Josh Hobbs remembers clearly his first day on the job at his family’s business, Dalworth Restoration. It was a hot summer day and he was sent to provide an extra set of hands following fire damage to a home.
The scorching July heat was bad enough, and the smoldering embers at that home turned up the high temperature even higher.
Now, 26 years later, Hobbs is president – not only of Dalworth Restoration but also of Fleet Response’s South Region. More on that in a moment.
The Dalworth Group, which included Dalworth Restoration, Dalworth Clean, and Professional Carpet Cleaning Supplies, was named the 2016 Texas Family Business of the Year by the Institute for Family Business at Baylor University.
The enterprise began in 1981 when James Smith opened Dalworth Clean, a carpet cleaning company. He recruited his brother, Rob, along with his brother-in-law, Shane Hobbs, to launch the company.
The family business prospered and, eventually, James retained leadership of Dalworth Clean while Rob Smith became head of Professional Carpet Cleaning Supplies (PCCS) in 1985 and Shane Hobbs took over leadership of Dalworth Restoration in 1989.
“Family has been at the core of Dalworth Restoration and the entire Dalworth group,” says Josh Hobbs, who was recently named president of Dalworth Restoration. “If you look at the company today, my father, Shane, is now in an advisory role and my brother, Nick, has been the public face of the company, starring in our TV and digital commercials for several years.
The HEB Chamber of Commerce honored Dalworth Restoration as its 2021 Medium-Sized Business of the Year.
In each case, the judges recognized Dalworth’s pristine reputation with its five-star rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB), its commitment to the community, and its leadership within the industry.
That BBB rating is essential because Josh Hobbs believes in the mission of the BBB. He served a three-year term on the organization’s regional board that covers from Corpus Christi and San Antonio, extending north to Austin and Fort Worth.
Dalworth Restoration’s community support is legendary in its home area, due in large part to Josh Hobbs’ commitment to service. He has been a member of the board of directors for 6 Stones Mission Network for six years and has led the Dalworth team in 6 Stones’ Community-Powered Revitalization program, known as CPR, where the company has provided partial and complete restoration of homes at no charge twice a year for each of the last 10 years.
“We have a real passion for making a difference,” adds Hobbs. “When we are restoring a home or a business after a fire or water damage, we are helping to restore lives. We feel the same way when we are taking part in the CPR because we are making a difference for people who need a hand up.”
That commitment to community restoration is evident in another commitment Hobbs has made through “Restoring Kindness” – a program he helped launch in the restoration industry.
The purpose of Restoring Kindness is to lead through example by doing kind deeds for others and to encourage others to follow your lead.
Some of these gestures have included buying meals for random people at restaurants, paying for admission to the Fort Worth Zoo, delivering frozen cakes to police, and delivering plenty of cold bottles of water to firemen.
Hobbs notes that nobody will ever know what kind of impact they have on somebody else with just a kind word or gesture. The impact is often greater and more evident when the action is performed anonymously.
He joined the creator of the program in promoting the Restoring Kindness campaign at a national conference and over 40 restoration companies committed to implementing the campaign, including one restoration company in Australia.
One of Hobbs’ greatest outreaches occurred in April 2020, just a month after the start of the pandemic. He personally delivered over $35,000 worth of Theraworx Protect Advanced Hygiene and Barrier Response Foam to 11 area city fire and police departments. The product was an advanced hand-sanitizing foam – the same substance used by FEMA – that provided up to six hours of coverage against COVID-19.
“We wanted to be sure that as many first responders as possible could have access to this product because we all depend on them in critical situations every day. We wanted them to have an extra layer of safe protection.”
His enthusiasm for service knows no bounds. In 2017, Hobbs sold the most memberships for the HEB Chamber of Commerce’s membership drive. In his words, “If I am giving my time, I’m going to make a difference!”
One sign of leadership is the role a company plays in its industry. Hobbs has led the charge both in Texas and nationally.
Under his leadership, Dalworth Restoration became certified through the Texas Department of Insurance to help insurance adjusters earn CEU credits on courses about restoration after fire damage, smoke damage, and water damage.
Nationally, Hobbs has served two terms as treasurer for the Restoration Industry Association, which is the voice of the restoration industry. He helped manage logistics for the national convention five years ago and is on the planning committee for the next convention in April 2024 in Dallas.
Locally, Josh provides inspiration and motivation for his Dalworth Restoration team. Recent get-togethers consisted of hitting golf balls at TopGolf and playing pickleball at Chicken N Pickle as part of the company’s culture initiative.
Two years ago, Fleet Response committed to becoming a national leader in the restoration industry with a simple strategy: acquire successful family-owned operations, give them free rein and extra capital to manage their businesses, and continue the family-style company atmosphere by retaining key family members in leadership positions.
Each of the member companies’ owners would also own a stake in the Fleet Response enterprise, so it would be in everybody’s interest to ensure fellow operations succeed.
Because of its sterling reputation in the industry and its communities, Dalworth Restoration was one of the first two operations to join Fleet Response.
“We were immediately impressed with Fleet Response’s business model because we had seen it in action with a friend’s operation across Montana,” says Hobbs.
“The parent company was true to its word, providing capital for growth and allowing the successful leadership to continue to operate as if it were their own company. It was a no-brainer for us to join with Fleet Response.”
In the last six months, Dalworth – which is based in Euless – has opened a second location in McKinney to serve the fast-growing area north of Dallas. Hobbs says the company will continue to expand throughout the region.
What began as a small family business is now blossoming throughout North Texas and on its way to becoming a national force.