As reported by Chicago Business Journal:
One of the largest Hispanic-owned facilities maintenance companies in Midwest has closed, citing debt of about $6 million.
UBM Facilities Services struggled after losing the janitorial contract to clean Chicago Public Schools in 2014. Founder and CEO James Cabrera told Negocios Now that 90 worker's compensation claims also had caused the company's costs to skyrocket.
He said UBM is working to collect final payments from former clients and address some of the debt.
Most of the company's 2,100 workers have been placed with other companies, while the remainder were laid off when the company closed Aug. 31.
Other UBM customers included AT&T, ComEd and United Airlines.
Cabrera started UBM, based in Carol Stream, Illinois, in 1979 as a carpet cleaning company. It grew into a $75 million company with more than 2,100 employees. In addition to janitorial services, the company also offered snow plowing, painting, electrical and HVAC services and window washing.
Aramark and SodexoMAGIC took over janitorial services in Chicago Public Schools in March 2014. According to the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Board of Education in May 2016 doubled the size of its maintenance program with SodexoMAGIC, a company partly controlled by former NBA star Earvin "Magic" Johnson, despite ongoing complaints about dirty schools.