Our story
In 1982-1983 a series of economic and personal events resulted in the formation of Blackwell’s Chimney Sweep Service LLC.
Working as a sole proprietor sweeping chimneys was not my first taste of self-employed hard work. As a young kid I had sold newspapers, cleaned restrooms at the local Texaco (for $3 a week), and cut firewood for college funds.
Having a college education and sweeping chimneys was a disappointment to my Mom and other family members. They thought I could do much better than that, but so did I.
Opportunity knocked when I realized that many of the same techniques used for centuries in the “art” of sweeping chimneys could be applied to industrial duct and machinery cleaning. This vision was not squandered when shared with a residential customer (God placed in my path) who happened to be the manager of a textile facility with clogged exhaust ductwork.
This gentleman (Mr. Jon Williamson) allowed me to clean ductwork at a Milliken plant in 1983, to see what I could do to make their process better and plant safer – Milliken is still a very good customer.
A page in the history book of Blackwell’s Inc. was written. Subsequent pages followed with mechanical, service, and managerial advancements.
On the wall of our associate cafeteria is written:
“Truth be told: We are not in the Business to Install Coating Systems or do Industrial Cleaning.
We are in Business To Serve People.”
On the side of our trailers and larger trucks is written:
“Safety, Integrity, Quality, Value
But above all Faith”
These two verbal captions encapsulate the distinctive philosophy of our richly blessed company.
“Truth be told: We are not in the Business to Install Coating Systems or do Industrial Cleaning. We are in Business To Serve People.”
David Blackwell