Bed bugs have made a big comeback over the past decade. After being nearly eradicated from American society by the early 1960s, this nighttime stalker has resurfaced and found its way into a wide range of residential and commercial properties from apartments and hotels to offices and nursing homes.

We always think of growing our business with outside sales staff. When we recruit, hire and train sales staff, it can take three to six months or more. After that, it usually takes up to one year before a sales employee starts to be productive and understand the business. Why not hire from within?

It was the kind of year in which BSCs see great promise for the years to come. The industry has endured the recession well and has even used it to its advantage, as budget challenges force more facilities—from school districts to hospitals—to switch from in-house cleaning and maintenance to contracting.

No longer a buzzword, "green" cleaning is now a way of life. For too long, we have heard how an increasingly poor indoor environmental quality has had a major impact on business and our daily lives.