That could have been the end of Edgren’s business story, but in 2007, she began to feel restless and was ready for a change. She started looking for another small business and researched everything from fast food to retail to small manufacturing companies.
“I worked with a business broker who introduced me to PuroClean,” Edgren said. “I really liked the business model and that it was a service industry.”
Edgren admits today that flood, fire and mold restoration — PuroClean’s focus — may not sound like the most glamourous of businesses. She was interested for two reasons: She could help people during stressful situations and it sounded like the perfect business she could one day grow to include her daughters.
Like her father before her, Edgren wanted to own a business that made sense for her entire family. She always had her three daughters – Lara Harshbarger, 45, Megann Eversole, 42, and Britni Hurst, 38, in mind as eventual co-workers and co-owners.
“My husband (Roy Edgren) is an electrical engineer by trade and was part of the business in the beginning,” Edgren said. “He’s retired after all of my girls came on board.”
Harshbarger, who lives in Washington Twp. joined the company as a part-timer from the start so that she could learn the business. Eversole, who lives in Kettering joined the company full time in 2009 – about six months after Edgren opened. She was hired to head up operations and learned how to be an estimator.
Hurst, a Washington Twp. resident, came on board in In 2010. She heads up the marketing department.
“Lara joined me full time at the end of 2010 and runs my accounting and human resources departments,” Edgren said.
All three daughters had full-time careers before joining their mother’s company and each had expertise to bring into the company.
“I went to the University of Toledo and majored in sales and marketing,” Hurst said. “Ironically after graduation in 2007, I went to work for another family-owned business!”
Hurst said she hadn’t thought she’d ever join her mother’s company though the pair would meet and talk about the business every few months. She believed she’d make more money and grow her career faster working outside of the family business.
“Once Megann came on board, they had started streamlining things,” Hurst said. “I had two other jobs but decided it was time to join the family.”
For Edgren building a reputation has been top priority. The nature of the business is responding to emergencies 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That’s a tough life for most people, particularly those with young families, like her daughters.
“We focus very strongly on family here,” Edgren said. “We take care of our customers, realizing most need immediate attention but we also take care of the needs of our family.”
Hurst agrees and says working with her sisters and mother has turned out better than she initially expected.
“I think we are different here,” Hurst said. “We educate our employees and clients but among ourselves, we can often read each other and even finish each other’s sentences.”
During a cold snap in December, Edgren and her team needed to be available to answer emergency calls for frozen pipes and other damage.
“We were in surge mode right before Christmas,” Hurst said. “My mom kept my kids, and I was able to work. There is nothing more frustrating than selling something we can’t fulfill.”
Growing the business has been challenging at times, but Edgren continues to keep her family in mind with every decision she makes.
“Lara was the most driven to pursue a career with the family,” Edgren said. “She worked in my dad’s company first and realized that a family business can be both the best and worst thing in the world.”
Because of this, Lara Harshbarger was able to mentor her sisters when they joined the business and help them navigate both the family dynamics and the workings of the company.
From the beginning Edgren said she has always focused on core values and believes holding weekly leadership meetings with her team to emphasize these values is vital.
“We do the right thing, are respectful to people and property and passionate about what we do,” Edgren said. “And from the beginning we have always focused on giving back to our community.”
Edgren’s company helps support local schools, the March of Dimes and the American Red Cross. Employees are encouraged to participate in local fundraisers for nonprofits as well.
“We all work well together and help each other make our goals,” Hurst said. “We all have a stake in this and want to see it succeed for our families and the future.”
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