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Still cleaning up

More than a year later, contractors are still dealing with the damage from Hurricane Sandy.

Christopher Hunt, vice president of Tamke Tree Experts based in Liberty, N.J., the northern New Jersey area, says his company was inundated with post-Hurricane Sandy work for about four to five months after the disaster.

The company’s first step was to triage the emergency situations (e.g., a tree in a bedroom) versus a downed tree in a yard that wasn’t blocking anything.

“This is not our first rodeo in dealing with storm damage and acts of God of this proportion,” Hunt says.

“In the year before was the ‘Snowtober’ storm, with broken limbs and downed wires.”

The work stemming from Sandy carried Hunt’s company for a long time, creating a backlog of work, though he found that his customers were willing to wait, particularly for non-emergency situations.

Keeping customers informed and at ease was Hunt’s priority, as well as his biggest challenge. As Sandy caused loss of power in a widespread area, maintaining communication with both employees and customers was not easy. Within a day or so, however, they quickly were up and running. Even so, “…getting access to some properties and customers was difficult,” he says.

Perhaps Joe Holland’s, owner of Majestic Lawn and Landscape in Rockland County, N.Y., most considerable challenge emanating from Hurricane Sandy was processing all the wood left over from the storm.

“We had mountains and mountains of logs in our facility that had to be cut up and split into firewood; we only finished last September,” he says.

Read the whole story at lawnandlandscape.com and search “Still cleaning up.”
 

KISS, a new president and tips for trade shows
 

If you’ve missed any of our recent podcasts from our Lawn Care Radio Network, then you’ve missed a lot. Check out a few of them below. You can find more podcasts on our website at bit.ly/medialawn, or by subscribing for free on iTunes at bit.ly/lcrnitunes.

Rock ‘n’ roll lessons
Author and speaker Steve Jones talks about how business owners can learn how to be different from KISS and what to learn from U2 about sticking to your core values as a company.
bit.ly/rnrlessons

Numbers and the future
New president of the Grounds Guys, Chris Elmore, gave some insight on why small business owners need to better understand their finances, and what he thinks about the future of the industry.
bit.ly/lawnelmore

Trade show guide
Marketing expert Tim Asimos talks about how to get the results you want at a show. He gives advice on what to do at your booth, and how to promote your presence at a show.
bit.ly/lltradetips

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