Phone:
(907) 671-8495

Address:
600 W 41st Ave Suite 202A Anchorage, AK 99503

Email:
jbaker@assettservices.com

[Ben Campbell] (0:01): Hello and welcome to today’s Community Spotlight where I introduce local companies I know and trust and introduce them to you. I’m your host Ben Campbell. Today I’m here with Jake Baker with Asset Commercial Services, which is a janitorial cleaning services and commercial aspects. So, before I first get into this, I just want to talk about Jake. Jake, he comes up to me. We met at 907 Alehouse. He goes, you going to Quinn’s? I’m like, for what? He goes, my favorite holiday of the year. I’m like, what holiday is it? And he goes, it’s the NFL draft. So, we did. We all met up at Quinn’s, had a couple of beers. It was a good time.

[Jake Baker] (0:38): Well, the thing about the NFL draft, right, is it’s the one day that every fan has hope.

[Ben Campbell] (0:43): Yes. Yeah. Yeah.

[Jake Baker] (0:44): After that…

[Ben Campbell] (0:45): You’re just done.

[Jake Baker] (0:45): You’re done.

[Ben Campbell] (0:46): And he’s a Cowboys fan. Oh, Cowboys fans. So, okay, Jake. So how did you get into this business?

[Jake Baker] (0:54): Yes. So, I was in the Army. That’s what actually brought me and my wife and my family up here. We were here. So, I was in the Army for eight years. We were here in Alaska for three years of that. And we’re trying to figure out, you know, what do we want to do? You know, we knew we wanted to stay in Alaska. We, you know, we’re really growing in the community here. We really enjoyed our friends, our church. A lot of our kids were going to school. So, it’s something we love in Alaska. Probably like a lot of other Alaskans besides you, dude. But, you know, so we were trying to figure out, hey, what do we want to do to stay? And so, I had another friend of a friend that actually started a cleaning company in North Carolina. And got to talking to him. He said, hey, this is what you ought to do. And he kind of stoned it out for me and said, you know, it’s just people and systems at the end of the day. And that’s what I did in the Army. We can do that.

[Ben Campbell] (1:48): Yeah.

[Jake Baker] (1:48): And so, yes, long story short, that’s kind of how we got started. I was kind of doing that full time, trying to get everything up and running. And the Army is full time. You know, we just had a baby. So, we were trying to do that. And, yeah, by the time we got out of the Army, we were able to kind of get that working and off and running.

[Ben Campbell] (2:08): And he’s beating me on the baby count. He’s got five kids. I got three and number four on the way. But I’m done. I’m done after that. So, he’s beat me on that. So. Okay. So, what’s one thing everyone should know about hiring you or using your business?

[Jake Baker] (2:24): Yes. Good question. I think our mindset about why we do what we do. I I’ve really internalized like, hey, we are here to provide a service to the community and not just that, but to our clients. Everything we do. Our motto is, hey, we clean so that you don’t have to.

[Ben Campbell] (2:41): Amen.

[Jake Baker] (2:42): So, you know, when a customer comes to me or a potential client comes to me and says, hey, you know, they come in at night. But then we have to sweep the next morning. That’s a huge red flag. Well, we’re not doing our job or that other company may not be.

[Ben Campbell] (2:54)): Yeah.

[Jake Baker] (2:54): So, that’s something that I’m kind of looking out for all the time. You know, the way I look at my kid, he, he plays hockey. You know, I know how dangerous that sport can be. If I’m taking my kid to get a cast on a broken wrist. One, I don’t want it to be dirty at the facility.

[Ben Campbell] (3:12): No, no.

[Jake Baker] (3:12): And two, I don’t want the nurses worrying about taking out the trash when I want them worrying about my kid.

[Ben Campbell] (3:17): Yeah.

[Jake Baker] (3:17): So, you know, that’s why we take what we do very seriously and want to make sure that we’re providing a clean and safe environment.

[Ben Campbell] (3:25): Yeah.

[Jake Baker] (3:26): For, you know, the staff there, for their customers, whoever may be. And that’s why we love medical facilities. But that applies to everywhere. You know, we do a real estate company here in town, real estate office. And hey, y’all need to be worried about selling houses, not worried about cleaning.

[Ben Campbell] (3:40): Absolutely. You never get a second chance at a first impression. So, when people walk into their buildings, they want to be professional and have that that not stereotype, but that look of professionalism.

[Jake Baker] (3:50): Absolutely.

[Ben Campbell] (3:51): And if you have a dirty office, it’s going to whoop, I’m out of here.

[Jake Baker] (3:55): Exactly. Exactly.

[Ben Campbell] (3:57): Good. OK. A little bit goes off it. So, what would you say is unique about the company?

[Jake Baker] (4:05): I think what is unique about our company is our back end systems. You know, the things that the customer doesn’t necessarily see. So, for example, some of my best employees actually are part time. You know, they are working nine to five during the day and they just want to make a little extra, you know, for whatever reason. And because of that, though, you take the good with the bad. We do have a lot of turnover and that’s just part of our industry.

[Ben Campbell] (4:33): Yeah, absolutely.

[Jake Baker] (3:35): So, kind of what happened was we were able to develop a system that streamlined our hiring process and communication. So, I don’t have to spend 30 or 40 hours going on Craigslist or Indeed, you know, trying to figure out how to hire somebody. It’s all automated. So, you know, we can turn and burn as we need to. And then that’s where the management piece really comes in to make sure that the training, our inspections, our quality control is where it needs to be.

[Ben Campbell] (5:02): You’re not just some creepy guy in a van?

[Jake Baker] (5:04): No, no, no, no.

[Ben Campbell] (5:05): We call them chucks in a truck. In the painting industry, a chuck in a truck, you know, just pulls up, chain smoking cigarettes and the beers fall out of his truck. Yeah, those are chucks in a truck. Cool. OK, my favorite one. What is your favorite movie?

[Jake Baker] (5:21): Yeah, so it’s got to be Lord of the Rings. I don’t know if that counts since it’s a trilogy, but it’s got to be.

[Ben Campbell] (5:26): My wife will not watch it with you.

[Jake Baker] (5:28): My wife won’t either.

[Ben Campbell] (5:29): I love Lord of the Rings.

[Jake Baker] (5:30): So, I was telling somebody this the other day at the hockey tournament that we just got back from. I said, yeah, I think I watched the whole trilogy like three or four times a year.

[Ben Campbell] (5:38): And just put on repeat. Just let it go.

[Jake Baker] (5:41): You don’t really have to watch it. It’s the perfect story.

[Ben Campbell] (5:43): Yeah, I love it. Good.

[Jake Baker] (5:44): That’s got to be it. That’s made my day.

[Ben Campbell] (5:48): OK, so what’s the best way for them to reach you?

[Jake Baker] (5:51): Yeah, so our office phone number is 907-671-8495. We also have a website. You can find us on Google at Asset Commercial Services. Again, assetservices.com. We’re pretty spread out as far as that goes. Not as good on the social media campaign as you are yet. But we’re getting there. But yeah, either way is great.

[Ben Campbell] (6:17): Perfect. OK, so if you have a commercial building that needs to be cleaned, I got your guy. Give him a call. All right. Thank you.

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