." W Mass Commercial Cleaning THANK YOU! We are beyond grateful to be voted Worcester Business Journal's Best Family-Owned Business in 2023 "Best of Business" Awards. It is our incredible customers and contractors that have pushed us to be the best we can be over these last 80+ years, and will be what pushes us to be even better in the years to come!