Montgomery County Maryland Business Merger Bad News For Fish

Online, May 26, 2014 (Newswire.com) - In 2006, John Roper (president of Deck Medics Inc.) and Henry Bockman (president of Henry's Housework Inc. a Maryland-based provider of wood deck restoration, house washing and roof cleaning) worked together to lead a team of contractors in a volunteer effort to clean sections of the Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial in Washington DC. They struck up a friendship based on mutual respect and their commitment to the communities they served. Cooperation continued on other projects and discussions over the sale of Deck Medics began in private last year.

"Working together, both on community projects and joint business ventures, highlighted the strengths of our operations and convinced me that we were compatible" Roper pointed out. "I stopped looking at HHW as competition and starting looking at them as a partner. Our mutual goal has always been to raise the bar for service providers, to the point of offering a helping hand to several new areas businesses as they got started. We worked together to ensure that our competitors understood how to be great competitors. That approach paid off by minimizing the number of fly-by-night operations."

Deck Medics started operations in 1985 and their commitment to their customers helped the company grow even during slow economic periods. Roper set high standards by devoting much of his energy to accumulating specialized knowledge about wood restoration. The company peaked with 15 crews providing services. After more than 25 years of dedication to his customer base, however, Roper started thinking about slowing down a little and spending more time at his home base in Ocean City. He got several feelers from potential buyers over the last few years but not really from the right buyer. Roper felt he was a part of the community and a friend to his customers and he was willing to wait for an offer from a company that shared his attitude. "It wasn't about the money" said Roper "but more about who would treat my company and its customers the way I would want to. One day over lunch Henry and I started talking, and here we are."

"Deck Medics has thousands of customers in Montgomery County, and most of the people interested in the business would have had a tough time handling that kind of volume. Besides, I know most of my customers personally. Henry is the only person I know who could take over this kind of operation and make it work."

"We work in an area where almost anybody who owns a pressure washer feels qualified to restore decks and fences", continued Roper. "Most of them don't really understand what they are doing, and they end up causing property damage. They compensate with lower prices and hope the consumer doesn't ask too many questions. I have worked too hard for too long to let that happen to my customers. With this merger I can head to Ocean City and have more time to get some good fishing in!" Roper will continue to operate the Ocean City division of Deck Medics.

Bockman's Henry's Housework Inc. has been in business since 1989. In addition, Bockman is a founder of Contractors Foundation, a service industry contractor training and support company. He owns an internet marketing company and Commercial Restorations, a commercial pressure washing service company as well. Bockman has served on the Boards several trade groups and has had a role in creating much of the training available today in the pressure wash industry. He is well respected for his contributions to the industry, including the charitable effort Clean Across America in particular.The merger with Deck Medics assures Henry's Housework the position as the largest service of this kind in Montgomery County.

Bockman lives with his wife Linda in Germantown MD. He has two children currently attending college.