Hot Mix

 WSA’s First Sweeper Roundup Draws 100

The World Sweeping Association’s (WSA) Sweeper Roundup, held Sept. 14-16 in Kansas City, MO, drew almost 100 people and received widespread support from manufacturers, according to Ranger Kidwell-Ross, executive director of WSA.

What Kidwell-Ross called "America’s first independent conference for power sweeping contractors, began Sept. 14 with a kickoff reception and dinner party which provided an opportunity for contractors and manufacturers’ reps to get acquainted on an informal basis. Also included was a screening of the 2002 “Junkyard Wars” television show where engineers from Schwarze and Elgin faced off to build competitive air and broom sweepers from junkyard parts. The leader of the winners, Jim Adair, who is now Schwarze’s director of product management, was in attendance.

The morning of Sept. 15 seminars were offered two at a time, enabling contractors to attend two sessions total. One seminar, “Maintenance to Minimize Downtime and Maximize Vehicle Longevity,” was streamed live on WorldSweeper.com’s Facebook page. Kidwell-Ross said plans are to provide all attendees with video links to all of the sessions.

Seminars were followed by a “Sweeper Rodeo.” Overseen by a judging team led by Kansas City contractor Ryan Bertholdi of Moonlight Sweeping LLC, more than two dozen participants were timed as they navigated a narrow, winding course in the Schwarze Gale Force. The course also skills with a handheld blower and backing between a row of “penalty grapes” to see how close they could get to a dumpster without actually hitting it. The Rodeo was won by Tobias Weissenrieder, a representative of German sweeper manufacturer Aebi-Schmidt.

The evening portion of the Roundup was held at the Holsman Stables event center, also owned by Gale Holsman, president of host sweeping contractor, American Sweeping Inc. The night featured a campfire, hayrides, BBQ from legendary Kansas City restaurant Jack Black’s, and music on an outdoor stage by one of Kansas City’s top bands, the Selle Brothers.

Industry sponsors donated a wide variety of items to an ongoing raffle, which generated an additional $1,000 to the charity event’s coffers. Top prize was a scale model of a vintage Elgin Whitewing sweeper that was hand made by McKinley Page. The model sported a rotating gutter and main broom and the model even moved on its own power on a flat surface. Colorado-based contractor, Robert Pitman, was the winning entrant. Money raised by the raffle, along with proceeds from the entire weekend event, to which the normal venue rental fees and all labor was donated, will go to WSA’s Memorial Scholarship Fund.

  Schwarze, 1-800-SWEEPER hold raffle for Hurricane recovery

Schwarze Industries, Huntsville, AL, and the 1-800-SWEEPER Foundation have joined forces in the Schwarze Industries Hurricane Recovery Raffle to aid in the recovery following hurricanes Irma and Harvey.

“The goal of the Schwarze Industries Hurricane Recovery Raffle is to raise money to aid those affected by hurricanes this 2017 hurricane season,” according to the raffle website. “With the help of the 1-800-SWEEPER Foundation, a 501 3 (c) charitable organization, net proceeds will be donated to the Red Cross to help those affected by these devastating storms.”

First prize in the raffle is a new Schwarze Supervac Updraft ($69,900 value); second prize is a Sweeper Sim Training Simulator with a one-year user subscription ($7,000 value). Only 1,000 raffle tickets will be sold. Tickets are $100 each; 3 for $275; and 5 for $450. The raffle drawing will take place Feb. 10, 2018 and winners will be announced at National Pavement Expo, Feb. 7-10 in Cleveland.

For details and to buy a raffle ticket visit 1800SweeperFoundation.com. All tickets must be purchased online.

 Soundcore’s Sweeping Corp. Acquires Reilly Sweeping

Sweeping Corporation of America (SCA), a portfolio company of Soundcore Capital Partners private equity firm, has acquired Reilly Sweeping, Fairless Hills, PA, a provider of parking lot and street sweeping services to the Mid-Atlantic region for more than 45 years. No financial terms were disclosed.

SCA’s President and CEO Christopher Valerian stated, “Reilly Sweeping is one of the most respected companies in our industry.

“With a majority of its operations contiguous to our existing locations, Reilly solidifies our leading position in these markets and further expands our platform for additional growth opportunities,” said Christopher Valerian, SCA’s president and CEO. “We are extremely pleased that Patrick, Sean and Michael Reilly will maintain important leadership roles within RSI.”

“Once we identified family-owned and -operated Reilly Sweeping as the next acquisition for our Sweeping Corp. platform, we worked closely with the Reilly brothers and existing management to ensure a timely, seamless transition amongst the RSI team and its loyal customers,” said Jarrett Turner, Soundcore’s managing partner.

With the acquisition of Reilly Sweeping, SCA operates a fleet of 350 units through 21 locations.