Employee Honors Legacy of Late Franchise Owners After Assuming Leadership of Portland, Ore., Location
Blazing a trail can be unintentional, resulting from steps taken over time, as was the case with City Wide Facility Solutions. Or it can happen suddenly when a crisis demands immediate action, which was the case with City Wide franchise owner Rob Hildebrant.
City Wide’s path began in 1961 as a janitorial services company founded by Frank Oddo in response to his need for reliable janitors to clean the family grocery store in Kansas City. The company, which began by cleaning a building of less than 500 square feet, is now led by Frank’s son Jeff and manages more than 400 million square feet of commercial space daily.
Hildebrant’s role with City Wide began in 2021 when he was hired as director of sales for City Wide franchisees Jennifer and TJ Slansky’s Portland, Ore., location. Hildebrant was looking to exit his 60-hour-a-week corporate job. A conversation with the Slanskys “completely changed my path in life,” he says. “The Slanskys’ vision for the future felt right with my heart, and by the end of that meeting, I was all in.”
City Wide’s Evolution
In City Wide’s early years, customers started asking for more than janitorial services, which ultimately created problems. Frank Oddo was spending more time hiring employees than managing client relationships. His son Jeff joined the business after graduating from college and recognized the need for change. As president and now CEO and owner, Jeff Oddo transformed the traditional janitorial company into a sales and management company focused on commercial building maintenance. Rather than hiring employees, he used independent contractors, enabling City Wide to better serve clients while reducing time and issues associated with managing multiple vendors and services.
City Wide began franchising in 2001 and now has more than 100 locations across the U.S. and Canada, with a goal of 166 locations by 2028. The company’s expansion aligns with the growth in the North American commercial facility maintenance market, which was valued at $153.6 billion in 2023 and expected to grow at a combined annual growth rate of 4.1% from 2024 to 2030, according to Grand View Research.
The key to our success has always been relationships.
Leading Through Crises
Jennifer and TJ Slansky opened their East Portland, Ore., location in 2014, and added a West Portland location four years later. Three months after Hildebrant joined the franchise, TJ, a triathlete and former University of Nebraska football player, suddenly died at age 50. “The sun set on that dark day with the immense weight of loss in the minds and hearts of the Portland team,” Hildebrant says. “When the sun rose on Monday morning, City Wide franchisor Jeff Oddo stood at our doorstep as a symbol of hope. He had taken an overnight flight across the country to be with us and offer support, which was soon matched by a flood of love and compassion from the entire City Wide network.”
Hildebrant was offered and accepted the position of general manager. “Everyone at City Wide Portland was driven to make TJ proud through our unwavering dedication to each other and with a renewed sense of purpose,” he says. But 15 months later, Jennifer Slansky died suddenly at the age of 48. “The City Wide system had never faced the loss of an owner and now, in less than two years, we had lost both of ours,” Hildebrant says. “My challenge was not just to lead, but to honor their legacy, support the team they had built, and prove that all their work would survive and thrive.”
Two years after Jennifer Slansky’s death, the Portland franchise is thriving. “Through meticulous hiring, supportive training, proactive business planning and diversifying revenue streams, we’re consistently achieving double-digit growth year over year. But the key to our success has always been relationships,” Hildebrant says. “In my honest opinion, what makes the City Wide model different is what lies between the brain and the bank account: the beating heart of our business.”
For more information about franchising opportunities, visit City Wide Facility Solutions’ website.
