History of The Company

ServiceMaster has come a long way since its incorporation in 1947.

Founded as a moth-proofing company in 1929 by Marion E. Wade, a former minor league baseball player, ServiceMaster had its beginnings in Chicago where Wade worked out of his home. Wade had a strong personal faith and a desire to honor God in all he did. Translating this into the marketplace, he viewed each individual employee and customer as being made in God’s image – worthy of dignity and respect. His successors, Ken Hansen and Ken Wessner, also shared this view. These three leaders shaped what became our company objectives: To Honor God in All We Do; To Help People Develop; To Pursue Excellence; and To Grow Profitably.

The ServiceMaster Commitment includes our foundational commitment to Honor God in all we do, our eight values and three core objectives to Help People Develop, Excel With Customers and Grow Profitably.

History of Park-Ellis

Family owned since 1985.

Park-Ellis ServiceMaster was incorporated in 1963 in the state of Ohio.  Larry Wamer, Sr. was an employee at that time.  Through hard work and dedication, Larry bought his own franchise.  For several years he worked to build his own business.  The owner of Park-Ellis ServiceMaster was so impressed with Larry’s business, he made him an offer.

In 1967 Larry became part owner of Park-Ellis ServiceMaster.  After 25 years of partnership with one of the founders, Larry and Beverly Wamer bought the ServiceMaster name and business in 1985.  Larry handled sales and managed the business, while Beverly played a key role in keeping the books balanced.  With the help of two production employees (one of which being their son…Butch), Larry and Beverly set off on their own.  During this time Larry and Beverly’s son Butch had begun to climb the corporate ladder.  Butch was a Crew Chief and promoted to Production Manager.

In later 1989 the business had grown so much it could no longer stay at its current location (Floyd Street in the Old West End.) From there, Park-Ellis ServiceMaster moved to its current address on Holland Sylvania Road.  Park-Ellis ServiceMaster at that time employed around 12 people.

In 1994 two changes occurred.  First Larry promoted Butch to General Manager.  Second, Butch became part owner of the company.  With added responsibilities and a new sense to guide the company, the company headed in new directions.  With Butch’s fresh approach and new ideas, he and Larry formed a great management style.

By 1998 the business was growing rapidly.  In June Nancy joined the family.  Nancy brought new ideas and skills that would play a key role in taking Park-Ellis to new levels.  Now that the business was excelling at such a rapid rate, placement of each key team member was strongly emphasized.  In late November of 2000, Park-Ellis experienced one of the largest changes in the company’s history.  Larry and Butch reversed roles.  Butch now had become the President of Park-Ellis ServiceMaster!   Larry, not wanting to leave his dream, still remained active and assumed the Vice-President position but after 39 years was ready to retire.  After retirement, Nancy moved up to assume the position of Vice President.

In 2009 several changes occurred. Park-Ellis ServiceMaster bought ServiceMaster Clean Professional Services from Park Blubaugh (one of the original owners of Park-Ellis ServiceMaster) and welcomed two new additional partners, Doug Clough and Jeff Amstutz. ServiceMaster Clean Professional Services focused on janitorial-type work. There were approximately 30 new employees who were added to the Park-Ellis family! Our next big change was a new dba name to go with our new licensing. Park-Ellis ServiceMaster becomes ServiceMaster by Park-Ellis!

ServiceMaster by Park-Ellis employs almost 50 wonderful people who are dedicated to providing that Master Moment on a daily basis.  Every year has proved to outshine the previous one and we look forward to continuing that trend!

Meet The Team!