Nine years ago, Byron Denhart, a University alumnus, was browsing through an entrepreneur magazine when he stumbled upon an article about a laundry service company on the East Coast.

Having always wanted to start his own business, Denhart was inspired by the company and decided to model his own business after the idea. About five months later, The Student Valet Inc. was born.

“I was working through different ideas and literally read about this idea in a magazine — it doesn’t take a genius to figure out how to do laundry on a large scale,” Denhart said. “That’s when the entrepreneurial bug kind of grabbed me.”

Currently in its seventh year of business, the pickup and delivery laundry and dry-cleaning service began out of Denhart’s home with just three sets of washers and dryers.

Now a full-fledged business, the company is run out of a facility in St. Joseph, Ill., with seven washers, eight dryers and six employees.

“We go right to your door, pick up your laundry, do it, and it comes back the next day nice and folded and ready to wear. Literally all you have to do is open up the bag and start wearing your clothes,” Denhart said.

The Student Valet primarily serves campus-based students, although they do have a handful of off-campus customers.

The company also does commercial work, including linen services for Newman Hall and the Hendrick House, as well as food-service linens for Newman and Bromley halls.

The weekly service rate is $1.20 per pound; the one-time rate is $1.35 per pound.

“(Our) weekly service is for the students that want a pickup every week,” Denhart said. “We try and schedule a reoccurring time that works in their schedule, and we show up at basically the same exact time each and every week.”

Denhart knew when he started his business that he wanted it to be on a college campus. As far as which college campus to choose, Denhart said, “U of I was just kind of a given.”

Tyler Spitz, junior in Business and the president of Zeta Beta Tau, uses The Student Valet laundry service, as do about 25 members of his house.

“Being president and involved with a lot of other things, I don’t have a lot of time to do (laundry),” Spitz said.

“It’s not that much more expensive than it is to (do) laundry in our house. … It’s just really convenient for me when I’m going down to class to bring laundry downstairs, and the next day it comes back and it’s all clean and folded.”

Because of students like Spitz, The Student Valet has seen a consistent 20 to 30 percent increase in its business each year for the past three years.

“Our first boost of business, we averaged 250 pounds of laundry a week, and now we’re up in the neighborhood of about 10 times that amount,” Denhart said. “We’re really expanding quite a bit these days.”

Denhart picks up the laundry Monday through Thursday in the mornings and drops off laundry again Monday through Friday in the afternoons. He said his job as delivery man is something he truly enjoys.

“It gets a little overwhelming with everything else that I (have) to do to run the business, but it’s really nice to where it keeps me in front and in contact with our customers,” Denhart said.

“It’s just good to keep my face out there and have a nice interaction with my customers.”

Tristan Pisarczyk, director of operations at Newman Hall, has been working with The Student Valet for two years.

“He’s (Denhart) very customer-service-focused, and he’s helped us really get a handle on our laundry needs,” Pisarczyk said.

Denhart said he loves owning his own business not only because he can be his own boss but because he sees himself as “an entrepreneur at heart.” With the hope of expanding his company to other college campuses in the future, Denhart said the company’s successful branching will be achieved by hard work — something he says all entrepreneurs must do.

“If you want to really be successful in life, you’ve got to create your own opportunities,” Denhart said.

“Don’t wait around for a handout   — go out and make it happen.”

Morgan can be reached at [email protected]