Owner of BIZCLEAN squeaky clean after high tech career

Keith Segerson was born in Madrid, Spain, where his father was stationed as an Air Force fighter pilot. From that international start, the entrepreneur roamed the world tending to business. And while he never spent time in a cockpit, along the way, he became a Top Gun in his own right.

At the age of three, his father was transferred to Ohio, and he thought it in his best interest to join him. Good move. Segerson grew up in the Buckeye State and attended Ohio University, majoring in business and marketing.

Upon graduation, he moved to Houston and worked for ten years in the IT industry. “I worked for companies that had a global footprint, so I began my international business career at a relativity young age,” said Segerson.

In 1990, with substantial experience gained in the technology field, he accepted a job at George Mason University as a manager on the IT side of the school. He held the position for eight years before advancing to head IT responsibilities for the entire University. Clearly, the man was on the move.

From there, he shifted to the academic arena at Mason but did not teach. Instead, he worked in public policy and eventually became assistant dean for the School of Public Policy at the University, focusing on economic development and community outreach.

“I handled a lot of international work centered on economic development and was responsible for the nascent enterprise center. The Mason Center focuses the energy, skills, and intellectual capital of the University on creating and expanding businesses. It specializes in small business services, government contracting, international trade, entrepreneurship, technology venture, and telework initiatives.

During his stewardship, it became one of the most extensive business assistance programs in the country, working with some 20,000 firms. “We oversaw the entire small business development center for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Companies he helped launch were known as “incubators” and dotted the Northern Virginia business landscape and well beyond.

Following a pattern, Segerson was then promoted to assistant vice president of economic development and research for the University. A lot of the work was international in scope. “I worked in Russia, Turkey, China, and other nations worldwide,” Segerson explains.

In 2014, he left George Mason after 25 years of leadership positions and founded P3 Innovation Strategies. His expertise led him to help build businesses in information technology, global economic development, entrepreneurship, innovation ecosystems, and public-private partnerships.
Segerson and his team provided client consulting services for companies and governments globally.

In the last few years, however, “…the winds of change shifted and pushed me to consider looking for new business opportunities. I found doing business in Turkey and China very difficult to almost nonexistent. I was growing weary of constantly addressing international bureaucracies. Especially with a small firm like mine that did not have a large staff.”

What to do? While out of sync given his burnished international technology resume, Segerson had always wanted to open a business that was recognizable within a community. “After my father retired, he built a small business, and I saw him work hard to make it a success. I was very proud of what he achieved.”

BIZCLEAN
It’s obvious Segerson wasn’t about to do anything that didn’t involve extensive due diligence. He explored numerous opportunities, including a dog grooming business. Whatever he chose, it had to be viable, provide services within a local community, and, for certain, have clear profit potential. Given his independent streak, franchises were not considered.

After in-depth research and running the numbers on several candidate firms, he elected to focus on office cleaning companies. Thirteen months ago, he assumed ownership of an existing such business and dubbed it BIZCLEAN. It serves Culpeper, Fauquier, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William counties and is based out of Vint Hill.

Today, it has 11 clients at 25 physical locations predominately serving the medical office building industry. It includes office cleaning and floor maintenance services, such as carpet cleaning and floor buffing.

“At the moment, we have 10 hardworking, dedicated employees, all part-time, and my focus is 100 percent on serving our clients. It can be stressful at times, working six, and sometimes seven days a week. Recently I got home at 12:30 a.m.”

In his limited spare time, he still does some consulting work for his company P3 Innovation Strategies.

Segerson, 62, is married to an elementary school teacher and has four adult children and five grandchildren. He chose Fauquier County in which to shift career gears because “I just felt the area was the right place to be in.

“I’m really proud to be here. My son lives in Warrenton, and in previous jobs, I worked closely with the Fauquier Chamber of Commerce and the Fauquier County Department of Economic Development. I love what I’m doing. I’m going to keep on working and building this new business.”

For a full description of the BIZCLEAM services, visit https://www.bizclean.com/. And remember, their reputation is spotless.

Published March 2020 in the Fauquier Times.