Our Franchise History

Leaving a career as a flight instructor, John Willis along with his wife Ruth, purchased their first ServiceMaster Franchise in June 1971, and began an On Location (Residential, Commercial and Disaster Restoration) cleaning business in Elgin and Dundee, Illinois. They began working from their home. John did sales, production and marketing. Ruth answered the phone, did the office work and bookkeeping. By purchasing two additional franchise licenses, they expanded their territory of services to include Bartlett, Hanover Park, Streamwood, Hoffman Estates, Schaumburg, and McHenry County,

As the business grew, ServiceMaster of Elgin moved a portion of the business from their home to a rented garage and shop space in the Elgin Shoe Factory building, where they had room for extra vehicles and storage. Then in 1995, the Willis’s purchased the building at the corner of River Bluff Road and Dundee Avenue in Elgin. Today they occupy the majority of the building, from which they run their business.

ServiceMaster Clean has a strong heritage of family-oriented, family-owned and operated businesses. ServiceMaster of Elgin-Schaumburg, Inc., (doing business as ServiceMaster All Cleaning Services & Restoration) is no exception. In 1999 Matthew Willis, the oldest son of John & Ruth, joined the business after graduation from college. He is presently the Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the company. Matthew’s wife, Clara, assists in the office part-time. Employees, too, become like family as they have worked in their business for many years. Each day these dedicated and faithful employees (Peter, Rudy, Michael, Nathan, Mary) serve the residential and commercial customers professionally with excellence. Customers often ask for their favorites by name.

One of John’s projects, as he has moved into retirement, has been to restore a 1930 Chevrolet Dump Truck. You may have seen it parked outside the office in the summer or driven in the Elgin July 4th Parade. Because it is a dump truck, John developed a catch phrase for his truck, relating to his cleaning business, “You have the dirt. We haul it away.”