STEPS Cleaning and Property Maintenance has been operating for the past eight years and was the first STEPS social venture. This year a new program, designed to help participants become more independent, means employees can effectively invest and start up their own property maintenance small business.
Based on the Sunshine Coast, the cleaning business provides commercial and industrial cleaning, and property and yard maintenance services and currently employs 13 of STEPS clients who have disabilities. This financial year alone they have picked up six new contracts including the contract to provide cleaning services for a number of Queensland Government buildings on Lady Musgrave Drive at Mountain Creek.
Employees can purchase their own equipment via a pay-back system set up and encouraged by the team at STEPS. Contracts are facilitated and coordinated by the STEPS team for participating employees who are partaking in the pay back system for equipment. This system, while still in its infancy stage, is proving very popular and is already achieving key goals.
The service now also uses 100 per cent environmentally friendly cleaning products, which it now buys from a company in Nambour as a way to be supportive of the STEPS triple bottom line initiative: help the environment, assist the welfare of workers and reduce overhead costs. The switch to the new products has in fact saved STEPS 50 per cent of the overhead cost reserved for cleaning products, while also reducing the amount of training regarding chemical handling and safety with chemicals for each new staff member – therefore saving time and more money.
