Fax Benefactor Initial with airSlate SignNow

Save initial benefactor

hello and welcome back to chapter chats with Washington Metropolitan chapter a community associations Institute I am Jamie Barnhart the executive director of the chapter and with me today I have Trent Harrison with first service residential welcome Trent how are you good to be here doing great doing great things for the environment absolutely well first service has been a member of CAI for for many many years a benefactor here at our DC chapter and is heavily involved in our chapter work at the committee level all the way through the board level and so we thank you for that that long-term commitment and dedication to CAI absolutely it's great to be here it's great to it's great to help out wonderful so tell me a little bit about first service residential all right so for those who don't know me first services property management company and we manage home arts associations condominium associations large scale properties you know throughout the North America and in the DC metro area so we manage you know all types of product from association with 30 houses of the community with 10,000 houses in the market so a little bit of everything I think we really specialize in some of the larger properties because we can provide that depth of resources I think and the the support that a lot of these communities need in this market excellent so you know culture culture is so important in an organization especially one of one of your size so tell me about the culture there at first service residential yes we focus a lot me on the culture I mean I think culture wins I think in any organization and what we found out over the years is that you can't you can't go to a seminar or I have a PowerPoint or a playbook and says okay let me grab my let me grab my culture playbook here and see I got to read that you know it's got to be organic it's got to be you have to feel it everybody's has a different way of really inscribing the culture on their company and so what we've really found is that I think really having the connection the associates and having them really feel a true support of throughout the organization I think it's important you know we're not sitting up on our ivory tower you know we're connected with you know with everybody in the in the organization so that's been really important for us to really focus on that because what we found is that having the right culture you know helps with all parts of the business and it really helps with recruiting and retention and we've had a lot of managers over the years is said look if I'm gonna work for a company it's gonna be it's gonna be yours and if I'm leaving if I'm leaving for service I'm leaving the industry so you know we do you know we do lose some associates from time to time that you may get a pay increase or things like that overall I think you know we have some really dedicated team members out a lot of people knocking on our door from time to time they really wanted to end the company it's not it's not from what I've done that's really what everybody organization does because they talk to everybody else in the company in the whole area and everybody's well connected in this industry and they say you know I got a job offer or I got an opportunity for a service what you think and that's really the that's really the key indicator so they say well you know it's a good company or it's because everyone's got the different reasons but want to make sure that they feel that and they feel that you know that the culture is aligned throughout the organization - so from you know from my boss's boss all the way down to the person work in the front desk they should all be singing the same tune and they should feel like you know I'm approachable and you know everything everyone the organization's approach formally cares yeah with the culture like that I imagine you have some very very long tenured employees so who what's your longest tenured employee there currently oh gosh so we've grown organically over the years and they're also through some acquisitions so we've done a couple acquisitions over the years and you know we've got some that have been 30 employees my boss Michael mendillo snow they it was the founders of the company he's been there 30 years but like Arthur Dubin for example you know he he's been the industry for you know he always jokes he's got Bansal than me but but I think I think we if you count the acquisitions and folks have come on from other companies I mean we're pushing you know 40 years Arthur's probably up there and you know we've got a lot of their folks around around the region but yeah I'd say I'd say we've got a really large amount there in the 20 to 30 you know range and you know and and I think I think we have a really focus on that a retention not only of our clients but also retention of our of our team because that's you know absolutely yeah that's incredible 20 years 30 years 40 years the same company so so with all of that that great culture you have so tell me tell me your most proud moments first services most proud moment it's it's hard to pick it up I think what really makes kind of me proud is that when I see you know emails or I see communications from our board members or from our residents and they actually take the time to send an email up the line and say gosh I'm so happy with with what Sally has done or what John has done they really truly care about their job and here's what they did for they went completely above and beyond our way to really do this and the stories you hear just amazing you know and we we do a really good job I think internally and really praising them and we call it the boss's boss a shout out I get those kinds of messages I say gosh you know we need that send them a handwritten card or a thank-you or pick up the phone and call them and say god love what you're doing thank you so much for going the extra step so that's what's proud for me is really they do it not because they have to do that because they want to do it that's right that's proud yeah that positive feedback is so important especially from the homeowner board and all right we'll give me um give me a fun fact we might not already know about first service fun fact well a lot of people were first referred to us this FS are and we start twitching and you know because if we say FS are then we take the service out right so really we're really a service organization so that's a fun fact so we the same way says FS are and we share twitching shaking okay we can internally you know we don't say FS are but externally what our clients say that other folks say that we say look you know we believe ourselves as for a service but so fun fact our initial founders were you know more big company obviously and I actually have my own company the first service over ten years ago or so but the initial founders at a company the one gentleman who runs you know basically the parent organization that really started the whole for service residential he in high school I had a pool a pool management company where he was actually in high school making a ridiculous amount of money managing pools real entrepreneurs period and he was actually employing his teachers evidently like moonlighting from teaching jobs and actually getting getting work from uh from from the founder so J henyk I think it was the supposed to the story so just a brilliant young entrepreneur and then one of the other initial you know pioneers in the industry and the company was God by dam butene Gomberg and he started out as a cutting grass and he had an old school bus and he would actually um we actually roll the lawnmowers up in the school bus when there would be rain storms and wait for the rain to pass and then pull the lawn mowers back out of it and got connecting a property cutting the grass ended up managing the property uses a grass cutter and from there he basically grew a huge organization you know just it's just a neat stories about how and everybody in the business kind of backed in what they felt they were doing something else they end up in property management so it probably relates to whatever else is right right I think that's I think that's great that he was employing his teachers so good nowadays right right so I know first service and you guys do a lot of things outside of outside of property management and to impact the community and so I'd love to hear about your community service and and what you do to impact yeah so I think we were - a lot we have a we have from a company standpoint called the social purpose where we give back and it's not required for us to do that as an associates but we do it really voluntarily which i think is important because that's where people really want to do it not they have to do it they don't think a day off they if they want to do it they get involved in the amount of support and the organic kind of love for giving back to the community is amazing women giving back you know some you know some shelters and things like that I mean we were collecting clothes and and we got we had so many clothes we actually leaned on one of our business providers service providers partners and we said look we have so many clothes as made donations and all the properties around there we can't fit it in cars for managers so they ended up saying hey we'll send our trucks around and picked up all these clothes and then we donate them so programs like that will be giving back though Chesapeake watershed clean-up it with CAI you know donating backpacks to schools you know in in needed areas we actually took over we'd opted at a school as well where we actually came in and cleaned up the school and pulled in you know all the different service providers the painters and the cleaners and everybody pitched in landscapers and we totally renovated school which was amazing couple hundred people showed up and did it not just our team but it everybody in the organization everyone were connected with the CAI so great stuff and again it's organic we don't tell anybody to do it you know which is just fun to do it feels good right yeah absolutely um and so you guys are very involved here at the DC chapter and and nationally as well and so I'd love to hear about you know why why CAI the partnership between CAI in first service is so important to you well I think I think a lot of us received a lot of Education from CAI and through our organization and our contact so you know it's really giving back to the organization that's given us so much right over the years an education standpoint business standpoint and in connection so I think it's important to give back to any industry that you're in you can't just take right you need to really provide back and then really create that next level then next generation of folks who want to come industry hits it used to be hey it's a oh my gosh you know it's a terrible industry being it's like absolutely not it's a great industry to be in it's got a lot of growth it's got you know during during these times were able to still work right and okay the steady business it's not it's not always glamorous but I think it's important for us to give back to the earth to the yeah to the really the community and the other folks in the industry that have really helped us out so you know once once you be you know when you were mentored at some points it's your turn to turn around and mentor that we feel the same we feel the same way yeah yeah we're very appreciative of that of that support from you of course and so now I'm just a personal question because because I'm curious you know of all of the DC chapter events and programs that we do here what is your favorite event well they're all they're all they're all good and everyone's got a little different flavor I mean we you know the golf events the golf events fun the JumpStart January is a great win because it's kind of quick and you get to see everybody and start off the year so I always enjoy that event I think the expo is probably the one that you know I think a lot of folks really enjoy because you get to see pretty much everybody and spend some good time and that that's I think that's the best of benefice from the education standpoint seeing all of our associates and that's where we can get the biggest group of our team together I think in the last one we had you know probably a hundred or so associates there so it's just great seeing everybody on our team that are everyone in the industry and then Ali in the night before too is great because we come down a day early and grab some drinks with everybody there's definitely a social aspect to conference on top of the education at that event it wonderful it has been great to chat with you Trent and I'm very much looking forward to getting back to seeing everybody in person it's nice to be able to to connect virtually while we're while we're waiting for whatever normal is again yep and I would just like to thank a lot of my way here to thank really our team our associates our managers the ones that are on on property the on-site teams they've been having a majority of them too so go there every day and really and really deliver service and you know with you know managing you know kids at home you know and husbands working or single-parent moms and and trying to navigate all that so shout out to all our our frontline team whether they're front desk or assistant managers managers hats off to them and also our heart of the house folks the accounting folks and the portfolio managers that are all navigating this so you know they've been doing a fantastic job so proud the stories that have come out of that but also our board members really for having to really really be the bad guys sometimes in this and really tried an ambulance that's been tough and then all the support from our business partners in CAI throughout this so thank you for everything that everyone's done you know it's it's a tough time for everybody but I think you know we can all support each other and that I think you know we're all we're all dealing with the same thing so it's just it's just really super super happy of how our team has stepped up during these times so thank you thanks for the invite for today and actually absolutely thank you for all you do we'll see you very soon I look for the soon change goodnight