A Decade of Excellence in an Industry Where Details Matter
At C&W Services, we don’t just clean buildings—we set the standard. In a world where cleanliness is more critical than ever, we’ve again earned the prestigious Cleaning Industry Management Standard (CIMS) Green Building with Honors certification from ISSA. This achievement marks over a decade of meeting the industry’s highest benchmarks.
Behind the Certification: What Sets Industry Leaders Apart
The journey to CIMS certification remains challenging and arduous. When excellence is the standard, nothing escapes evaluation. Established by ISSA—an organization that has grown from seven sanitary supply distributors in 1923 to over 11,000 global members today—this consensus-based management standard represents the gold standard in our industry.
At its core, CIMS evaluates how thoroughly a cleaning organization understands and meets customer requirements while managing operations with a laser focus on quality, efficiency, and client satisfaction. The Green Building designation takes this further, confirming our ability to help clients achieve LEED EB: O&M points and signaling our readiness to partner in their sustainability initiatives.
The integrated CIMS-GB with Honors certification we’ve achieved represents something even more significant: a perfect marriage between GBAC’s rigorous cleaning, disinfection, and infection prevention protocols and CIMS’s customer-focused framework. It goes beyond maintaining clean environments—creating healthier, safer spaces through systems that consistently deliver excellence.
The Demanding Path to Recertification
When C&W Services first earned this elite certification over a decade ago, we committed to a journey of continuous improvement and excellence. Every two years since then, we’ve opened our doors to intense scrutiny through recertification.
This isn’t a simple checklist exercise. To succeed, we must meet 100% of ISSA’s exacting standards and achieve at least 60% of the recommended elements across six comprehensive categories: quality systems, service delivery, human resources, health and safety protocols, management commitment, and LEED EB requirements.
During our most recent recertification, an ISSA-accredited assessor visited nine sites across multiple regions. At each location, the assessor meticulously documented how closely our operations align with ISSA’s comprehensive 25-page guidebook. Every process, training protocol, and management system was thoroughly examined and verified.
Beyond the Certificate: What This Means for Our Clients
This certification is tangible proof of our commitment to delivering exceptional service. In an industry where details matter, CIMS certification validates our ability to consistently deliver high-quality, efficient, and sustainable services across various facilities. This translates to peace of mind for our clients, knowing their facilities are managed by a team committed to excellence in service delivery.
It demonstrates that we adhere to industry best practices and stay current with the most effective training and management programs. We maintain these high standards regardless of contract size or the complexity of challenges because our clients deserve nothing less.
Our CIMS certification also serves as the foundation of our training program, ensuring we continue to meet the highest industry standards in everything we do. Today, when health and environmental concerns intersect with operational efficiency, working with a CIMS-GB-certified partner means accessing expertise beyond standard cleaning practices. It is more than maintaining appearances—it’s about trust, safety, and operational excellence for our clients and communities.
The Heroes Behind Our Success
The story behind this recertification is particularly noteworthy. When the time came to prepare, many leaders who had previously championed the cause were no longer with the company. Stepping into this challenge, Meredith Hunter took the lead, dedicating several months to ensuring we met all requirements—from policy and training verifications to coordinating the all-important in-person validations.
Meredith’s leadership proved transformative. She successfully guided the organization through the rigorous certification process and built a repeatable tracking program to significantly improve future renewals. This innovative system will be the blueprint for maintaining our certification standards for years.
Working alongside Meredith, Mary Bouri helped coordinate efforts across multiple teams. Together, they partnered with teams led by Angel Doyle, Charlotte Jensen, Tyler Emery, and Milly Diaz to navigate the assessment process successfully. Angel Doyle and Dina Dygert‘s teams provided invaluable support during the critical in-person audits—a true partnership essential to our success.
The entire team demonstrated remarkable ingenuity when faced with limited access to previously submitted materials. Team members developed a comprehensive dashboard based on the ISSA checklist, making the process trackable and repeatable. By combining historical presentations with the Client Service team’s deep knowledge, they secured this recertification and created a sustainable framework for future assessments.
The project demanded meticulous attention to detail and significant time, but our team rose to the challenge. At every one of the nine sites evaluated across various regions, our people demonstrated that our processes aren’t just documented—they’re fully embedded in how we operate daily.
Clean, safe, and sustainable environments don’t happen by accident. They’re the result of an organization where Better Never Settles.
Contact us to discuss how our industry-leading standards can enhance your spaces.
