East Coast Kitchen Safety & Compliance

A coalition of kitchen safety companies. Built with the owners who started them.

Gatepost Partners is building a coalition of commercial kitchen hood cleaning, grease trap, and compliance companies along the East Coast. We are combining forces with independent operators, each joining as a partner, to build an operator network with the density, accounts, and buying power no single shop can reach alone. Every owner who comes aboard takes cash at closing, rolls equity into the combined company, and keeps their name on the truck. Everyone rows in the same direction, and everyone shares in where the boat ends up.

Book a meeting How the partnership works

At a Glance

Platform EBITDA
$500,000 to $3,000,000
Partner Companies
Smaller operators near our routes
Industry
Commercial kitchen hood cleaning, grease trap and compliance services
Geography
Metro markets along the East Coast
Transaction
Majority recap with partnership rollover
Download the Factsheet

Majority

Recapitalization, with cash to the owner at closing

Partnership

Every owner rolls equity into the combined company, not just the one they sold

5

Business days to an answer on a teaser or a CIM

Coalition

Independent companies joining as partners, one neighboring operator at a time

The Thesis

Good companies, growing communities, and a better way to grow together

Every commercial kitchen in the country has to have its hoods, ducts and fans cleaned on a schedule, and its grease traps pumped on another. Across the East Coast, almost all of that work is done by founder-owned companies with a handful of trucks, loyal restaurant accounts, and a name the local fire marshal recognizes. Most have grown as far as word of mouth and the owner's own hours will take them.

That is the opportunity. A partnership of neighboring operators, sharing scheduling, documentation, and people, can serve larger accounts and run denser routes than any of them could alone, while keeping the local names and crews their customers already know.

The code writes the order book

NFPA 96 sets how often a kitchen exhaust system has to be cleaned, by what is cooking on the line. The customer does not decide whether to buy, only from whom.

Revenue that repeats on a schedule

Monthly for solid fuel, quarterly for high volume, twice a year for most casual dining. Kitchens stay with a crew they trust, and the partnership protects that.

Route density drives margin

A crew that cleans three or four kitchens a night instead of one earns far more per shift at nearly the same cost. Neighboring companies that combine routes get there fastest.

A growing East Coast

More restaurants, hotels, hospitals and schools opening kitchens every year, and East Coast metros sit close enough together that one crew can serve several.

Partnership

Row together, go further

A rowing crew is faster than its strongest rower, because everyone pulls on the same stroke. That is how this partnership gets built. Owners who join are not bought out and shown the door. Every one of them rolls equity into the combined company, keeps leading the people who know them if they want to, and shares in what the business becomes.

  1. 01

    The first partner

    A well-run kitchen exhaust and grease trap business joins first and anchors the coalition. Chris steps in full-time as its operator, the crew and the name stay, and the owner rolls part of the proceeds into the combined company as the first partner.

  2. 02

    Neighbors join

    Operators whose routes sit next to ours join as partners. Their crews pick up kitchens on the same nights in the same neighborhoods, and their customers keep seeing the same faces.

  3. 03

    Grow together

    Shared scheduling, shared compliance documentation, and shared buying power compound across every branch. Every partner owns a piece of a larger, more valuable regional company.

What the Platform Brings

  • An account engine that wins multi-site chain, hotel, healthcare and institutional work around your existing routes
  • Every call answered, and scheduling that converts one-off jobs into signed NFPA 96 frequency agreements
  • Better pay, IKECA-track training, and a career ladder, so good technicians stay and good recruits come
  • Billing, payroll, insurance, permits, and inspection documentation handled centrally, off your desk
  • Purchasing scale on trucks, pressure washers, pumps, chemicals, and filters

What Stays Yours

  • The name on the truck and the number customers already call
  • Your crew, their routes, and the relationships they have built
  • A leadership role for as long as you want one, and a clear exit whenever you do not
  • Partnership equity in the whole platform, so the growth after closing is partly yours

Investment Criteria

The companies we are bringing together

Building a coalition for the long run changes what matters in a sale. Cash at closing, the name and the crew stay, real ownership in what comes next, and a straight answer quickly when the fit is wrong. Here is what fits.

Size

Established, profitable companies with a track record. The founding partner typically has $500,000 to $3,000,000 of EBITDA on roughly $2.5 million to $17 million of revenue, and the operators who join around it can be smaller companies near our routes.

Kitchen Safety

Hood and exhaust cleaning on scheduled NFPA 96 frequencies, grease trap and interceptor service, or both. Fan repair, filter exchange, containment, and used cooking oil fit alongside a recurring base.

East Coast

Metro markets along the East Coast. We build density one metro at a time, adding neighboring operators around each so a crew can serve several kitchens on the same night.

Partnership Structure

Gatepost Partners buys a majority interest, and every owner rolls equity into the combined company as a partner. Whoever holds the certification or hauling permit stays on through the transition. A day-to-day role for you is welcomed but never required.

A Good Fit

  • An owner planning succession who wants to share in what the partnership builds next
  • 10 or more years in business, with a name the local kitchens and fire marshals recognize
  • Most revenue from scheduled frequency agreements rather than one-off calls, with steady account retention
  • A lead technician or working manager, other than you, who plans to stay and grow with the partnership
  • Tax returns, a profit and loss statement, and a customer list. That is enough to start.

Out of Scope

  • Start-ups, pre-revenue companies, and turnarounds
  • A founding partner below $500,000 or above $3,000,000 of EBITDA
  • Minority positions, since the purchase is a majority interest
  • A full cash exit with no continuing ownership in the partnership
  • Books built mainly on one-off calls with no service schedule behind them
  • Franchise territories, and locations outside the states listed above

Target Services

The three service lines in focus

Scheduled compliance work is the core. Most good operators run across two or three of these lines, and each one makes the others more valuable on the same visit.

Hood & Exhaust Cleaning

The NFPA 96 work, done on the schedule the code sets and documented for the inspection.

Representative Services

  • Hood, plenum, and duct cleaning to bare metal
  • Rooftop and in-line exhaust fan service
  • Rooftop grease containment
  • Filter exchange programs
  • Duct access panel installation
  • Before and after documentation for the file

Grease Trap & Interceptor

The other half of the same kitchen, on its own schedule and its own municipal paperwork.

Representative Services

  • Scheduled grease trap pumping
  • In-ground interceptor service
  • Drain and kitchen line jetting
  • FOG ordinance compliance and manifests
  • Used cooking oil collection
  • Emergency backup response

Kitchen Safety & Compliance

The work sold on the same visit, to the same manager, against the same inspection.

Representative Services

  • Exhaust fan repair and hinge kits
  • Fire suppression inspection coordination
  • Make-up air and kitchen HVAC cleaning
  • Kitchen deep cleaning
  • Inspection-ready reporting and photo records
  • Multi-site scheduling for chains and institutions

About

Meet Chris Kern

Chris Kern Chris Kern hiking at Machu Picchu, Peru Chris Kern at the backcountry gate above Big Sky Resort, Montana

Chris Kern

Founder

chris@gatepostpartners.com (813) 597-5980 linkedin.com/in/chrishkern

Chris is building Gatepost Partners around commercial kitchen safety because he already runs a business that works the same way. He owns a residential water treatment company, mostly softeners and filtration for homes on private wells, where the calls come when something has gone wrong with water a customer cannot do without. Running it taught him what a small field service company depends on: a technician who shows up, a phone someone answers, and enough route density to stay profitable at small ticket sizes. Commercial kitchen exhaust cleaning and grease trap service run on exactly those things, with the added strength of a fire code that tells the customer how often to buy.

He spent a handful of years as a private equity associate at a lower middle market firm investing in specialty services, value-added distribution, and niche manufacturing, working on platform buyouts and add-on acquisitions of founder and family-owned companies. He supported origination, ran diligence and financing workstreams through to closing, and worked alongside management teams on budgets, KPI reporting, and integration. That work is where he saw how much faster a group of good companies grows when the owners stay invested and pull in the same direction. He lines up equity before signing a letter of intent, so the price in the letter is the price he stands behind at closing. Previously, he was an associate at TGH Ventures, the venture capital group inside Tampa General Hospital, investing in digital health and healthcare services.

Chris lives in Philadelphia and plans to move to the market to run the platform day to day. Outside of work, he enjoys attempting, but often failing, to break 80 on the golf course, playing classical piano, and searching for his best next hiking spot. He earned a B.S. in Finance from Florida State University, graduating magna cum laude with honors, and is an MBA candidate at The Wharton School.

How This Works

What you can hold Gatepost to

Choosing a partner for the company you built is a slow, private decision, and you will make it once. These are the rules Gatepost Partners holds itself to while you think it over.

Straight Answers
If the business is not a fit, you hear so on the first call, with the reason. You should not learn that from silence 6 weeks later.
Confidentiality
A confidentiality agreement is signed before you send anything. Your employees, customers, and competitors will not hear about it from Gatepost Partners.
Certainty of Close
Equity is committed before the letter of intent is signed. Debt is arranged during exclusivity, with lenders lined up in advance.
Continuity
The name stays, the phone number stays, and the crew keeps their jobs and their routes. Customers keep seeing the technician they already know.
Aligned Interests
Every owner who joins rolls equity alongside Gatepost into the same company. When the platform grows, every partner who helped build it shares in it.

The Process

Start with a conversation about what you want next

From the first call to closing usually takes 3 to 4 months. You will still be running routes the whole time, so the work stays on this side of the table wherever possible. The partnership starts on the day after closing.

  1. 1

    Introductory call

    30 minutes

    A call about the company, what you want to happen next, and how a partnership would work for you. A confidentiality agreement is signed first.

  2. 2

    In-person meeting

    2 to 3 hours

    A visit to the office to meet the people who run the work, ride along on a route, and talk through how your company would fit in the platform.

  3. 3

    Letter of intent

    2 to 3 weeks

    Price, structure, your partnership rollover, and your role after closing, in plain English. Equity is committed before signing, so the terms hold.

  4. 4

    Due diligence

    8 to 12 weeks

    A review of financials, account retention, route density, permits and certifications, and your service documentation, run around your schedule. Your team hears about it when you decide to tell them.

  5. 5

    Close

    2 to 3 weeks

    Documents are signed and funds move. You are paid for your majority stake, and your rollover becomes your ownership in the combined company. The partnership begins.

  6. 6

    Row together

    The years ahead

    The platform's marketing, systems, and people get to work on your routes, neighboring companies join, and the business you started keeps growing as part of something larger.

Firm Materials

Download the factsheet

One page covering the thesis, the partnership, the criteria, and who is behind the firm. Print it, forward it, or hand it to your accountant.

Gatepost Partners Factsheet

One page. Thesis, partnership, criteria, and background. Updated 2026.

  • Investment thesis and size parameters
  • How the partnership and rollover work
  • Hood cleaning, grease trap, and compliance services
  • Founder background and direct contact
Download the Factsheet or view it in your browser

PDF, 1 page. No email required. Nothing is tracked.

Book a Meeting

Put 30 minutes on the calendar

Pick a time that suits you and it lands directly on the calendar. The first call is a conversation about the business, what you want to happen next, and whether rowing together makes sense. You need no documents for it, and a confidentiality agreement is signed before you send anything.

  • 30 minutes, by phone or video, whichever you prefer
  • Confidential, and it commits you to nothing
  • The person who would be your partner takes the call

Get in Touch

Send a note

Tell Gatepost Partners a little about the company and what you want to happen next. Every message is read personally and answered within 1 business day. Writing stays private and commits you to nothing.

Email

chris@gatepostpartners.com

Phone

(813) 597-5980

Reply

Within 1 business day

Your information stays private. It will not be sold, and your company will not be listed anywhere.