By Charles Harris
If you doubt persistence pays, talk to Kevin Smith, president and CEO of Access Services. “I have always been a man of faith and never had a problem with risk,” he said.
That faith has helped Smith navigate through a minefield of small business perils for more than 30 years.
Native to Pittsburgh, Smith worked as a property maintenance manager for Mellon Bank where he felt secure in his future. “I had no dreams or aspirations of leaving (Pittsburgh). I thought I would have my little bank job and then retire,” Smith said.
“[But] life has a way of slapping you in the face. You go from ‘life is good’ to walking into work and finding out you’ve been let go. I was given some doggone severance pay and a letter,” he said.
Overnight, Mellon Bank outsourced Smith’s entire department. After the initial shock abated, Smith said he decided to never leave his financial security in someone else’s hands again. “That’s when that entrepreneurial light bulb turned on,” he said.
Blending job experience and personal charm, Smith launched a commercial cleaning business, Access Janitorial “This was going to give me access to financial freedom,” he said.
Soon Smith had a moderate amount of clients and employees. Still, Smith felt stifled by the union controlled and less than inclusive business community in Pittsburgh.
Then, in 1993, Smith visited Charlotte for a wedding. Impressed and inspired by the rapidly expanding city, Smith determined the ticket for progress was not back in the Steel City, but within Charlotte’s burgeoning skyline. “I knew with growth comes opportunity,” he said.
In the following months, Smith frequented Charlotte, scoping potential clients and making in person “cold” pitches. During one such visit, Smith set his sights on a single construction trailer set, 30 acres of barren clay fields near Uptown.
He recalled, “I went in, introduced myself and asked if they had anyone to clean. We ended up securing that trailer that day. That trailer belonged to a construction conglomerate tasked with building what became Bank of America Stadium. Given the project’s enormous visibility, opportunities multiplied.
“All of a sudden one trailer becomes ten and then ten trailers become 15,” Smith said.
By project completion, Access was servicing the entire 1 million square foot facility.
Once Access brought on the Carolina Panthers as a customer, interest in the business increased. Corporate titans Sprint PCS, General Motors and Norfolk Southern followed.
Smith said big clients help land more clients, but he doesn’t discount the value of quality customer service. “People want to do business with people they like, know and trust,” he said.
However, even the best of working relationships can’t stop clients from prioritizing their bottom line. In time, Access’ clients started opting for larger, nationally known providers offering janitorial, landscaping, security and prevention maintenance under one business banner. “A lot of them told me, ‘Hey, it’s not personal! It’s about the money.’”
He said dwindling clientele left him “scrambling.” Fortunately, as profits sank, Smith was not alone at the helm.
Enter Frank Johnson.
Johnson first met Smith in the early 1990s while working as a lender. An economics major, Johnson, now 62, spent most of his career with First Union (now Wells Fargo).
After befriending Smith, Johnson decided to make an investment into Access, though he admits he was not necessarily interested in the long haul. “I was not expecting to do anything major or long term,” Johnson said.
But Johnson invested more than funds, dedicating extra time to managing Access’ books. For more than a decade, Johnson, a married father of three, balanced his banking job with overseeing the finances of Access Services.
By 2006, Johnson decided to turn his full attention to Access, leaving First Union just as Access was losing clients. Complicating matters further, shortly thereafter, the 2008 Recession happened, leaving a staggering 1.8 million small businesses dead in its wake.
“It was not easy,” said Johnson, who emphasized that cutting his losses and abandoning Smith to face the crisis was never an option for him. It was evident to both men salvaging Access would take more than financial flair and seasoned salesmanship. It was time to think outside the box.
Though the economy stalled, Access was still providing primarily jobsite cleaning for Charlotte-based RT Dooley Construction, which also relied on Smith as an unofficial, and unpaid, job scout as well.
“They would say, ‘Do you know anyone who can do a demo? Has carpentry skills? Can drive a forklift?’ So, I would help,’” Smith said. Then “Frank says to me, ‘Hey, I think we’ve got something here. You’re providing them with more than just clean-up.’ ”
That’s when Access Janitorial officially became Access Services.
“It could not have been more timely,” Johnson said, explaining that RT Dooley was involved with three major office tower projects simultaneously. Adding staffing to janitorial duties helped Access Services survive the recession intact. “Those towers were going up, while the economy was going down,” Johnson said.
Access Services also offers skilled staffing, primarily in the construction and healthcare industries. Staff recruiters work independently and with community partners to find skilled candidates.
When covid shuddered businesses again, Smith and Johnson adapted once more; this time, expanding their reach, instead of their services. Like many companies Access Services learned the value of virtual connections during the pandemic.
As a result, they successfully place workers with employees across the entire Southeast. This move not only kept Access afloat, but it also actually increased profits. Currently, their annual revenue is around $7 million, Smith said.
Neither man attempts to shoulder the credit though. The business partners are quick to cite firm faith and supportive spouses as the backbone of their success.
Johnson, who has been married to wife Juanita for 40 years said, “If you don’t have a wife who’s on board, it can be a real challenge. Sometimes those paychecks aren’t on the regular. It’s good to be able to come home and not get beat over the head,” he said.
“This is not for the faint of heart,” said Smith, adding how his wife, Merrie’s unwavering support and praise put “wind in his sails” during especially bleak patches.
The men of Access Services don’t limit their talents and energies to the office either. They consistently channel wisdom and talent toward the greater good.
The Access Services team regularly volunteer in conjunction with local organizations such as the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Communities in Schools, NXT/CLT, Goodwill and the Salvation Army, offering career counseling, interview pointers and skills training to those just starting out in the workforce and some who are starting over.
Smith and Johnson’s community visibility as successful Black entrepreneurs is a unique advantage not lost on them. “A lot of these kids look like us,” Johnson said. “So hopefully our words will carry more weight.”
“[Young people] will come in the door, their pants sagging, [not] looking you directly in the eye,” Smith said. “I’ll say, ‘We aren’t going to have an interview today. Let’s have a conversation,” Smith added. “We know the landscape out here. We know [Blacks people] don’t get second and third chances.” The hope is to ensure that Black job hunters get it right the first time around.
Smith and Johnson both also promote the importance of continued adaptation as a means to success. “We’re in our 60s, but we are still learning. People who are successful know what they don’t know. And they’re open to other ideas,” Johnson said.
With that in mind, White and Johnson are totally open to adapting Access Services if necessary. “Hey man, if you are looking for an astronaut, I’m gonna find you one,” Smith joked. For these seasoned business veterans, apparently even the sky is not the limit