Slow, steady growth drives SMS Holdings
SMS Holdings was featured on the front page of the Tennessean Newspaper business section on Sunday, September 28th describing the company’s growth. SMS Holdings has been steadily growing since its conception in 1988 as Service Management Systems which simply provided housekeeping services to shopping centers. Today, SMS Holdings has now grown into a company that not only offers cleaning services to hotels, sports arenas, airlines and hospitals, but also provides security services to these industries with Valor Security and their most recent acquisition of Brantley Security based out of Louisville, Ky. with experience in managing sports events such as the Kentucky Derby and the Ryder Cup golf tournament.
Tennessean Business Editor Randy McClain recently sat down with SMS Holdings chairman and CEO, Keith Wolken in discussing his mantra of core concepts “steady growth” and “diversification” in attributing to the company’s conservative growth plans. Keith explains that the success of training and keeping good workers on the payroll with crews working in malls, airports, hotels and hospitals are all about the location. Employees are provided consistent training for each property with a focus on customer service. In looking for employees, Keith says, “We also recruit people in nontraditional ways, so the people we get in on the front end are generally a little bit better.” SMS doesn’t just put ads in the paper, but will actively recruit individuals by reaching out to local organizations, churches and through an active relationship with the State Department of Labor.
The Tennessean also addresses the issue of rising fuel costs associated with the aviation industry and how it affects SMS Holdings customers, which are Continental, American Airlines, Southwest and US Airways. Keith understands that flexibility is the key right now and will focus on those airlines that are doing well during these tough times. Keith mentions new TSA contracts for baggage screening at Kansas City International Airport and Roswell, New Mexico indicating that “we think there’ll be a trend over time to go with more privatization of security and baggage screening, particularly at the smaller airports.”