Nixa-based company gains Ohio franchisee

Aire-Master of America adds franchise No. 60

by Jill Henry

SBJ Reporter

jhenry@sbj.net

Nixa-based Aire-Master of America, a manufacturer of odor control and cleaning products for the janitorial industry, has awarded its newest franchise license to Kevin and Janet Brichetto of Warren, Ohio, according to an Aire-Master news release. The Brichettos' franchise area covers northeast Ohio, including the cities of Canton, Warren and Youngstown.

Aire-Master was established in 1958 and began franchising in 1976.

"We focus on bringing a total solution to the needs businesses have in their restrooms, including odor control, fixture cleaning, paper products and hand soap," said Jim Roudenis, franchise director for Aire-Master, in the release.

To help with the company's expansion efforts, Clair Flaten recently joined Aire-Master of America. Flaten, who works from St. Louis, focuses solely on franchise development.

"I was hired specifically to increase the number of franchisees. That's my background franchise sales," Flaten said. "Jim's kind of shared his duties between other things, between training and selling and so forth. Now he's going to be able to spend more time training and I'm going to spend my time recruiting new franchisees."

Marketing efforts include national advertising in USA Today's Franchising Today section.

There are 60 individual franchises and five corporate division locations of Aire-Master. Ninety-five percent of its franchisees are owner/operators.

The company has been named to Entrepreneur Magazine's Franchise 500 listing for eight consecutive years, and was one of the magazine's annual Top 101 Homebased Franchises 2001 through 2004.