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Lean & Clean (But Not Mean)
MINORITY BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR
Even at 66, George Clarke can't slow down — he needs the ‘jolt'
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Business New Haven
1/26/1998
By: Marci Alborghetti
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When it came to selecting Business New Haven's minority businessperson of the year, you might say George Clarke made a clean sweep of it. Literally.
In 1975, Clarke took over Clarke Clean Control, the cleaning business begun by his father in 1918, and though he's clearly introduced modern business practices into the family enterprise, he's never lost sight of the commitment his father had to both community and client.
From employing New Haven residents to lending his name, energy and considerable prestige to organizations that support small and minority businesses, Clarke has demonstrated an affinity for his community that rivals his business drive.
He still savors the story of how his savvy father got started: “He was delivering coal, so he would tell people he'd bring it into the house for 50 cents a ton. Then, he'd sweep up the basement and clean up around the house, and pretty soon people were asking him to come back and clean the yard.
“Before too long,” Clarke continues, “he had to bring a friend or a cousin because there was too much. By the time World War II started, he couldn't find enough people to hire. I remember manpower was always a big concern.”
Today, “manpower” means a janitorial service staff of over 100 who, working day and night, tackle jobs that range from field and construction sites and residences to office buildings and other contract cleaning.
Taking over the “family business” was not always a goal of a young and ambitious George Clarke. Born and raised in New Haven, he recalls that for most of his youth and early adulthood, he wanted to do anything but clean.
“When you grow up, and all you hear is about cleaning and the employees and the clients and every aspect of the business, the last thing you want to do is join it,” he recounts with a chuckle.
And at first, despite the deep respect and affection he had for his father, he ran in the opposite direction from the business now located at 560 Orchard Street. He considered architecture or accounting as careers, eventually earning his accounting degree from nearby Quinnipiac College. Born in 1931 as the youngest of six, Clarke acknowledges that he had more freedom with his father and used it to his advantage. At least he thought he did.
“I was the youngest and probably the most militant, but I also was born when my father was less focused on discipline. So you might say I had my own ideas about how everything should be done, including the business, and I was able to get away with advancing them to him,” Clarke laughs. “But I'll tell you, when he died and I took over, I learned he was a lot smarter than I'd thought he was. He'd done a pretty good job all those years, while I was having all those ideas.”
Before finally assuming the family business mantle, Clarke garnered what he now considers invaluable experience when he became business developer for the Greater New Haven Business & Professional Association. In that position he strengthened a lifelong commitment to small and minority businesses by assisting them in creating and developing their enterprises, securing loans and technical assistance, increasing
sales and, as Clarke puts it, “Getting started and
getting going.”
Working with the Office of Minority Business Enterprise of the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Small Business Association, Clarke helped package and disburse millions in loans to minority and small businesses in retail, renovation and construction, trades and manufacturing. More than two decades later, he still takes pleasure in seeing some of these businesses and the entrepreneurs he assisted flourishing.
He took this feeling for people to his own business after his father died in 1974, explaining that staffing practices were one of the major changes he brought to Clarke Clean Control. “I did more marketing than my father and, by that time, the competition forced us to become more organized,” he notes. “But the biggest change since I was a kid is how you treat employees.
“My father always worried and cared about his people, but until the last few decades, employers really didn't have to think about their employees,” explains Clarke. “Today, both the law and the competition demands better treatment of employees. But you want to know how I feel about it? It just feels right to treat people well.”
Clarke hires a number of area minority residents, but he declares that he is largely “color blind” when it comes to hiring; it's more a matter of geography than race. He explains that since many of his jobs are in the greater New Haven and Bridgeport areas, he wants employees who live close to their assigned sites. Many area residents belong to minority groups, but Clarke thinks that trust is more important than color or ethnic background.
Although all his potential employees undergo security checks, Clarke will still take a chance to help out someone who's had trouble in the past but is working hard to get back on track. “Obviously, my clients come first,” he explains, “so if someone has a record, they won't be assigned to a bank or office. But by the same token, if someone is really showing a good-faith effort - and the mistake is something from the distant past - I will consider using them in a miscellaneous job like a construction site or field clean-up,” Clarke says.
As if Clarke's concern for his employees, commitment to his clients, and pride in his family is not enough to demonstrate his community-focused priorities, the list of boards and organizations in which he serves is an amazing testament - particularly considering his full-time career and family commitments.
Still active with the Greater New Haven Business & Professional Association, he also works with the New Haven Development Corp. and is president of the Dixwell Plaza Merchants Association. He serves on the boards of directors of the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce, the United Way, the Dixwell-Newhallville Mental Health Center, the YMCA and the Elm Tourist Development Corp. In his spare time, he speaks to young people and students.
Why? With all that he's achieved, couldn't this respected businessman and community leader kick back with his wife Barbara and just enjoy what he says they both love best: helping people?
“To be honest, if I can work in a commitment without having it infringe on my business, I'll do it. The networking opportunities are good for my mental health and my business,” he acknowledges.
“But the real force behind my commitment is that when you are born and raised in a community, you want to see it improve. Now, if you shy away from all the powerful boards and organizations that can cause those changes, you can't complain. If you join, things may not always go your way, but you always have a vote.”
In summarizing what he likes best about owning and operating his own business, Clarke transcends the issue of race, voicing the essence of the entrepreneurial spirit. “The thing is,” he begins earnestly, “I couldn't do without all the ups and downs. It's always exciting: When everything goes well, there's nothing like it; and when everything goes wrong, there's nothing like it.
“I find that when everything's wonderful for too long, a strange sort of boredom, or foreboding, sets in. When I had a nice safe job [with the Greater New Haven Business & Professional Association], I had a paycheck, security - all of it,” he says.
“I just didn't have that jolt!”
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