Gov. Phil Bredesen joined executives of ServiceMaster, the mayors of Memphis and Shelby County and the commissioner of the state department of Economic & Community Development to announce the company’s decision to move its corporate headquarters to Memphis. The announcement means the nation’s 488th largest corporation will call Tennessee home.
“This is great news for Memphis and all of Tennessee. ServiceMaster is well known for focusing on those things important to all successful companies; customer service and profitable growth,” said Gov. Bredesen. “ServiceMaster is also highly focused on training and developing its people, and that is a philosophy we share.”
The announcement means more than 150 headquarters positions will be transitioning from the company’s currently occupied space in Downer’s Grove, Il. In addition, the company will create several hundred additional jobs at the Memphis headquarters over the next five years. Currently, ServiceMaster employs more than 2,000 Tennesseans, primarily in the Memphis area.
The company is best known for providing household cleaning products and services, and some of its best known brands include Terminix, TruGreen Chemlawn, ServiceMaster and Merry Maids business and residential cleaning services. In 2004 and 2006, ServiceMaster was listed on Fortune magazine’s list of “America’s Most Admired Companies.” ServiceMaster employs more than 40,000 people in the U.S.
The announcement by ServiceMaster follows announcements by International Paper to locate its corporate headquarters in Memphis in August 2005 and by Caremark to locate its corporate headquarters in Nashville in May 2003. In addition, building products maker Louisiana-Pacific announced its plans to place its corporate headquarters in Nashville in December 2003, and automaker Nissan announced plans to put its North American headquarters in Franklin in November 2005.
“Tennessee has demonstrated that our state is not only a great place to locate a business, but it’s also a great place to attract top business talent and to lead a business as well,” said Matthew Kisber, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. “Corporate leaders understand Tennessee has an entrepreneur as governor and with Gov. Bredesen’s Jobs Cabinet, we’ve eliminated red tape and sped up the approval process.”
ServiceMaster was founded in 1929 by Marion E. Wade as a moth-proofing company. It was incorporated in 1947 and listed as a public company in 1962. The company’s three largest divisions, ServiceMaster, TruGreen ChemLawn and Terminix, each reported revenues of over $1 billion in 2005.