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“I thought this would be a good time to get into it,’’ said Melillo, who owns the business with his son, Anthony. “And I thought it might be a good thing for him to get into because the cleaning business had always been good to me. He runs the operations and I do the administrative work.”
Melillo, 61, has been a home builder for 20 years. “I have two homes going up now,’’ he said. “I think I’ve built 24 homes in New Canaan. But for the last four years, business has been tough. And the process to get a building permit can take a while.”
Before working in building, Melillo ran a landscape business and owned a commercial cleaning business for 26 years. He sold the business five years ago.
“We had over 500 companies that we serviced,’’ Melillo said. “I have always had more than one business. I enjoy working and so far, it seems to be OK running different companies. The older I get, the more I learn how to delegate.”
He purchased Enviro Maids from a friend who had been struggling to make the business grow. Enviro Maids provides regular housekeeping services on daily, weekly, biweekly or monthly visits. The business uses eco-friendly cleaning products and methods. The products eliminate the hazardous toxins that are harmful to the planet and people.
“It’s really not new for me,’’ Melillo said. “I’ve been doing green cleaning for the past 15 or 16 years. It’s just that now more people are aware of it. Our clients in commercial cleaning always wanted us to use green products.”
Melillo plans to re-enter the commercial cleaning business with a new company, Greenway Building Services, in the next two months. In the meantime, he enjoys working alongside his son with Enviro Maids.
“We’ve always been pretty good about working together,’’ Melillo said. “I’m sure there are times he’d like to tell me to stop talking. But we’ve got a pretty good mix.”
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