ROCHELLE — On Thursday, July 25, a ribbon cutting was held in the downtown Rochelle gazebo area to mark the new membership of Clearly Exteriors to the Rochelle Chamber of Commerce.

The business, owned by Michael and Liz Williams, will celebrate its seventh anniversary in August and offers residential and commercial pressure washing. Rochelle is the Williams’ hometown and the family recently moved back to The Hub City after living north of town in Ogle County for about 10 years. 

“Rochelle has always had a special place in my heart and it's been a positive place for our business,” Michael Williams said. “We specialize in house soft washing and removing green algae on sides of houses properly. A lot of people think they can do it themselves, and they realize they can't get to everything and it takes a long time and they damage the siding. With our soft wash systems we can take care of an inclusive entire house wash in about 90 minutes and the house stays clean 4-5 years. We offer a warranty and annual maintenance and everything in between. We do other work like commercial, sidewalks, concrete and parking lots. If we can spray water on it, we can likely clean it.”

The event was led by Rochelle Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Tricia Herrera, who welcomed Clearly Exteriors and the Williams family back to Rochelle.

“We met with Michael a few months ago and he told me his story and how he got here and that he and his wife have been business owners in other communities,” Herrera said. “We're excited by that. They're already talking about expanding into different businesses and things like that. We want to welcome you. We know you can choose any community, and we're very happy that you chose to be here in Rochelle.”

Rochelle Mayor John Bearrows spoke at the event as well and said he’s excited to watch Clearly Exteriors grow in Rochelle.

“Normally we cut a ribbon in front of a building,” Bearrows said. “This is your mobile building that you work from. We're very pleased that you became a part of the chamber. The chamber provides a lot of things. My hope as mayor is to welcome you to Rochelle as a place that you're going to do business. My second hope is that your business grows and expands here in town. Thank you for being here and being a part of Rochelle.”

Michael Williams said he and his wife have plans for a separate motorcycle repair business in Rochelle in the near future after seeing an unserved market following the recent closure of the Harley-Davidson dealership in DeKalb and a lack of businesses like it in the area.

“People are having a very tough time repairing and keeping up with maintenance on their motorcycles,” Williams said. “It's easy to find a place for a car, but it isn't for motorcycle owners. That's a market that needs to be addressed and we feel like we can get into that and do big things. We're hoping for sometime in 2025 and we're working on a location.”