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April 20, 2026
ABRAMS – It’s been two decades since Tricia Ascher founded Ascher’s Janitorial Services.
With all the work she and her staff have put in, Tricia said her conscience is just as clean as the businesses and homes the company maintains.
“I enjoy working with customers and my team, because it’s meaningful work,” she said. “Whether you’re working with people to solve their building problems or you’re working with people to make their lives easier.”
From its recently renovated office at 2916 County Road EE in Abrams, Tricia said it feels good for Ascher’s to contribute to the success and well-being of companies and residents throughout “all of Northeast Wisconsin, all the way from the [Fox] Valley up to Michigan [and] halfway across the state.”
“We do everything from duct cleaning to electrical contracting to your carpet cleaning and service calls,” she said.
According to the company’s website – aschersjanitorial.com – Ascher’s commonly serves the following types of institutions:
- Auto dealerships
- Business offices
- Financial institutions
- Government institutions
- Manufacturing facilities
- Medical offices
Due to the sensitive nature of certain institutions’ data and information, Tricia said Ascher’s is imminently attaining its Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) – the latest expansion for the company that, throughout its 20 years, has continued to evolve its services and clientele.
As she looks forward to the company’s future, Tricia said it’s “unbelievable” how the decades have flown by, crediting the surprising passage of time to the gratification of the work and the people.
“[It’s] kind of unreal,” she said. “It really doesn’t feel like 20 years.”
‘A helping hand’ for businesses, homes
Tricia said when she first founded Ascher’s, the company focused on commercial cleaning before expanding into carpet cleaning and eventually general floor care.
“We just started to increase services and the amount of networking and trusted connections we have made,” she said.
In 2014, Tricia said Ascher’s added restoration services to its repertoire.
Per the website, the company’s further services include:
- Cleaning and sanitizing
- Project work
- Floor care and upholstery cleaning
- Interior maintenance and repair
- Exterior maintenance
- Mechanical and utility services
Tricia said 80% of her business is comprised of regularly scheduled commercial cleaning.
Though whatever customers may need, she said Ascher’s is eager to lend “a helping hand” – whether that means fulfilling requested services or suggesting others based on her team’s experience.
“If a customer comes in and says they only want cleaning one day a week, and they have 150 people going through [their facility] in a week, [for example, I’ll tell them], ‘I think you need [cleaning] at least two or three days a week,” she said. “We’re very open and honest with recommendations.”
Tricia said proper service is a matter of “working with people on the whole solution,” as well as being proactive, aware and staying “in front of the eight ball.”
She said her team serves as their clients’ “eyes,” constantly observing the state of the premises beyond whatever initial checklist they may have.
“They choose us because we don’t just go in there and switch the garbage…,” she said. “They’re getting a company that cares more, that pays attention, that’s engaged with their building.”
Tricia said a recent example of Ascher’s ethics occurred when one of her cleaners spotted a wet area on an office ceiling tile.
“By the time he got done cleaning the facility, the ceiling tile was on the floor, so he cleaned it up, and he called the emergency services right away,” she said.
Fortunately, Tricia said Ascher’s has a 24/7 emergency line for staff and customers alike – “there’s always someone there for them.”
In the case of the ceiling issue, she said the Ascher’s restoration crew was called in and identified a leak in the building’s roof.
From there, thanks to her extensive network, Tricia said she was able to serve as the customer’s single point of contact and quickly hire local contractors to repair the problems.
“We are your one-stop shop,” she said. “We can help you solve those building issues and stop them before it gets out of control.”
Tricia said her goal with Ascher’s is to relieve customers of maintenance worries altogether.
“If you’re looking for a teammate to really help your business grow and succeed, let us take your building maintenance off your plate…,” she said. “Do what you’re good at and let us worry about the rest…, and through it all, we’ll all be successful.”
Team-, data-oriented
Tricia said Ascher’s 20-year run has required “a lot of determination” and “a really good team around me,” starting with the company’s roughly 40 employees.
“Some people have been with us for a very, very long time, and they have stayed with the company and have grown with the company,” she said.
Tricia said staffing is supplemented by subcontracting work to trusted professionals she has known for 20 years, adding that flexibility is the “No. 1 benefit to all the employees.”
In turn, she said the company has been propelled by pride and accountability across the team, as members maintain businesses within their own communities.
“A lot of times these people are cleaning, say, the bank they go to, or the clinic they go to or other places within their community,” she said. “Maybe they don’t [personally patronize] that bank, but they’ll see, say, the bank teller in their community, so they have a care if that building is taken care of, or a care about that facility.”
Hailing from a small town, Tricia said she’s well accustomed to a sense of civic responsibility.
“I very much grew up the same way: if you don’t treat that facility or that company the right way, you’re going to hear about it,” she said. “It’s your reputation, and your reputation means something.”
Tricia said data is also central to her approach and Ascher’s success, focused on identifying pain points and addressing them through hands-on problem-solving and follow-up, rather than gut instinct alone.
“[I] listen to the whole story and investigate…,” she said. “I go off the facts. I need data.”
Atypical origins, expectations
Tricia said between the personal care and connection between Ascher’s and the communities it serves, and the way she gathers information to improve her clients’ and team members’ lives, she feels her service standards are exceptionally high.
Her lofty expectations, she said, stem from her never having expected to end up in this field.
According to the Ascher’s website, Tricia’s path to entrepreneurship began in food science, where she developed new products, before moving into Lean and Six Sigma work helping companies streamline operations nationwide.
“I did not come from the janitorial field at all,” she said, “and when I started in this field, one of the biggest things I looked at was throwing out any preconceived notion and really looking at it differently. I don’t care what the competition does. I care what we do – and that’s doing what we say and saying what we do.”
Tricia said another competitive edge for Ascher’s comes from being a woman-owned business, noting that it brings a different perspective to operations.
That’s something she said she’s long “impressed on” her daughter, Elizabeth, who she said has been accompanying her to professional events and involved with Ascher’s since childhood.
Today, she said Elizabeth serves as the operations manager of Ascher’s.
By combining the company’s feminine “point of strength” along with “some grit,” a talented team, cherished clientele and the CMMC on the way, Tricia said Ascher’s Janitorial Services is set to continue to (per the company’s website) “lead with efficiency, integrity and a results-driven mindset.”
