Service franchise comes to DFW

ProTect Painters, a professional painting contractor franchise, opened its first Dallas-Fort Worth area location Monday in McKinney.

Specializing primarily in exterior, residential painting projects, ProTect Painters of McKinney is located at 6841 Virginia Parkway and, in addition to McKinney, will service Allen, Anna, Celina, Frisco, Melissa, Old Town, Plano, Princeton, Prosper, Stonebridge and Westin.

Owners Eric and Cheree Smith, who live near McKinney's historic district, ended their previous respective careers in information technology and medical assistance to bring the franchise to Collin County.

"One of the things that seemed to kind of be lacking in the corporate world is the relationships that you can build with the people in the community," Eric said. "We really wanted to get involved a little bit more and feel like we're accomplishing something."

Wayne Scherger founded ProTect Painters in 1994, and in 2009, Service Brands International acquired the company and joined it with other well-known service companies Molly Maid, Mr. Handyman and 1-800-DryClean. ProTect Painters' corporate office is in Ann Arbor, Mich., and it has offices in several states throughout the country.

Already with locations in Austin and San Antonio, the franchise hopes to expand its Texas market, specifically in the D-FW Metroplex, said Anne Nemer, the franchise's vice president of marketing and development.

"It's a great place for a painting industry because the weather," Nemer said. "People in Texas are able to get their houses painted all year-round."

Using local professional painting crews, ProTect Painters completes residential and commercial painting projects, including color coordination of older homes and contemporary designs, interior design schemes and paint failure corrections. Its mission is in its name.

"The paint and the coverings actually help to protect your home, your largest investment, so you want to make sure it's taken care of properly," said Eric, explaining that professionals are ideal for all projects, particularly those larger than simply painting a bedroom wall.

The Smiths, who've lived in McKinney for eight years, are the latest entrepreneurs to buy into ProTect Painters' service model, through which local residents already in the desired community run each of the franchise's units.

Eric spent 15 years in the corporate world, including the last 10 in IT support for several Fortune 500 companies, and Cheree worked as a medical assistant in McKinney. They longed for a change, a career move that would allow them to spend more time with their three kids, and they welcomed an opportunity to open a business they said is transforming its industry.

"It's improving the community, offering different services, (and) making the area a little bit nicer to live in," Cheree said. "McKinney has got such a wonderful, very interesting flair to it with the historic district, but also with all the new people who are moving here. We're providing services for those people."

By hiring professional painting crews from the area, the new location will also provide jobs for local painters, Eric said. ProTect Painters employs different crews for different projects, which he said always depend on a specific customer's preference and priority.

"We can draw from a large base of individuals that we have to try to select the right crew," he said. "Some people are more concerned over the cleanliness of the job site, some people are more concerned to ensure things are done properly. By us being able to have various crews...we're able to select the right crew for the right person and the right job."

ProTect Painters is confident its newest market will quickly expand. The brand offers a refund of the franchise fee if a new ProTect Paint owner, like the Smiths, doesn't reach $150,000 in gross sales in the first 18 months.

ProTect Painters of McKinney is the first of 200 units the brand expects to open over the next few years. And more D-FW locations could very well be a part of that expansion.

"There is a need for this service here in our area," Eric said. "It was a no-brainer to open it up where we live."

For more information, visit www.protectpainters.com.

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