Cleaning exhaust hoods in commercial kitchens may not sound like a promising starting point for building a multimillion-dollar business. But that’s exactly how Grease Masters got its start.
The company, based in suburban St. Charles, Missouri, is the definition of a full-service, well-diversified business — it pumps out grease traps, collects and recycles cooking oil, and cleans and inspects sewers in and around the St. Louis metro area. It even does a bit of hydroexcavation and plumbing work. How owners John and Pam Remstedt parlayed cleaning exhaust hoods into a thriving, multipronged business vividly illustrates how one service leads to another.
