Dependability you can clearly see

YOUNGSTOWN -- Several major 20th-century local, national and international events -- such as the Great Depression, World Wars I and II and the demise of the local steel industry -- have shaped and influenced the business climate in the Mahoning Valley.
Countless businesses of all types have come and gone during that time, but one that has weathered those and other storms is the Youngstown Window Cleaning Company, which recently celebrated its 100th birthday.
Since the company opened its doors in the fall of 1904 on Phelps Street in downtown Youngstown, the locally owned business has been helping Mahoning Valley residents and businesses see their way clearer. The company moved one other time before opening its current Mahoning Avenue location 40 years ago.
Youngstown Window Cleaning has grown over the years and kept up with changes in technology and society. One facet that has remained constant, however, is that the business has always been in the hands of one family.
"Five years ago, I took control of the company; for four generations, it's been in the same family," said the business's president, Steven Altman.
Youngstown Window Cleaning was co-founded by Altman's great-grandfather, Max Webber. In the early 1940s, Webber was struck by a car and killed, a tragedy that allowed Altman's grandfather Milton Altman to take over.
In the beginning, the company made about 65 percent of its money by cleaning windows for businesses; the remaining 35 percent came from performing the same services for residential customers, Altman said. Now, "90 percent of our business is in janitorial services and 10 percent is in window cleaning," he noted, adding that the company has more than 100 part- and full-time employees.
Services range from the straightforward -- such as emptying trash cans, dusting, polishing furniture and vacuuming -- to the complex and high-tech, including stripping and washing floors and pressure-washing commodes and urinals. For the latter two jobs, employees often use pieces of machinery that cost $4,000 to $5,000 each, Altman said.
Other specialized services the business provides include steam cleaning carpeting and upholstery, initiating recycling efforts to save commercial customers money and restoring tile. Altman counts Youngstown State and Kent State universities, as well as several phone companies, government buildings and courthouses, real-estate offices and other office buildings, among his regular customers.
Much of the work is done at night, but employees are at job sites "24 hours a day, seven days a week," Altman said.
In one way or another, most of Altman's life has been connected to his family's business. At age 7, Altman recalled, he rose early and prepared himself to clean parking lots owned by area shopping centers.
"I used to take a broom, with my grandfather, to abandoned lots, so I learned this business from the bottom up," Altman said.
At 14, Altman found himself working on a window-cleaning truck. At that time, Youngstown Window Cleaning was owned by his father, Alan Altman, and an uncle Buddy Altman, both of whom took over in the mid-1950s. Steven Altman said that even though his father retired recently, he remains active with the company.
Education
Altman, a 1981 Liberty High School graduate, received his degree in business administration from Kent State University in 1985. While at KSU, Altman worked summers at his family's window cleaning company.
Around the same time, he moved to Cleveland and started his own company, All-Pro Cleaning Services. Altman, who lives in Solon, runs both businesses and their combined service area includes all of Northeast Ohio.
Altman said he attends various trade shows about three times a year to keep current on chemical laws, equipment and other changes in the industry. Nevertheless, certain changes in society such as tighter government regulations, as well as major events such as the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, have influenced how Youngstown Window Cleaning operates, he noted.
"9/11 has affected our business. It's made us re-examine how we do business," Altman explained. "In post-9/11, [employees at a job site] call the police if [they] see anything suspicious. We don't take anything for granted."
The company has enjoyed its longevity, stayed competitive and kept its customer base -- sometimes three generations of the same family -- by offering knowledgeable employees in all levels of customer service, Altman noted. For the most part, the secret to the company's success also lies in the Golden Rule, he said.
"I'm in the cleaning business, but I'm selling a relationship. You have to have a vision ... and treat your help well. There's a lot of trust," Altman stressed, adding that he's had several generations of employees from the same family working for him at the same time.
Altman said he occasionally takes his three sons on jobs and added that his oldest son, Blake, 14, sometimes assists.
"I want my kids to better themselves, like what my father wanted for me," Altman said, adding that he's not placing pressure on them to join the business.
Altman expressed optimism about the future of his family-owned company, as well as the direction Youngstown is heading in. Plans to open an office next year in Akron are in the works, he added.
"One hundred years later, we're still growing and over the last five years it's been great, and we'll continue to grow," he said. We're here to stay, and I see positive things [happening] in Youngstown by the number of new businesses we're cleaning for."