First officially recognized in 1976, Black History Month is an annual celebration each February that recognizes the achievements and the central role of blacks in U.S. history.

At Team Clean, we are proud to be one of the 121,466 black-owned employer businesses in the United States.

Black History Month is an excellent time for us to celebrate the success of our business as well as celebrating the success of all African American owned businesses.

We’d especially like to thank Madam C.J. Walker for paving the way for black businesswomen and becoming the first female black millionaire in America. As well as being a successful businesswoman creating products designed to help black women, Madam C.J. Walker was also a philanthropist.

She created a network of clubs for her employees and encouraged them to give back to their communities – rewarding those who did so with bonuses. She was a staunch supporter of female talent and her company charter specified that only a female could become president. She also funded female scholarships and contributed to the black YMCA alongside numerous other black charities.   

At Team Clean, we aspire to not only be a successful business but also to be socially responsible and to give back to the community we live in, in the spirit of Madam C.J. Walker.

When discussing the achievements of black business leaders, it is also worth mentioning the very first all-black insurance company. In 1892 seven black business leaders joined forces to form North Carolina Mutual Insurance Company The first President of the company was John Merrick, a former slave born in 1859.

John Merrick was more than just a high-profile black businessman. He was also a notable philanthropist who redistributed a large portion of his wealth back into the black community. He created several companies, each with the specific intention of providing services to black people in his community that they would have otherwise been denied.

For example, he founded the black Mechanics and Farmer’s Bank, which provided essential banking services to black citizens that were denied to them by most white-owned banks in the south. The provision of banking services was critical for encouraging personal and business spending among black people.

His business acumen, combined with his social conscience made him one of the most influential members of the African-American community in his lifetime.

The North Carolina Insurance Company developed into the “world’s largest Negro business” of the time, making Merrick one of the most successful black men of the time. Beyond being the most successful of John Merrick’s business ventures, the North Carolina Insurance Company is also notable as the very first all-black insurance company.

This leads us to an important insurance-related question…

Is your cleaning company adequately insured? 

When you hire a cleaning company, checking they have comprehensive insurance coverage probably isn’t the first thing on your list. However, when you are dealing with other people’s property, there can be severe legal ramifications for even the smallest of mistakes. It’s essential to make sure your cleaning company is bonded and insured.

For example, you or one of your cleaning company’s employees could damage some expensive property belonging to a tenant in your facility. A computer damaged during cleaning might only be worth a hundred dollars, but the cost of restoring the data in that computer could reach into the thousands.

Then there is the risk of employee theft. Cleaning staff on the job will have access to customer equipment and property. If your cleaning company’s employee is responsible for a crime, and the cleaning company has no insurance, then you are responsible for the loss.

AT TEAM CLEAN, WE ARE FULLY INSURED AND BONDED. INSURANCE IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF BUSINESS