Small Business Today Magazine MAR 2016 AMERICAN SERVICES | Page 9

American Services fleet of service vans and trucks together with 12 factory trained technicians are ready to serve their
growing “family” of satisfied clients! Photo courtesy of American Services

Larry grew up just outside of Friendswood off of 2351 and Beamer Road. He
was brought up by his mother and stepdad who were both meat cutters. Even
though Larry never had any role models in entrepreneurship, interestingly
enough, he chose to be one. “The truth
is,” explained Larry, “the reason why I
am an entrepreneur is because I don’t
like being told what to do! That’s pretty
much it.”
Larry first began working as an electrician for Borden’s Milk Company where
they put him through air conditioning
and refrigeration school. Eventually, he
was promoted to the position of supervisor over the maintenance and engineering departments. During that time
at Borden’s, Larry started doing air conditioning work on the side. After awhile,
he was making more money working part
time than he was making working full
time at Borden’s. Larry quipped, “It got
to the point that I couldn’t afford to work
there anymore!” Recognizing that there
was more money to be made working for
himself, Larry left Borden’s in 1983 and
went into business on his own. To Larry’s surprise, Borden’s later called him and
hired him to do contract work for them.
Tony’s background is quite different
than Larry’s. Although he doesn’t sound
like it, Tony grew up in Long Island, New
York. As Tony explains, “I am part Irish
and part Hispanic and I speak a little
bit of Spanish. I’m also part Caribbean

because my mother was from Trinidad.
When I was a young boy, I wanted to be
a pirate because I thought the ships, the
cannons, and the swords were so exciting. As I grew older, I realized that wasn’t
very practical so, instead, I became a
medical technologist and worked in hospitals. The hospital I was working for
closed down. The property had become
very valuable so i