In a crowded banquet hall in Dallas, two young men were recently awarded their own franchise licenses by professional basketball player Shane Battier and members of the ServiceMaster Clean staff.

Mike Powell and Jeff Kent are recent graduates of the University of Houston, where Powell was named the Outstanding Finance Student of the year in 2006, and Kent was honored as the top student in the Entrepreneurship Class of 2007.

The Shane Battier Scholarship Program, which launched in March 2007, aims to award five commercial cleaning franchises in 2007, with hopes of helping women and minorities overcome the obstacles that can be associated with the building of a new business.