It all started when David Meeks, President, and Founder of DWM Comprehensive Facility Solutions, after completing his formal education in the retail business, started working as a maintenance manager with the Hess Corporation. After giving his heart and soul for 20 long years, disaster struck when David’s job was outsourced to a single-source provider. This indeed was heart-breaking, but could not deter David from looking beyond it. Rather than allowing adversity to take over him, David noticed an upcoming business trend for other retailers and decided, along with his wife Lila, to take the entrepreneurial path.
In 1997, leveraging his industry experience and Lila’s business education and experience, the couple teamed up to create a new business, designed to capitalize on the industry trend. While David developed industry relationships and began providing personal service for clients, Lila was behind the scenes supporting the fledgling company’s mission as the company’s bookkeeper and financial advisor.
“There is a tremendous sense of pride driving down a busy corridor and being able to say “that’s our client” to so many stores, restaurants, and more as you pass by.”
Today, DWM is renowned for catering to the growing needs of verticals like Facilities Maintenance, Construction & Renovation, and Water Filtration. Recognized as a forward-thinking company with a genuine vested interest in the progress of its employees and clients, DWM handles tasks starting from day-to-day break-fix, emergency, preventive maintenance, FF&E, water filtration to concept to completion projects, remodeling services, and general contracting. DWM is committed to providing best in class customer experiences for its clients across North America. The company has offices in Latham, NY, and Orlando, FL.
Serving clients who fall under the B2B category, DWM supports national companies & companies with multi-site portfolios in the retail, restaurant, grocery, finance, education, entertainment, and healthcare sectors. Having started from a single spare bedroom office, DWM has leaped into a leading international facility solutions provider with some of the world’s best brands as its customers. Some of their clients include elite organizations like Barnes & Noble, Dollar Tree, Tractor Supply Company, Lidl, MOD Pizza, and Regal Entertainment Group.
“There is a tremendous sense of pride driving down a busy corridor and being able to say “that’s our client” to so many stores, restaurants, and more as you pass by,” says Allison Bishop, Director of Marketing DWM.
DWM has been catering to its clients for over 23 years now with problem-solving, partnership, and customization at its core. With outstanding customer service accompanied by ethical & transparent business practices, and the potential to deliver the desired outcome, DWM enjoys a healthy client tenure with its clients. At DWM, its service coordinators and project managers take ownership of the issue which enables them to provide best in class solutions in a cost-efficient manner.
Building a continuous improvement culture
Every organization works on a predefined set of values and principles which form the basic framework of its culture. Crucial to the overall work experience of the employees, work culture possesses the potential to make or break the organization. In today’s era of cutthroat competition, where employee satisfaction and overall work experience impact the rating of the organization, the importance of healthy work culture cannot be ignored.
Known for its supportiveness, the culture at DWM instils values, support, and trust. Through its innovative policies and unique employee recognition programs, DWM makes every possible attempt to make its employees feel they and their work is valued and appreciated. DWM understands that being heard is the best feeling one can have and even relies on employee feedback before implementing any big changes in the company.
“If anything, the pandemic has renewed our focus on employee growth and development and forced us to become more analytical when looking at new opportunities to pursue.”
“Our commitment to being the best in the world has created a culture of continuous improvement, exemplified by the fact that our original client is still with us 23 years later!” expresses Allison.
The company has also been recognized by a multitude of organizations for its extraordinary business achievements:
Inc. 5000: 2014-2017
Best and Brightest Companies in the Nation: 2017-2020
Albany Business Review Fastest Growing Company: 2015-2020
Silver Addy Award for Business to Business Website: 2017
Albany Business Review Best Places to Work: 2015,2019
Times Union Top Workplaces: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020
Albany Business Review Largest Internship Programs: 2017, 2018.
“Our people continue to lead our growth,” says Allison. “It is through our employees’ dedication to superb customer service, partnership, and innovation that we continue to power ahead. By trusting our employees to be the experts in their own roles, we foster an environment conducive to problem-solving and innovation, which fuels our consistent growth.”
Growth-oriented future
No industry has been immune to the coronavirus pandemic and the Facilities Maintenance, Construction & Renovation, and Water Filtration domain is no exception. COVID-19 has been putting pressures of every sort and magnitude on each part of the construction & related sectors. With many of its clients forced to temporarily close their locations, DWM had to experience slowness in its work volume which impacted its business big time. In 2020, DWM’s total revenue was 80% of its total business in 2019. However, more than that what concerned DWM was the impact it was going to have on its national partners and its business relations in the longer run.
By taking Covid-19 as a learning experience DWM has risen higher than before. “If anything, the pandemic has renewed our focus on employee growth and development and forced us to become more analytical when looking at new opportunities to pursue,” emphasizes Allison.
Allison also shared her insights on the changing retail landscape. “We believe we’ll see intelligent brick and mortar retract, then stabilize and grow. There are so many strong brands that continue to thrive and many others opening and adding new locations. In the retail industry, companies who embrace the omnichannel landscape, while committing to the in-store experience, will yield the most success. As we head into the future, we expect to hear less of the “retail apocalypse” that has been so over-blown and begin focusing on brands who are thriving by changing the entire retail landscape through new store experiences and offerings, since adapting is the name of the game,” says Allison. “As times continue to change, we see technology becoming more and more important to both retailers and service providers. Space planning technology will become more and more prominent as companies look to make the best, most versatile use of space, especially in the age of social distancing. Though, one of the challenges that we foresee is how to integrate new technologies, but not lose the partnership and personal touch.”
In the future, DWM plans to continue to diversify into new markets to create sustainable growth across the Construction & Renovation, Facilities Maintenance, and Water Filtration divisions.
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