2000s: BSCs Co-locate With ISSA/INTERCLEAN

This is the fifth part of a five-part article from Contracting Profits' BSCAI 50th Anniversary Section.

The turn of the century brought momentous change to BSCAI. The biggest of which occurred in 2007 when the association selected Smith-Bucklin as its full-service management company. As a result, association headquarters relocated from Fairfax, Virginia, to Chicago.

The change in management brought immediate positive affects. Several large BSCs rejoined the association. Nearly 2,000 contractors attended the annual convention — a record high — and the CEO Seminar had the largest crowd in a decade.

One year later, BSCAI formed an alliance with ISSA to cohost events and collaborate on member and regulatory issues. BSCAI held its Executive Workshop in conjunction with ISSA/INTERCLEAN in 2009. That same year, BSCAI hosted its last independent trade show. In 2010, after 45 years of a spring Annual Convention, the landmark event moved to autumn to be co-located with ISSA/INTERCLEAN.

The partnership with ISSA was not the only one for BSCAI during this time period. Before it, the association formed alliances with BOMA and IFMA and was the first organization in the building services and maintenance industries to partner with OSHA.

When the association was founded in 1965, its goal was to help solve “common problems of contract cleaning management” and “enable its members to conduct their businesses with the greatest economy and efficiency, and secure an adequate profit on their services.” For 50 years, BSCAI has offered new benefits or continually improved existing ones, but it has always lived up to that original mission — even today.

For example, in recent years, the association introduced the Purchase Advantage Program, offered through National Service Alliance, to allow BSCs of all sizes to realize significant savings on products. The association’s prestigious award program received a makeover and was rebranded as the CLEAN Awards to draw more deserving attention to its winners. And most recently, in 2015, the CBSE and RBSM certification exams were offered online, making it convenient for contractors in this busy marketplace to earn the credentials that enhance their businesses.