Merry Maids honors local Escondido, Calif., owner with its highest award

ESCONDIDO, Calif.  – Merry Maids knows how difficult it is for busy families to keep their homes clean and just as important, how hard it can be to find cleaning help they can trust. Every year, the company honors one franchisee who embodies Merry Maids values and demonstrates professionalism with purpose and pride by presenting the owner with the Dallen Peterson Founder’s Award.

The company is proud to announce this year’s recipient is Tom Ducey of Escondido. The Founder’s Award was recently presented at the Merry Maids annual convention held in Memphis earlier this winter.

This award is the highest distinction a Merry Maids franchisee can earn. It recognizes the franchise owner who proves to best exemplify the highest quality in business operations, including client and employee satisfaction. The award is named for the company’s founder, Dallen Peterson.

Ducey purchased his first two franchises back in May 1996. Prior to that, he was the president of ITT’s residential loan servicing company, managing a staff of more than 300. In 1995, the parent company exited the financial services field and sold the assets to other loan officers. Ducey saw the writing on the wall and began researching small business opportunities that would allow him to chart his own course and stay close to home.

“My wife and I decided we wanted to stay and raise our family in San Diego, so we researched business models that would allow us the flexibility to realize a steady income and would afford us that much needed family time,” said Ducey. “Merry Maids simply made sense for a variety reasons – strong brand recognition, the upscale demographics of our service areas, and last, the business was ideally suited to my management, service and personnel background.”

Ducey added that not only have his clients been great to him over the years, but he also has never experienced the kind of teamwork he has come to rely on with Merry Maids.

 “I am so proud to be a part of such a collegial operation,” he said. “Not only is the support from the home office unparalleled, but the fellowship I enjoy with other Merry Maids owners across the nation is unlike anything you’ll find with other franchise-based organizations. It’s like having 24-hour consultants at your disposal. We’re always happy to share best practices with one another.”

Brent Armstrong, Merry Maids president, contends it is Ducey’s people skills that make the businesses so successful.

“Tom truly embraces the brand’s core values, which explains nearly 15 years of positive customer experiences in North San Diego,” he said. “He puts his clients before everything else, and that’s Merry Maids’ recipe for success. Tom honestly personifies the ideals and vision Dallen Peterson had for Merry Maids when he started it all in 1979.”

About Merry Maids

Merry Maids is the largest home cleaning franchise network in the world, and cleans more than 300,000 homes in North America every month. Merry Maids is a part of the ServiceMaster® family of brands, which serves more than 10.5 million customers through market-leading commercial and residential service brands including Terminix, TruGreen, American Home Shield, AmeriSpec, Furniture Medic and ServiceMaster Clean. For more information on residential cleaning, visit the Merry Maids Web site at www.merrymaids.com or call 1-800-MERRYMAIDS.