After Delbra Blackshear pulled two abdominal muscles three years ago, the head of a small Toledo construction cleanup and janitorial business couldn't pitch in as she normally would.
Performing the floor-stripping and other maintenance tasks she excelled at was taboo too.
And after the injury continued to plague Ms. Blackshear, the chief executive of Nelson Cleaning & Construction Services Inc. started looking for other ways to boost the faltering business.
Now she is scouring the area both for cleaning jobs to keep her employees busy and firms that could use her training services.
"The only way I could do what I love is to train others to do it, and in order to do that, you need jobs," she said.
Nelson Cleaning does janitorial and construction cleanup for various types of facilities. One job Ms. Blackshear is particularly proud of was readying Rogers High School's $33 million building last year.
The firm picked up where construction contractors left off to help open the roughly 150,000-square-foot high school earlier than originally expected. Company employees were willing to work on a flexible schedule and they quickly took care of any requests, said Principal Tony Brashear.
"They did a fantastic job and were easy to work with," Mr. Brashear said. "They were vital in our school being able to open up on time."
Nelson Cleaning has specialized in final detail cleaning for construction projects since it was founded a decade ago, and that is the area where Ms. Blackshear personally got her start in the early 1990s, she said.
Other large construction jobs include Great Wolf Lodge in Sandusky and the Toledo Correctional Institute.
The local firm had 20 employees at its peak a few years ago, she said. But finding training and consulting jobs has been a difficult task, she added.
Besides training others looking to start cleaning firms or employees who ultimately will do the tasks for businesses, Ms. Blackshear said she hopes to work as a representative for people having houses built.
People typically can't be watching contractors as they are building their houses, and Nelson Cleaning could be there to monitor work on their behalf, she said.
Businesses and employees often don't know what all is involved in keeping buildings clean, Ms. Blackshear said. Suitable facilities also can be elusive, she said. For example, a 90,000-square-foot city of Toledo building didn't have a janitor closet or utility sink.
The Toledo company can instruct firms on what cleaning products to use, how much they need, how often tasks should be performed, how they can save money, and whether to hire a contractor, she said.
"I know how long it takes to clean a building," Ms. Black-
shear said.
Contact Julie M. McKinnon at:
jmckinnon@theblade.com
or 419-724-6087.
Small Business Profile is a weekly feature on local companies. To be considered, send information about your company to Small Business Profiles, Business News, The Blade, P.O. Box 921, Toledo, Ohio 43697-0921.
First Published February 12, 2007, 2:24 p.m.