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Colker Janitorial Supplies and the Adaptation of Women

Categories: ISSA Member Spotlight

In March, we celebrated Women’s History Month. It’s a time we acknowledge how the achievements and the courage of past generations of strong women continue to pave the way for women down to this day.

One such woman is Lynne Colker, the woman-owned business she started, and those women who followed in her footsteps.

Who are these women? And what is the business they created that keeps growing strong in a male-dominated industry? Let’s find out.

Colker’s proud history

The story starts as it did for many other women of her time. Lynne Colker was pregnant and asked to “retire” from her job. What would she do?

She adapted. Almost 50 years ago, in 1974 she decided to purchase Samuel Westerman Import & Export, a small business, founded in 1916, which sold natural sea sponges and chamois cloths in the Pittsburgh area. Soon after the purchase, she renamed it L.M. Colker Company Inc.

As an entrepreneur and in order to have a good work/life balance, Colker worked school hours until all her children were in school full time. But despite having a family to care for, she quickly began to expand the business.

Supplying many of the window washers in the area, the business naturally expanded into window washing supplies. Then, John Farnum of Harley Chemicals convinced her to start selling janitorial supplies, and the company grew rapidly into a full-scale wholesaler.

Colker’s next generation

Being a responsible mother, she made sure to teach her children the value of work. “My brother, Greg Colker, and I grew up working summers and weekends repackaging sponges, doing inventory, and delivering school bids,” her daughter Saundra Hanberry proudly admits.

And so, the next generation continued on Colker’s same course. Hanberry explains, “32 years ago, my parents asked me and my young husband to move from Boston to Pittsburgh to help the growing business. My mother was running the warehouse at a different location and my father, Alan, had retired from his job and was working full time in our storefront in the Strip District. I brought customer service/distribution experience and Bill was an experienced sales rep.”

“Today, I am president/CEO and Bill is CFO,” says Hanberry. “My brother joined us about 30 years ago and is head of operations. Jeff Tishko joined us as vice president of sales about 20 years ago. My father still comes in and cuts natural sponges for us—at the age of 91.”

Colker Janitorial Supplies now has 26 employees, two locations with a total of about 40,000 sq feet, six delivery trucks, as well as an in-house UPS station that is driven nationally.

Colker continues to adapt

The pandemic opened awareness of the importance of clean, which the ISSA had been advocating. According to Hanberry, it changed the way business is done, both for Colker and for its customers. “It greatly affected everyone’s workforce, so we had to focus on teaching our customers how to be more efficient with fewer people.”

Also, in the information age, Colker Janitorial Supplies feels it is important to help customers shift through all the information out there and educate them with the correct procedures and products for their job. “We provide on-site training and supply closet reviews. We have a repair team on site at both locations and will go to customers for larger machines,” says Hanberry.

Colker has updated its website for payments, ordering, and products. They also post training videos and product specials.

Hanberry reveals, “I suppose our story is about adaptability; without it we wouldn’t have been able to grow.”

Giving back

Lynne Colker admitted in an interview with her daughter in March that “women have made a great deal of progress” since the start of her business. Oftentimes, that progress is due to helping hands from other strong women.

Colker Janitorial Supplies tries to be one of those helping hands. “As a certified woman-owned business, we extend opportunities for everyone in our organization,” says Hanberry. “I am on the board of the Strip District Neighbors and currently am working on a job fair for the area, reaching out to several non-profit training facilities for possible job applicants.”

Hanberry was fortunate to have her mother as her mentor and enjoys giving back. She became involved with The Hygieia Network about three years ago and finds their mentorship program particularly important. “We have also just become involved with Cleaning for a Reason and created a batch of baskets for Earth Day.” Colker joined ISSA in celebrating that important event on April 22.

Listen to the needs of customers

Since 1974, Lynne Colker has overcome many obstacles women business owners face in a primarily male-dominated industry. Yet she and her family continued to grow their business into one of the leading wholesale distributors of commercial cleaning supplies, now serving a wide range of industries in their area.

Colker Janitorial Supplies is now considered a leader in the cleaning industry for janitorial supplies, sanitary maintenance, and commercial cleaning. Despite that, it will always be rooted in the legacy and values of a small, family-owned business.

Colker says the advancement and success of Colker Janitorial Supplies is due to the ability to “always listen to what the customer needs.” To that end, her two children, Sandy Hanberry and Greg Colker, listen to the needs of customers. “With an expanded ownership team and a friendly and knowledgeable staff, Colker Janitorial Supplies is here to meet and exceed the needs of our customers with a wide range of product offerings, on-site cleaning consultations, training and equipment repair services,” their website claims.

Now known as an innovative leader in the janitorial supplies, sanitary maintenance, and commercial cleaning industries, Colker Janitorial Supplies will always have the legacy and values of a small, family-owned business, due to the ingenuity of one woman.

For more on Colker, tune into this recent Straight Talk! interview.

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