Ernesto Saucedo has transformed his humble beginnings as a classroom cleaner into the driving force behind Swept Away Janitorial, the commercial cleaning service he founded in 2021. The company was born out of a desire to not only give back to the community which has given Saucedo many opportunities, but also to set a new standard of professionalism in the commercial cleaning industry.

Saucedo, a first-generation immigrant, moved to Jonesboro from Mexico in 1997. He and his wife, Ana, who serves as Swept Away’s director of marketing and finance, married in 2012, and together they have two children, Ian and Gia. Ernesto began his career in the janitorial industry by cleaning classrooms.

“My career in the commercial cleaning industry began in 2002 when Johnny Terrell, whom I consider a mentor, gave me my first opportunity—starting out by cleaning classrooms at Valley View Schools,” said Saucedo.

His cleaning career did not end with cleaning classrooms, however; Saucedo collected expertise in the industry by working in a multitude of positions.

“Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to gain experience in every role within the business, from night cleaner to regional manager, and everything in between,” said Saucedo. “Along the way, I had the privilege of meeting people who are now my business partners: Karen Fernandez, Cirilo Yanez, Kevin Munoz and, of course, my wife, Ana. Interestingly, many of us began our journeys cleaning buildings, which gave us the foundation for the success we’ve built together today.”

Saucedo’s reasons for founding Swept Away were twofold: to give back to his community and to set a new standard of professionalism in the commercial cleaning industry. Besides being a memorable play on words, the company’s name has a deeper significance.

“Our company name reflects our mission to leave behind outdated practices and introduce something better—something built on higher standards, integrity and innovation,” said Saucedo.

The company’s slogan also reflects its commitment to excellence and determination to succeed.

“We love what we do and we are inspired by challenges—they make us better so we will always welcome them,” said Saucedo. “Our slogan, ‘We’ll Make It Happen,’ (was) derived after the first major challenges we faced as a new company, and we have kept it ever since. We will always do our best to be successful.”

Swept Away offers a plethora of services at varying levels, including day porter services, floor and carpet care, construction cleanup, general labor, green cleaning, COVID cleaning, terminal cleaning, electrostatic disinfection and nightly cleaning.
“We offer commercial cleaning services 24/7,” said Saucedo. “We clean everything from small commercial offices to factories and entire school districts. We have accounts we service once a week and also have accounts where we have over 30 full-time employees. We have the expertise and resources big national brands have, and we are also local.”
Swept Away was recently recognized as the top minority-owned employer by employee count in the state of Arkansas, an achievement that the company was able to make after only three years of business. Saucedo and his team value the importance of giving back to the community, displaying gratitude and striving to provide the best service possible.

“The most rewarding part of the business is helping improve the lives of our associates and community,” he said. “I am almost 40 years old, and now I am starting to appreciate that it is better to give rather than to take. Having the ability to help someone in need after a tornado in Wynne, sponsoring someone that wants to participate in a national sports tournament, giving someone a toy that I wished I had when I was a kid and couldn’t afford—those are blessings the Lord has given us.

“We want to thank our community for giving us a chance and supporting us since the beginning. We will always be grateful that we were welcomed with open arms. We are also thankful for dedicated associates that give their best day in and day out. Our success is your success. We hope one day we can inspire other companies just like St. Bernards, NEA Baptist and many others here in town have inspired us. We are more than just a cleaning service; we are a community partner. We want to set the bar of expectation when hiring a cleaning business.”

To learn more about Swept Away, call (870) 340-8533, visit sweptawayjanitorial.com or find the business on Facebook.