The Burke Connection - June 6, 1991
Your House Is Their Canvas
By Colleen T. Horn
THE CONNECTION
Burke resident Jason Clifton is not only putting a lot of primer on houses as a University Painters’ employee, he’s also priming himself for a career in management.
Even though the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University student is home for the summer, his education as a marketing and management major is continuing in the world’s classroom as he manages University Painters in the Northern Virginia area.
With a team of seven college students from area schools, Clifton has been providing professional paint service to many Northern Virginia localities.
Clifton loaded his van recently with cold sodas in a cooler and headed to a site where a crew of three of his workers were painting. The drive was practically across the road from his house in the Swift Run Trails neighborhood, and many of the workers also live with their parents in the area.
The house, when Clifton pulled into view, was manned on almost every side by a painter in a crisp white University Painter’s T-shirt with clean-cut collegiate looks. Their work materials were hidden behind the house and drop cloths were lying around in strategic places.
“When we leave, nothing is painted but the house,” Clifton said.
The group prides itself on doing a professional job. They say their customers make the “educated choice” because University Painters is much more affordable than local contractors since it’s a franchise that receives discount paint and employs college students. The workers also have as much training as professional painters, and the company offers a two-year guarantee on all of its work.
The company was started by Joshua Jablon, then a college student in Philadelphia, and has since expanded into Maryland and Virginia.
But most of Clifton’s business doesn’t come easily, but instead requires lots of pounding the pavement, knocking on doors and word-of-mouth.
Currently, Clifton has only two teams of workers, but he hopes to add two more teams later in the summer as business starts booming.
“This is a good time of year to paint houses’ exteriors,” he said.
