Growing Santa Claus, Indiana cleaning business aims to continue giving back to local kids

SANTA CLAUS, Ind. — Starting a new business is always difficult, especially during a pandemic. 

But Courtney and Burgess Heberer, owners of Santa Claus Exterior Cleaning, a pressure-washing business based in Santa Claus, Indiana, didn't just want to start a new business. They also wanted to ensure, as part of their business model, that they helped in-need children.

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Burgess, a former child-nutrition scientist, and Courtney, a teacher at Jasper Middle School, have always had the goal of making life better for kids. In addition to allocating 10% of the company's profits to local children, they also gave out more than 60 winter coats to elementary and middle school students last December. 

"Both of us come from lower-middle-class families, and we want to make sure people know it's important to take care of each other," Courtney said. "There's always a need; there's always more you can be doing to benefit children."

The Heberers got the idea to start a exteriors-cleaning business after researching ways to keep the new roof of their home clean in the beginning months of 2020. Burgess said he and Courtney noticed a need for an exterior cleaner in surrounding Santa Claus, and launched their business initially as a side-gig. 

By June, it evolved into a full-time occupation, and in July Burgess quit his old job to focus solely on pressure-washing.

Though the couple described starting a company in the middle of a global pandemic as "doing things in hard mode," they said the time they saved from not having to commute hours for work each day helped them research and build the business more soundly.

Courtney and Burgess said they hope their example encourages other small-business owners give back to their local community. For one of their first charitable acts, the company pressure-washed and cleaned several local-school playgrounds and outdoor areas for preschools, which also included sanitizing playground equipment to keep it all free of COVID.

They're also planning on giving out a yearly, $500 scholarship to a graduating high school student that they can use toward tuition for a four-year college, community college or trade school.

"It's important that all the kids get opportunities to apply for some of these scholarships," Courtney said. "We wanted to make sure that we opened it up to all types of kids with all types of backgrounds and future plans."

As the business expands, Courtney and Burgess also plan to increase charitable outreach. 

"This June will (mark) two years in business," Burgess said. "We're rapidly reinvesting in the company, but we still want to make sure that we're able to make a meaningful impact in the community.

"Just by having more business and being able to serve larger areas, then our charitable contributions should be able to go up from there."

Contact Ray Couture at rcouture@courierpress.com or on Twitter @raybc94