Profile
The Downey family has been in the carpet, rug and upholstery cleaning business in Columbus since 1897. John Downey, president of Downey's Carpet Care of Granville, has spent his 35-plus year career involved in various aspects of the carpet care industry:
He began his career in the 1970s working as a cleaning technician in the family business in Columbus, which in the 1980s he managed.
In 1989 he founded and first published Cleanfax, a magazine for professional carpet cleaners, which he sold in 1997 and served as editor until 2000.
From 2000 through 2004, Downey's company sold carpet cleaning systems and training to commercial facilities through a nationwide network of distributors. The company's clients included such well-known organizations as Disney, Boeing and NASA.
In the fall of 2004, as a result of a health crisis suffered by John's wife, Cecilia, the Downeys decided it was time to simplify. The carpet cleaning systems business, while lucrative, demanded long hours and a lot of traveling. It was time to put first things first, to reexamine priorities, and to start a new, simpler business that served faith and family first.
