CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SMS Assist, an innovative mobile and cloud-based multisite property management company, today announced that former Rackspace CEO Taylor Rhodes has been named SMS Assist’s new chief executive officer. He replaces outgoing CEO and company founder Mike Rothman, who will remain as chairman in continued support of SMS Assist’s growth.
Rhodes joins SMS Assist with two decades of technology and services leadership experience, most recently as CEO of Rackspace, the number one managed cloud company. After joining Rackspace in 2007, Rhodes was part of the leadership team that took the company public and led its rapid growth as a cloud pioneer to more than two billion dollars in revenue. Rackspace is consistently recognized as a technology and customer service leader in Gartner’s® Magic Quadrant, the annual ranking of top competitors in the cloud industry. Recently named #2 Best Midsize Employer by Forbes, Rackspace blends its Fanatical Support® customer service culture and strong technology innovation to deliver unrivaled service quality and value. Rhodes is a former US Marine Corps infantry officer and holds an MBA from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
“We are thrilled to welcome Taylor Rhodes to SMS Assist. Taylor’s background as CEO of Rackspace combined technology innovation and operational excellence with a customer-first orientation, a highly complementary fit with the SMS Assist vision and culture,” said Christopher Dawe, SMS Assist board member and co-head of the Goldman Sachs Investment Partners venture and growth equity team. “We also want to recognize the extraordinary accomplishments and strategic vision of SMS Assist founder Mike Rothman. Under his leadership, the company led the way in creating a scalable solution that improves quality, transparency and cost across the broader facility management industry.”
Rothman founded SMS Assist in 2003 with six employees. Under his leadership, SMS Assist transformed into one of the fastest-growing technology companies in Chicago by revolutionizing the speed, cost and quality of multisite facilities management services.
“The unique and transformative platform developed by SMS Assist has provided us with greater transparency and ultimate control of our service delivery, enabling both our vendors and employees in providing a superior experience to our customers at the lowest possible cost,” said Fred Tuomi, CEO of Colony Starwood Homes. “We share the common values of engaging, servicing and delighting our customers through powerful and impactful technology solutions.”
In 2016, the same year that founder Mike Rothman was named a Midwest Entrepreneur of the Year and national finalist by Ernst & Young, SMS Assist received $150 million in Series D funding at a $1 billion valuation from Goldman Sachs Investment Partners, the same team that invested in Uber, Facebook, Pinterest and Spotify.
“Multisite property owners and managers face an increasingly complex set of demands and need better, smarter ways to manage their properties and reduce costs without sacrificing quality,” said Tony Pritzker, Pritzker Group managing partner. “SMS Assist’s winning combination of cutting-edge technology and exceptional service delivers real value and best-in-class results, every time.”
“I couldn’t be more proud to welcome Taylor to the world-class team we’ve built at SMS Assist,” said Rothman. “Building SMS into one of the premiere technology companies in Chicago has been the greatest honor of my professional life, and in Taylor we have a CEO who will bring the passion and experience we need to accelerate our mission.” Under Rothman’s leadership, SMS Assist achieved the #32 spot on the Forbes World’s Best 100 Cloud Companies list. The company has also earned prestigious recognition in the Deloitte Technology Fast 500™ for two years running, as a 2017 Digital Edge 50 award winner, and in 2015 received the Moxie Award and the Merrick Momentum Award for its technology and industry leadership. The company also attracted previous investments from Huizenga Capital Management, Insight Venture Partners, and Pritzker Group Venture Capital.
“I’m humbled and grateful for this opportunity to lead the exceptional team at SMS Assist. The company’s continuous growth and technology innovation is proof of its entrepreneurial spirit and passion for customer value,” said Rhodes. “Mike’s genius was recognizing the opportunity to disrupt the huge, inefficient multisite property management industry by deploying a scalable, fully-managed technology-enabled solution. With this team’s passion for innovation and service, we will continue to revolutionize the industry.”
About SMS Assist
SMS Assist is a Chicago-based technology company providing multisite property management to a roster of Fortune 500 clients with a team of more than 700 dedicated employees and more than 140,000 service locations. Using its proprietary software platform to manage its network of more than 20,000 affiliate subcontractors, SMS Assist offers a suite of property management benefits including leveraged pricing of products and services, $50 million risk indemnification, real-time services validation, instant invoicing, automatic service audits and data analysis to ensure quality and cost efficiency. SMS Assist is revolutionizing multisite property management services for its growing list of national and Fortune 500 clients including Family Dollar, JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), O'Reilly Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ: ORLY) and Colony Starwood Homes (NYSE: SFR). To learn more, visit smsassist.com.
