CBN was founded in 1974 by Bob Croft and two college buddies; the others had the remarkable foresight to depart, but Bob remains CBN's president today.

Since its inception, CBN has been in the forefront of the commercial cleaning industry - in applying advanced technologies, systems, and training methods, to enhance client security and the indoor environment.

Beginning in the mid 70's, we addressed security concerns with:

These are areas most janitorial firms still ignore.

In the early to mid '80's, we incorporated environmental and safety standards in chemical selection, usage and disposal, and in energy conservation, material recycling, and safety training - - again, issues you will not see addressed by many other firms.

In the early '90's, we worked with Daniels Associates, who collaborated on the development of DuPont™ dust control technology, to implement "Cleaning for Health", providing our customers a still unique blend of airborne and surface dust control, sanitation, low VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and low chemical introduction - and thus a healthier indoor environment.

Over the past several years, we've upgraded our program as new technology became available: non-treated microfiber dust wipes to better remove surface dust; microfiber damp mops to remove small particles (down to bacteria size) from hard floors; and true HEPA vacuums for both carpet and hard floors. This advanced technology has had a significant impact on our office and industrial clients, and has had a close to revolutionary impact on our medical facilities, both in limiting room-to-room cross-contamination and in actual pathogen removal, as exemplified in the U C Davis Medical Center study of microfiber technology.

Beyond service to consultancy

Should you select us for your cleaning needs, your facility and your people will be pleased with the result.

Our charitable giving focuses on two areas. Bob Croft co-founded the Salt River Brass Band, a local non-profit performing ensemble. During Bob's tenure as president and manager of the band (1988 to 2006) we furnished office space, staff, and public relations support.

More traditionally, we support the Thomas J. Pappas School, a point of pride in our neighborhood, which provides education and other necessities to the children of the county's homeless; and also Saint Mary's Food bank.

In 1996, CBN’s management purchased and relocated the firm and offices to the historic 1914 L. L. Steward House, just north of downtown Phoenix in the Roosevelt Historic District. The house’s tasteful Victorian massing and Prairie School design elements create an elegant architectural composition, leading to its citation as a "significant streetscape element" in the application for historic status for the Roosevelt neighborhood.

Its first owner, "L. Bob" Steward, was an early Arizona teacher, cattleman, cotton farmer and organizer of the Citizen’s State Bank in Phoenix; he was a campaign manager for Senator Henry Fountain Ashurst.

A newspaper advertisement for Southwest Building & Investment Co. appeared in a February, 1914 issue of "The Arizona Republican" featuring the partially completed Steward House; the house appears in the lower right corner of this ad. You can also see photographs of how the house looks now.

For a more detailed look at our restoration efforts, please go here.

Bob has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of CBN Building Maintenance since co-founding and incorporating CBN in July of 1974.

He has extensive training in business management, economics, personnel and facility security, and janitorial operations through Arizona State University, Management Action Program™, SC Johnson™, Daniel's Associates™, the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office and the Building Service Contractors Association International (BSCAIT).

He is active in the American Indoor Air Quality Council and the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce and is a Senior Arbitrator for the Better Business Bureau. With the assistance of consultants at Daniels & Associates, he developed CBN's unique "Cleaning for Health, Safety, & Security" program. Bob has been awarded the Certified Building Service Executive designation from BSCAIT and the Registered Indoor Air Quality Manager designation from the Environmental Education Foundation.

Bob lives in a restored 1926 bungalow (in the F. Q. Story Historic Neighborhood of downtown Phoenix) and is currently restoring CBN's office, housed in the 1914 L. L. Steward House (in the Roosevelt Historic District). He runs his dogs and reads extensively (primarily history, economics, and mysteries). Bob founded and plays baritone with the Salt River Brass Band, and teaches the trombone music ensemble class at Scottsdale Community College. He has amassed an extensive collection of 19th & early 20th century brass musical instruments.

As Customer Service Manager, Susana has the opportunity to be the second member of our management team to "eyeball the job". With her visits in the daytime, she is able to see your facility as you see it, and to confer with you about our progress on the job.

Susana's expertise in communications, forwarding your observations (plus her own performance evaluations), to the front-line cleaners, then following through and making sure the job is done makes her such a valuable asset to both CBN and to our clients.

Tim is our Manager of Business Development, and as such, is an integral part of the growth of the firm. He plays a large role in our Marketing, Sales, and Customer Service efforts.

Married, with 12 very active grandchildren, Tim gives back to the community. A natural instructor, he has been teaching in his church for a number of years, and is now working towards a Masters in Theology. Tim is also active in community church programs that address the needs of the homeless and disaffected here in the downtown area.

Paul has served as Vice President since shortly after CBN's founding.

He was elected Maricopa County Recorder in 1968 and served until 1974. He is President of Gemini Mailing Consultants, Inc. and has been the chief executive officer of that firm for over twenty years.

He was graduated from the University of Arizona with honors. He has an extensive background in data processing, personnel management and records management and has had several articles published in national magazines on these subjects.

His primary area of responsibility includes writing and maintaining the extensive integrated software which he designed for CBN, providing general ledger, receivables, payables, customer service, prospecting, scheduling, inventory management and employee services.

Paul makes the final decisions on proper treatment of financial data for tax and government reporting purposes for the company. He also serves in an advisory capacity on matters of advertising and marketing.

Dorinda Conlon, R.B.S.M.

Dorinda, our office manager, has been with CBN since 1994.

After completing a-legal secretarial program at Adelphi Business College in 1985, Dorinda has worked continuously in the clerical field. In 1991, while employed by Honeywell, she received that company's "Peer Recognition Award".

She has taken several courses, including: customer service, telephone technique, post office seminars, and classes on employee relations, diversity and sensitivity training, many offered by Honeywell. Recently, she was awarded the Registered Building Service Manager designation by BSCAI™.

Dorinda is active in The Society for Creative Anachronism, a world-wide Renaissance re-creation organization from which she's received international recognition for her arts and management skills. Dorinda is the mother of four boys.

Karl Wolz

Now working as a contracting consultant, Karl fills most of CBN's graphic design and photography needs along with the occasional bit of code writing for CBN's computers.

Karl and Bob worked together in the office maintenance business well before CBN existed. He has several decades of experience in the janitorial business, having served as janitor and floor tech, and has managed customer service, quality control, and marketing.

Karl also runs his own photography and graphic design business, "Photography by Karl Wolz".

His passions include fine-art photography (generally involving the use of large-format [read B-I-G] cameras) and "pyrotechnical adventures in the culinary arts".

Tony Barrera

Our production supervisor, Tony, has worked as a building services professional since1993.

A true professional, he has attended seminars and classes put on by OSHA and the USDA, and has attended classes on proper and safe cleaning of medical facilities and HazMat classes.

Tony's responsibilities include:

• Scheduling floor techs (carpet cleaning, scrubbing, refinishing, etc.)
• Interviewing production staff applicants
• Training with Johnson Wax Professional® products and safety procedures
• Quality control inspections (including touch-up)
• Inventory control; paper product distribution
• Equipment inspections and maintenance
• Should a janitor become unavailable, Tony will drop his other duties to be certain our clients are taken care of.

Oscar