Straight Talk – an ISSA Podcast

More than 600 exhibitors will fill the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas when the expo floor at ISSA Show North America opens on Nov. 17. For someone who manages cleaning in a hospital, or wants to win that work as a contractor, tracking down the companies that actually serve healthcare can eat up most of a day.ISSA Healthcare plans to make that search a lot shorter. At this year's show, which runs Nov. 16-19 with exhibits open Nov. 17-19, the division's booth becomes a home base for the healthcare crowd. Sponsor talks, a scavenger hunt, a prize wheel and a networking event are all built into the week.Linda Lybert, founder and executive director of the Healthcare Surfaces Institute, leads ISSA Healthcare. She pointed out that the show's healthcare audience is a mix of people from healthcare facilities, building service contractors (BSCs) and manufacturers trying to reach that market."We decided that what we would do is our booth would become the hub," Lybert said.

The format ISSA Healthcare has refined over nine years of U.S. summits is heading overseas. On Oct. 7, 2026, the day before the ISSA Cleaning & Hygiene Expo opens at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, ISSA Healthcare hosts its first Healthcare Surfaces Forum in Australia.

Your marketing isn't delivering. Should you spend more on ads, make videos, update your website or figure out AI search? 

Employee turnover is more than a staffing inconvenience—it can quietly erode a cleaning company's profitability.

After a mold or water-damage remediation job wraps up, someone has to decide whether the space is clean. For Raj Manickam, CEO of SteamMaster Restoration and Cleaning in Colorado's Vail Valley, that decision should never rest with the company that did the work.

John Swigart has spent nearly three decades building a career at the company his grandfather founded, and this year he added two significant titles to his name. In April 2026, he added CEO to his letterhead, in addition to serving as company president for 15 years at Spartan Chemical Company, a Maumee, Ohio, manufacturer of cleaning and sanitation solutions. In November, he steps into the role as the 2027 ISSA president, following a path his father traveled before him.

The cleaning and restoration industries continue to struggle with recruiting, retention and finding dependable employees. Yet one potentially valuable group of workers is often overlooked—people with disabilities and others who face barriers to employment.

Allan Industries is testing what automation looks like on the ground floor of a union town. At a newly built commercial property on Market Street in Philadelphia, autonomous vacuums and a robotic scrubber now work alongside the company's union cleaning crews, taking over the long hallways and open lobbies that used to eat up hours of every shift.

Accountability comes easily when the conversation centers on employees, supervisors and frontline managers. Expectations get set, performance gets tracked, and someone steps in when results fall short.

What does the future of advocacy look like for the IICRC and the industries it serves?

At The Experience Convention & Trade Show in Las Vegas recently, three physicians spent their days talking not with patients but with carpet cleaners and disaster restoration contractors. 

What happens when a cleaning employee reports harassment—and is your company prepared to handle it correctly?

It's time to give the next generation the opportunity—and freedom—to lead.

When a hurricane makes landfall, a tornado tears through a community, flooding overwhelms a town, or a wildfire forces thousands to evacuate, restoration contractors often arrive ready to help—but long before that first truck rolls in, an enormous communication network is already hard at work.

What did it take to bring two distribution giants to the same table? This is the inside story.

Collecting 5-star feedback is the easy part. Putting it to work is where most cleaning and restoration companies stop short.

Why do so many business owners dread conversations about accountability? The answer may surprise you. 

Hiring employees is hard enough. Doing it without an HR department can feel nearly impossible.

Most facility teams can say how much soap a building goes through in a month. They can pull cleaning frequencies, towel usage, service calls, and complaint logs. What almost none of them track is whether the person who walks into the restroom can finish washing their hands and get back out the door without touching something.

What does it take to launch a manufacturing company in today's commercial cleaning industry?

Sustainability is no longer limited to environmental responsibility. For today's professional cleaning organizations, it is increasingly connected to efficiency, customer value, risk management, regulatory readiness, and long-term business resilience.

Laura Craven joins ISSA as Vice President of Marketing and Communications, bringing years of industry leadership and a passion for building strong member relationships. 

Insurance has always been about managing risk, but many restoration professionals believe the claims process has become increasingly difficult to navigate. 

For decades, the restoration industry has played a critical role in helping property owners recover from water damage, fire losses, mold contamination, storm events, and other disasters. Yet despite its specialized expertise, restoration has never had its own dedicated federal industry classification. That may soon change.

Artificial intelligence isn't just changing how service companies operate. It's changing how customers buy. Companies that rely on outdated sales tactics or slow follow-up may lose business before they even know they were being considered.

Growth is exciting. More customers, more employees, more trucks on the road all look like success. But behind that growth, many building service contractors are discovering a harder truth: revenue doesn't automatically translate into profit.

As ISSA President, Laurie Sewell has had the opportunity to connect with professionals from every corner of the cleaning and facility solutions industry. 

AI is transforming the workplace, but is it also changing the way employees think?

At just 12 years old, Olivia Haynes accomplished something few people in the restoration industry can claim: She has earned dual IICRC certifications in Water Damage Restoration (WRT) and Applied Structural Drying (ASD). 

What does it take to build a cleaning company that thrives for more than 40 years? See how KB Building Services made it all work. 

Disaster preparedness doesn't begin when the storm arrives—it starts long before the first warning is issued.

In this episode, Allen Rathey, founder and executive director of the Indoor Exposure Index (INDEX), discusses why ISSA's leadership role within the Healthy Buildings Workgroup through WELL could help elevate the cleaning industry's influence in the broader conversation about occupant health, wellness, and building performance.

How much does your facility really spend on cleaning—and are you measuring real costs?

Can AI really help cleaning companies hire better employees—or is it just another overhyped technology?

What does it take to build a restoration company that stands the test of time?

What does it take to build a restoration company that scales across multiple states while maintaining a strong culture and family foundation?

Krystie Reeves, the owner of BioteamAZ, shares the story behind the company's growth from a family-owned startup to a statewide provider of biohazard remediation, trauma cleanup, and specialty restoration services. 

Artificial intelligence is no longer the shiny new toy it was a year or two ago. Most business owners have experimented with it, many use it daily, and some are already building AI-powered workflows into their operations. As adoption has matured, so have the mistakes.

But they won't save a business that doesn't know its numbers.

What does it take to keep one of the nation's largest university facilities and housing systems running smoothly? 

Most organizations invest significant time and effort into winning new customers, but far fewer focus on what happens after the contract is signed. 

America turns 250 years old this year, but according to today's guest, one thing hasn't changed: Small businesses still carry the water.

Experience can be a powerful advantage—but it can also become a liability when professionals stop adapting. 

The conversation about the labor shortage in cleaning and facility services usually sounds the same: “Nobody wants to work anymore.” Add to that, “Turnover is at an all-time high.” But what if the real issue is that cleaning companies are competing against entirely different industries, POWERFUL industries, for the same people—and losing? 

What does it take to prepare a cleaning company for long-term success? In this episode, Paul Greenland, CEO of Ikigai Management Consultants and an ISSA Consulting partner, discusses how organizations can strengthen leadership, improve operational performance, prepare for CIMS certification, and build systems that support sustainable growth. 

The future of facility management is becoming increasingly connected, automated, and data-driven. To help cleaning and facility professionals navigate this changing landscape, ISSA has partnered with Smart Building Bootcamp to provide practical education focused on smart buildings, artificial intelligence, robotics, workplace technologies, cybersecurity awareness, and more.

In this conversation, Derek Oliveira, ISSA's Associate Director of Education, Training, and Field Services, shares insights from a career dedicated to professional development, industry advancement, and supporting cleaning professionals at every stage of their journey.

As the world prepares for the largest FIFA World Cup in history, the focus extends far beyond the stadium gates. With 48 teams, millions of fans, and thousands of support personnel moving through hotels, airports, training facilities, transportation hubs, and public venues across North America, cleanliness, infection prevention, and operational resilience will be critical to the tournament's success.

Grassroots advocacy is no longer just a conversation happening in Washington—it's happening at the state level, and restoration professionals are being called to participate. 

Most companies believe they have a hiring problem. In reality, many have a hiring process problem.

Steve Ashkin, founder of The Ashkin Group, discusses the key themes from his article about advocacy and sustainability.