Island firm among UPS ‘Entrepreneurial Spirit Award’ winners
Fernando Arroyo, president of Jani Clean (at podium) and José Oramas, General Manager of UPS Puerto Rico
Jani Clean, a Puerto Rican company specializing in janitorial products and services, was chosen as one of three small and medium-sized businesses in Latin America to receive the UPS Entrepreneurial Spirit Award for innovation and success.
The award is the culmination of a competition that ran from Sept. 25 to Nov. 9, 2012 through which the company won $10,000.
Jani Clean has been in business for 22 years, positioning themselves as a company that not only offers cleaning services but also painting and maintenance of green areas, among others, according to the company’s description.
“There is so much talent and innovation in the region and these award winning businesses are just proof of the promise coming from Latin America. Going through the registrations was interesting and insightful and with so many good practices, it was no easy task to narrow them down to three,” said Ariel C. Armony, Director of the University of Miami’s Center for Latin American Studies, referring to the two other winning firms from Mexico and Colombia.
“However, we did and these winners have shown a commitment to excellence and great potential in growth,” he said.
The three winning SMEs were selected after careful review and consideration by a multidisciplinary panel of regional experts representing business, academia, and media sectors.
Participants from 14 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean submitted entries from a widespread array of industries such as healthcare, IT, textile, business services, and manufacturing, among others. The first place winner was Mexican toy company Gashaball, S.A., while Colombia’s C.I Kids Club Ltda. took second place.
