ServiceMaster Clean And Professional Basketball Player, Shane Battier, Provides Unique Opportunity For Business Ownership

Posted on August 02, 2007 by Bill Dube

MEMPHIS, Tenn.– In a crowded banquet hall in Dallas, Texas, two young men were awarded their own franchise licenses by Shane Battier, professional basketball player, and members of the ServiceMaster Clean staff last week.

Winners Mike Powell and Jeff Kent are recent graduates of the University of Houston, where Powell was named the Outstanding Finance Student of the year in 2006, and Kent was honored as the top student in the Entrepreneurship Class of 2007. 

“This is an incredible, life changing experience,” said Mike Powell.  “It’s one of the happiest days of my life.

The opportunity to own their own franchise businesses became a reality after applying for the Shane Battier Franchise Scholarship Program.  The Scholarship Program, which launched in March 2007, aims to award five commercial cleaning franchises in 2007, with hopes of helping women and minorities overcome the obstacles that can be associated with the building of a new business.

Jeff Kent, the other recipient of a ServiceMaster Clean franchise remarked that “I feel really blessed; this opportunity came at the right time.”

Battier has great expectations for both of the recent winners, “Mike and Jeff will make everyone proud, and they will be great business owners.”

About ServiceMaster Clean

ServiceMaster Clean is a member of the ServiceMaster Family of Brands.  ServiceMaster currently serves residential and commercial customers through a network of over 4,500 company-owned locations and franchised licenses. The Company’s brands include TruGreen ChemLawn®, TruGreen LandCare®, Terminix®, American Home Shield®, InStar®, ServiceMaster Clean®, Merry Maids®, Furniture Medic®, and AmeriSpec®. The core services of the Company include lawn care and landscape maintenance, termite and pest control, home warranties, disaster response and reconstruction, cleaning and disaster restoration, house cleaning, furniture repair, and home inspection.

About Shane Battier

Selected sixth by the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the 2001 NBA Draft Battier was traded to the Houston Rockets in July 2006.  Battier won numerous awards throughout his collegiate career at Duke and in 2001 was named the National Player of the Year and received the Naismith and Wooden Awards.  Battier joined the Rockets after five seasons in Memphis and is a member of the USA Basketball squad to compete in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He is the Grizzlies’ all-time leader in games played (396) and steals (507). He has averaged 10.5 points and 4.8 rebounds per game over his career. Last season, he knocked down 48.8 percent of shots, including 39.4 percent of his three-point attempts.  He is currently averaging 10.6 points per game, 4.10 rebounds per game and 2.3 assists per game and ranks #11 in the NBA is three-point field-goal percentage (.425)