Ramrod Distributors is an Elk Grove Village janitorial sanitation solution for cleaning supplies, industrial supplies, and equipment sales and repair. Among the over 1,000 local businesses it serves, customers include schools, park districts, churches, industrial companies, auto dealerships, condo associations, apartment complexes, and long-term healthcare facilities ranging in size from independent contract cleaning companies to Northwestern Hospital.

As it turns out, Ramrod, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2022, approaches its customers the same way Elk Grove Village works with local businesses every day. Ramrod President Mike Halverson and previous owner Mark Shulman explained exactly how important the relationship is between a village and its business community.

“Elk Grove is a business supporter,” Halverson said. “Josh [Grodzin] and his team are very instrumental in growing the Village and growing the business community within the village to do that. They’re here to help you connect with others in the Village and to communicate your message into the marketplace. As a business owner, that’s what you want.”

“Working with the people at Elk Grove Village was like night and day compared to other places we’ve been,” Shulman added. “They didn’t stop us or slow us down. In fact, they made it easy to do business here. It would take a lot for us to move. If we did, it would be somewhere else in Elk Grove Village.”

Ramrod serves a 75-mile radius of companies ranging in size from independent contract cleaners to Northwestern Hospital. Regardless, they each receive a unique approach to cleanliness from Ramrod.

“The pandemic made people realize cleaning for health is more important than just cleaning the dirt” We believe in cleaning for health,” Halverson said. “Safety matters to everyone on a very basic level. We’re now asking ourselves, is this really clean? Is it safe for me, for my family, and for my kids?

“We think about how to help customers solve their problems today and what their perceived problems are behind the scenes. A lot of people are working from home because they don’t feel safe working in an office. We help customers provide a safe environment for their employees and staff so they can return to work”, Halverson added.

Anyone who buys a company (like Halverson bought Ramrod in 2019) would be well-suited to understand what made it successful in the past. In Ramrod’s case, it’s not what, but who. Led by Shulman, the Ramrod team had decades of industry knowledge, a seasoned salesforce, experienced equipment repair team, and a very capable customer service team. Halverson was attracted to Ramrod’s service quality and intends to keep the team intact and continue building upon the efforts Shulman established.

With deep industry knowledge, the Ramrod team has seen and solved nearly every cleaning-related challenge customers will face–from improperly cured floor finish to mold in schools and beyond. That expertise helps customers understand what caused their problems, how to address them, and ultimately how to ensure they don’t have a similar problem in the future.

When those customers have a problem, they pick up the phone because they know they will get reliable solutions, not just products.

It’s that human connection and a deep understanding of nearly any cleaning-related problem that positions Ramrod as a consultative partner, rather than a vendor, an order-taker, or simply a distributor of commoditized products.

“At the end of the day, what really matters is whether you’re helping solve customer problems or not,” Halverson said. “All of our effort goes into being helpful.”

In that sense, Ramrod is the perfect reflection of what Elk Grove Village means by being Beyond Business Friendly.

Interested In Elk Grove Village?

If your company is looking to establish or upgrade its working space, we would love to speak with you!

Please email the Business Development Team at BusinessDevelopment@ElkGrove.org to learn more about our business park and all the benefits that come from working here!