Anago Cleaning Systems’ founder and chairman, David Povlitz, passed away February 7 at the age of 75. He spent over 30 years of his career building Anago to the company it is today.
David Povlitz, founder and chairman of Anago Cleaning Systems, died February 7 at the age of 74. After serving in the U.S. Army and graduating from Michigan State University, Povlitz began his career. He moved his family to Florida and in 1989 started Anago Cleaning Systems.
At first, Povlitz would go door to door, offering cleaning services and in the early days vacuuming floors and scrubbing toilets himself as he built the business. He launched a franchise program in 1991 and the system expanded from Florida to cover 45 master franchise territories with 1,700-plus unit franchisees.
His children, Adam Povlitz and Lisa Ritenour, later joined the company, with Adam eventually taking over as president and CEO and Lisa serving as vice president of internal operations. Despite “retiring,” David Povlitz was still a fixture in the office.
“He came in every day,” said Judy Walker, senior vice president of sales. “He just liked being at the office.”
Adam Povlitz remembers his father as someone with high expectations. At the same time, David Povlitz was someone who “would go out of his way” to give anyone a chance. Others who worked with Povlitz echoed these sentiments. Walker, who’s been with the company for 28 years, remembers him as a loud, boisterous man who had a big heart.
“There was something so inspiring about him and passionate,” she said. “He had a loud, booming voice, he was very intimidating, but he was very inspirational and very passionate at the same time.”
David Povlitz was a part of many lives. Described as a generous spirit by those who knew him, he was in the habit of giving everyone a chance to succeed.
Walker found his devotion to “helping people live the American dream of business ownership” the most inspirational. Povlitz also had a habit of getting to know as many people as possible.
She recalled when she was starting to bake bread. After casually mentioning this to Povlitz, he brought her a gift: baking tools. These actions happened all over the office when he was around, according to Walker.
Darren Williams, master franchise for Anago’s Washington, D.C., territory, also saw Povlitz as a people person.
“David did business as an extension of his core personality of putting the people first,” said Williams. “He never got lost in the details. It was always, let’s figure out what we need to do to get things done, and we’ll get the details done later.”
A standout moment for Williams was their first meeting. He was looking to bring Anago to a new territory, and this meeting is what ultimately convinced him.
“He was a person you could make an agreement with just a handshake,” he said. “He and I had one of those moments where I made a life-changing decision with a handshake and we did the paperwork over the next couple of months, and I will never forget that.”
Adam Povlitz, Lisa Ritenour, and their father David Povlitz. Povlitz’s two children serve as the CEO and president and vice president of internal operations for Anago.
As his son, Adam Povlitz saw another side of his father. He stepped in to help a family friend who, fresh out of high school was partying heavily, and offered the young man financial aid if he changed those habits. The man did, and true to his word, Povlitz paid his tuition. Adam Povlitz only discovered this after the friend reached out to express condolences.
“If he feels like someone needs a shot, almost to a fault where we would hire people that maybe we shouldn’t have hired, he just wanted to give them a shot,” said Povlitz. “He always thought he was an underdog, so anytime he thought someone else was an underdog, too, he would beyond bend over backwards to help them.”
For Povlitz, his father’s legacy will be the people he’s impacted. From family friends to employees to complete strangers, he sees David Povlitz’s life reflected in the people who received his support.
“I think his legacy would have to be ‘people first,’” said Povlitz. “As much as it’s great to meet these big sales targets and we’re growing and really doing a great job of taking the organization to the next level, his focus was always on people and how they were impacted.”