Hand Care Solutions for the World Around You

The ISSA VEO Conference opens today in Dallas, bringing business owners, supervisors and facility service leaders together for two days of education, networking and recognition built around a single goal: strengthening Hispanic leadership across the cleaning and facility solutions industry. VEO stands for Visión, Empeño y Oportunidad—vision, drive and opportunity. ISSA, The association for cleaning and facility solutions, describes the initiative less as a single event than as a year-round platform for connection and leadership, one that runs bilingual webinars and training throughout the year and builds toward a conference each fall. Hispanic workers make up a large share of the front-line labor force in commercial cleaning and facility services, yet their representation in ownership, supervisory and executive ranks has historically lagged. VEO organizers built the platform to close that gap, pairing recognition of existing Hispanic-owned businesses with practical education aimed at the next generation of owners and managers. The agenda splits into a full-conference track and a workshops-only track, closing with a gala Tuesday evening. Full-conference registrants move through sessions on leadership, business growth and workforce development, while workshop attendees focus on hands-on operational training. Both tracks lead into the gala, where VEO recognizes companies and individuals for their contributions to the industry. Confirmed speakers span the range of the industry VEO serves. Nancy Galvan and Eric Marceleño of Dallas-based Unica Enterprises, who built their company from a night-shift cleaning contract into a multimillion-dollar federal contracting business, both take the stage this week. Victor Lizano of Amazing 360 Commercial Services, whose bilingual academy trains Spanish-speaking cleaning entrepreneurs in everything from technique to bookkeeping, is on the agenda as well. Houston employment attorney Jacob Monty, who has built a national practice advising companies with large Hispanic workforces, and Juan Carlos Cerda, Texas State Director of the American Business Immigration Coalition, bring a policy and compliance lens to the labor questions building service contractors face daily. Additional speakers include Adam Tan-Ceja of Pass Janitorial Service, Amber Reyna of Verde Clean, Brian Johnson of Ashkin Group, Debbie Sardone of Debbie Sardone Consulting and Erin Reilly Porch of Building Sustainable Results. ISSA carries the platform into November with a dedicated VEO education track at ISSA Show North America in Las Vegas, and year-round through Raise the Standard of Cleaning, a free training course offered in English and Spanish to ISSA members. The ISSA Media network will cover the conference throughout the week, with reporting on session takeaways, speaker perspectives and the issues raised on stage.