The Restoration & Remediation Ask the Expert Podcast

Brandon Donatelli, chief revenue officer with HOMEE, has amassed a great deal of useful knowledge as a fellow restoration contractor, a technology vendor, an insurance side vendor and a firefighter. Before joining HOMEE this January, he worked with CoreLogic, Next Gear Solutions and Matterport. Adopting new technology happens to be a top challenge among restorers, so we invited Donatelli to provide insights on the state of technology in the restoration industry. He covers common tech pain points, how to address them, and key themes within the digital solutions realm, now and on the horizon.

What exactly is bioterrorism, and what does it have to do with cleaning and restoration? Bioterrorism expert Dr. George Buck, Jeff Jones of the Microbial Warrior Experience, Jim Thompson of Jim Thompson & Co., and Larry Cooper of Experience events join us for a panel discussion on the role of cleaning and restoration pros in bioterrorism response. They highlight the threats we face, potential approaches for responding and effective products for treatment. More than anything, they highlight the importance of training more forensic operators. This will be the focus of two keynote presentations at the 2022 Experience Conference & Exhibition, taking place April 6-8 in Cincinnati.

With CAT season coming soon, we invited Avelina Lamb, owner of PuroClean of Chandler, to discuss her franchise’s approach to growing CAT restoration services since its opening in 2018. She shares advice based on work in Louisiana following Hurricane Ida, as well as fire and smoke damage projects in Colorado following recent wildfires. Lamb covers proper preparation, adapting to the cultures of local customers, working with insurance adjusters, collaborating with fellow franchises and more. She also offers advice to women looking to advance in the restoration industry and talks about how running a restoration business compares to her experience running a surgery practice and real estate business.

The beginning of April 2022 is upon us, which means it is Women in Restoration Award winner reveal season. In conjunction with our seventh annual campaign celebrating leading women in this male-dominated industry, we asked all six of the past winners, from 2016 through 2021, to answer one question: To what do you attribute your success? (Check back in next week for an interview with the winner of the 2022 Women in Restoration Award!)

Kustom US, a privately held restoration and remediation company headquartered in Florida, has grown exponentially since 2000 by streamlining operations, acquiring new businesses and embracing a people-centered strategy. In this episode of Ask the Expert, Andrew Zavodney, chairman of the board and CEO, talks about Kustom’s investment in company culture, employee value proposition, corporate governance, M&A due diligence, transparency, accountability and scaling without private equity. He also discusses his role as vice president of the Restoration Industry Association and consolidation as a key industry trend.

In honor of Women’s History Month and Women in Construction Week, we are re-airing our Real Stories in Restoration interview with Jennifer Todd, president of remediation company LMS General Contractors. She discusses her experience as a Black, woman contractor-owner in a white-, male-dominated field. She also highlights the importance of viewing the labor shortage and diversity as one conversation. Todd has been recognized as a 2020 Top Newsmaker by R&R’s sister publication Engineering News Record (ENR), a 2020 Outstanding Women in Construction finalist by Construction Business Owner Magazine, a 2021 ENR 20 Under 40 Construction Professional, and a 2021 ENR Southeast Top Young Professional.

On its surface, restoration doesn’t seem synonymous with “soft.” It is a hard industry that operates in physically and emotionally tough working environments. Restoring a property to pre-loss condition requires a particular set of hard (job-specific) skills and tools. But there is a soft side that R&R Editor Valerie King discusses in her latest editor’s note. She argues that it carries more weight than tools and technical training.

Xactly byGTE finds and places talent with restoration companies across the U.S. and Canada – from startups to businesses earning more than $1 billion annually. Their team recruits for all roles, from field technicians to estimators to sales representatives to executives. In this episode of Ask the Expert, Gregg Taylor, managing member of Xactly byGTE, speaks to the unmet expectations of restoration candidates during the hiring process. Taylor shares best practices, helpful tools, top trends and more related to finding, recruiting and keeping top-notch team members. A few of the many concepts he covers include the power of passive candidates, the cost of a vacant position and the importance of first impressions.

The 2022 Experience Conference & Exhibition is taking place April 6-8 at the Duke Energy Convention Center in Cincinnati. In this episode of Ask the Expert, Larry Cooper, executive director of Experience Events, offers a sneak peek of the upcoming cleaning and restoration event. Highlights include a two-pronged keynote on bioterrorism and microbial warfare; four educational tracks on cleaning, restoration, marketing and business management, and other topics; hands-on demonstrations; full-day pre- and post-conference courses; plus tickets to a Cincinnati Reds baseball game.

ATI Restoration, the largest family operated restoration firm in the U.S., acquired ProCare Solutions in November 2021. A month later ATI acquired Lang Restoration & Construction. Both acquisitions are part of ATI’s accelerated growth strategy launched in 2020, which also included acquisitions of Mark 1 Restoration, QFB Property Restoration and J&M Keystone. In this episode of Ask the Expert, ATI Restoration President Jeff Moore, ProCare Solutions Co-Founder Gus Timbers and Lang Restoration & Construction Founder Lawrence Nelson share first-hand accounts of the hot topic that is M&A. They revisit two unique acquisition stories and lessons learned through the lens of the buyer and the seller.