Rick and Kellie Swango, owners of Rainbow International of East Central Kansas, received the Franchisee of the Year Award and Top Gun recognition from Rainbow International corporate at the 2016 Dwyer Group International Conference held Sept. 11-14 in San Antonio, Texas.

The Franchisee of the Year Award is the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a franchisee. The award is presented to the franchisee who has consistently grown through proper training and management of their organization and has had a consistently high level of sales through quality, professional service.

“The Rainbow International team could not be more proud of the job Rick and his team have done over the last year,” said Mark Welstead, president of Rainbow International. “They have set the standard for our franchisees and we are glad to have them and their leadership ability on our team.”

“Our team is happy to receive the Franchisee of Year,” Swango said. “It is an honor and a privilege. The bar is set, not only for our company, but all of the Rainbow International locations. We look forward to working on achieving even greater success in the future.”

The Top Gun award goes to franchise owners who achieve top sales and reach operation benchmarks. The Top Gun recipients represent the top 10 percent of Rainbow International franchise owners across North America.

“The idea of ‘Top Gun’ was established by the Navy in the 1960s as a way to give training and credit to elite fighter pilots,” said Welstead, president of Rainbow International. “Taking a page from the Naval Top Gun Program, each year we recognize our franchise leaders for their accomplishments and dedication to the trade. It takes dedication, hard work, expertise and commitment to reach the Top Gun goal and we are honored to have these winners on our team.”

 “We are honored to receive this award,” Swango said. “We are committed to working hard every day to provide timely, courteous and professional cleaning and restoration services that meet and exceed our customers’ expectations.”