here you go Torrey..
Mikey’s Board’s Staff of Moderators include:
Richard Chavez. Richard, or whatever goofy name he uses on any given day is a second generation cleaner, starting when he was just 12-years old. Richard and his brother run Chavez Cleaning and Restoration. With facilities in Lawrence and Topeka they cover most of NE Kansas and have over 300 pieces of drying equipment, 8-TM’s & 22 vehicles. “Rich” can be counted on for answering water damage questions with great authority.
Ken Snow. Ken is a 3rd generation owner of Hagopian, one of the largest Cleaning & Restoration and Retailing companies in the industry. Ken himself is a 33 year veteran. In 2011 Hagopian cleaned carpet, upholstery & tile/grout in over 34,000 homes and business and washed over 33,000 rugs in their 20,000 sq ft Rug Care Spa. Ken’s crew also performed over 1/2 million in rug repair. Ken’s willingness to help fellow cleaners is extremely generous and a huge benefit to being a member here.
Lisa Smith/Weber. “Truckmount Girl” has been involved in the carpet cleaning industry for over 25 years. A self employed owner operator in the Southern California area turned manufacturer. Lisa fought Chem Dry in court for years to secure the rights for cleaners to have the ability to use Teflon
glides on their cleaning wands. Her success has made it possible for cleaners everywhere to achieve quicker dry times and reduce stress on their bodies. Her shared perspective as a woman carpet cleaner is a great and very unique value to Mikey’s Board.
Jim Pemberton. Jim is the president of Pemberton’s supply in Pennsylvania. He has a lifetime of hands-on-experience in the cleaning and restoration industry. Since 1979, he has conducted training seminars on a wide variety of cleaning subjects for trade associations, equipment manufacturers & franchises as well as the independent cleaning professional. Jim is a former
IICRC instructor as well as being the son of Lee Pemberton, a founding father of that organization. Look to Jim for unparalleled advice and articles on upholstery, rug and spot cleaning challenges. We are very fortunate to have Jim as one of the founding fathers of Mikey’s Board.
Leslie Judson Jones. Les, like most of our moderators here, grew up in this industry as well. His father Judson Jones not only invented the 1st truckmounted carpet cleaning machine but also installed in his son an unparalleled mechanical “third sense”. Look to Les to get great advice on trouble shooting your cleaning machines as well as help on the cleaning/chemical side of the trade. Les is a fanatical and very supportive member and advertiser on the forum
Tony Wheelwright. “Harry Hides” is the current vice president of the
IICRC. Tony recently sold his Canada based cleaning company that he started in 1974. Tony has a wealth of information in janitorial, in plant rug cleaning, leather cleaning and repair as well as color repair for carpet and rugs. Tony still provides inspections for carpet mills when he is not busy keeping the industry’s uppity ups in check. A true rabble rouser and a true Mikey Boarder..
Shawn Forsythe. Shawn’s command of the English language along with is scientific knowledge of how the equipment and chemicals work in this industry has earned him great respect here on the forum. Shawn’s involvement began 1982 when he worked in the research and development department for Steam Genie in Southern California. From there he went on to be the executive director for the CFI and now currently holds the position as educational director for Central California Cleaning Supply which owns 5 interlink stores throughout the state.
Jim Martin. Every year we hold a poll of sorts and every year Jim wins the “Most Helpful Member” award. Jim’s electrical and mechanical background along with his incredible generosity has earned him many grateful friends over the years here on MB. Jim’s knowledge of
Vortex machines has earned him the title of go to guy when it comes to diagnosing problems with these now obsolete machines. Besides spending his every waking hour on the forum he also runs a very successful two truck operation in Tucson Az.
Lee Stockwell. It was 1970 when Lee started his own cleaning company. Back then a shiny 175 rotary machine and a shampoo brush was a high tech as it got. Over the years Lee and his 4 sons (2 of which have their own companies now) have used Bane,
Butlers, EZs, homemade electrical units,
Prochem and White Magic truckmounts. Lee has been handing out great advice on the forums since the beginning of the internet back in the late 90’s. Having Lee as a dedicated moderator here is both an honor and a privilege.
John Middleton. John is our token virtual illegal immigrant moderator here. Hailing from New Zealand he’ll check in while we are asleep to answer questions and offer very sage like advice on all that he is an expert on. Wall to wall wool carpet, in plant rug cleaning, carpet and rug repairs, color correction, water smoke and fire damage and more. John is a true gentleman and a scholar and we are very fortunate to have him spending his time here
Larry Capitoni. Larry is considered by many to be their Big Brother on the Board. Larry has a way of seeing through the product hype that finds its way here from marketing hucksters and snake oil salesmen and we can count on him to flush them out like no other. Always generous with advice on his specialties like Steamway units, Section 8 clean ups, wood working and gun smithing We are proud to have Larry here looking out for use rubes. 30 years plus in the trenches.
Fred Boyle. Fred likes to play hard here and may run a member or two under the covers but don’t let his gruff attitude scare you off; he has a wealth of great business and cleaning advice to share. Getting his start back in the “Bane Way” days he is now a loyal
Butler user and his very loyal New Englander clients keep his two trucks running full time. One of our most popular members here on MB With 25 years plus experience..
Bob Vawter “Bawb” is a recent retiree after spending over 40 years as a owner operator in the Detroit area. His job here is to keep the joint a’ jumping and with his crazy sense of humor and sharp wit you better be on your toes. If you dare step foot his Rubber Room (off topic) to discuss sex, drugs, rock n roll along with the meaning of life you’ll never want to leave. Oh, and he knows a thing or two about building a PTO truck mount from the ground up as well…
and with most members having just as much experience, you can understand why working hours are not filled with thread after thread of guys desperate for work looking for the next big thing to get their phones ringing.
MB is about quality not phony quantity.