ServiceMaster Celebrates MLK50 with Spring Clean 2018

04/02/2018

The Service Project Will Focus on Main St., the Route of Dr. King’s Final March

It’s been 50 years since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. arrived in Memphis to help those who didn’t have a voice. Although his life was cut short, his vision of strengthening communities lives on. In support of that vision, ServiceMaster will hold its second annual Spring Clean service project on April 2, 2018.

An estimated 500 ServiceMaster employees will collaborate with local partners to help revitalize neighborhoods in and around downtown Memphis. Specifically, this year Spring Clean will beautify Main St., the planned route of a march led by Dr. King in support of the sanitation worker’s strike during the spring of 1968.

“Throughout the area you’ll find murals, street art and other beautification projects that infuse a sense of hope in communities that have often felt overlooked,” said Nik Varty, chief executive officer. “Through projects like these, it is our hope that his impact on the world — and especially in Memphis — is never forgotten.”

This year, ServiceMaster employees will beautify the intended route of the 1968 march by planting flowers and greenery on Main St. from Civic Center Plaza to MLK Blvd. as well as re-finishing park benches and painting street art and murals.

“At ServiceMaster, we believe that it’s always the right time to do the right thing,” said Velvet Graham, senior director of community relations. “As we welcome representatives from around the world to Memphis during MLK50, we want to do our part to make a good impression. That’s why we’re serving the downtown community with Spring Clean.”

The day of service will begin at One ServiceMaster Center, where employees will be treated to a special guest speaker. Elmore Nickleberry, a sanitation worker who marched with Dr. King during the strike in 1968, will speak to the employees in the morning before they begin their service projects.

“Memphis always benefits from the commitment of ServiceMaster’s Spring Clean project, and this year will be no different,” says Terri Freeman, president of the National Civil Rights Museum. “We are grateful to have them as a partner.”

Spring Clean comes just days after the final wave of employees moved into ServiceMaster’s new global service center, One ServiceMaster Center. The company moved 1,200 employees from an office park in east Memphis to the former Peabody Place mall in downtown Memphis.

ServiceMaster moved its corporate offices to Memphis from Chicago in 2007. The company has since managed all growth and franchise service operations from Memphis. ServiceMaster’s well-known franchise brands include ServiceMaster Restore, ServiceMaster Clean, Merry Maids, AmeriSpec and Furniture Medic.

Terminix, the leading provider of termite and pest control in the United States, was started in Memphis in 1927 and has been a ServiceMaster company since 1986. American Home Shield, the nation’s largest provider of home warranties, was acquired by ServiceMaster in 1989 and has been headquartered in Memphis since 1994. American Home Shield plans to be spun out as an independent, publically-traded company in 2018.

About ServiceMaster

ServiceMaster Global Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:SERV) is a leading provider of essential residential and commercial services, operating through an extensive service network of more than 8,000 company-owned locations and franchise and license agreements. The company’s portfolio of well-recognized brands includes American Home Shield (home warranties), AmeriSpec (home inspections), Furniture Medic (furniture repair), Merry Maids (residential cleaning), ServiceMaster Clean (janitorial), ServiceMaster Restore (disaster restoration) and Terminix (termite and pest control). We serve residential and commercial customers through an employee base of approximately 13,000 company employees and a franchise network that independently employs an estimated 33,000 additional people. The company is headquartered in Memphis, Tenn. Go to www.servicemaster.com for more information about ServiceMaster or follow the company at twitter.com/ServiceMaster or facebook.com/ServiceMaster. ServiceMaster is the Official Home Services Provider of Minor League Baseball^TM.