Proud to be a part of the Buffalo Building Owners and Managers Association!

11/27/2024 (Permalink)

One of the greatest gifts that being a part of the SERVPRO family has given us is the ability to be a part of our community. 

One of the most effective ways we’ve found to do that is by joining the Greater Buffalo chapter of the Building Owners and Managers Association, which is an international organization with a presence in most of the major cities in North America. 

Sure, being a part of BOMA is good for business. It gives us a chance to get to know property managers and building owners and build a relationship with them before disaster strikes, so that when something does happen, we have a foundation of mutual trust, respect and understanding to draw on. 

But more than that, we just love being a part of the action. Most people who aren’t part of the commercial real estate industry don’t realize just how influential the folks who work in this exciting sector can be. They literally make decisions every day about how our region is developed and how we live, work and play here in Western New York. They’re some of the kindest, most thoughtful people that we’ve met here at SERVPRO, and we’re proud to know them.

Here’s to BOMA!

Announcing: Valentines for Our Troops

1/24/2022 (Permalink)

Soldiers receiving care package of Paula's Donuts from Blue Star Mothers.

“VALENTINES FOR OUR TROOPS” SPREADS LOVE TO SERVICE MEMBERS OVERSEAS

Blue Star Mothers NY7 teams up with local schools, SERVPRO to brighten soldiers’ days

[Hamburg + West Seneca/Lancaster, NY, 1/18/21] Since 2010, BSM NY7 has brought mothers, stepmothers, grandmothers, foster mothers and female legal guardians who have children serving in the military together to support each other and their children.

With “Valentines for Our Troops”, BSM NY7 will continue that tradition with a few new partners – local classrooms, as well as SERVPRO of The Southtowns + SERVPRO of West Seneca/Lancaster.

Children at several local schools will create hand-crafted Valentines addressed to military service members, which will be combined with care package donations from the two SERVPRO franchises and ultimately shipped and delivered by BSM NY7.

“I would like to thank everyone in the community for their support for the men and women serving in the U.S. Military,” said Lisa Blair, president of Blue Star Mothers NY7. “The care packages are greatly appreciated by the troops when they are so far from home, and the Valentine’s Day cards and treats will bring a lot of smiles.”

The majority of classrooms participating are within the West Seneca Central School District, who was enthusiastic to get involved.”

“We are excited and thankful to partner with SERVPRO and Blue Star Mothers,” said Dr. Jonathan Cervoni, Assistant Superintendent of Administrative Operations at West Seneca Central School District. “It’s a great opportunity to recognize and support our veterans and service members.”

For SERVPRO, supporting military service members is a natural outgrowth of their overall mission as an organization.

“We have immense pride in our military, our veterans and our country,” said Lyn Braun, owner of SERVPRO of The Southtowns and SERVPRO of West Seneca/Lancaster. “We’re enthusiastic about any chance that we get to support them.”

Valentines and donations will be collected over the course of January and early February, with a deadline of February 2. Community members who would like to contribute donations can drop them off during regular business hours at SERVPRO of The Southtowns at 97 Evans Street, Hamburg, NY 14057. A list of suggested donations is attached.

For more information, please contact Daniel Bauer at SERVPRO of The Southtowns at 716-646-6684.

VIDEO: Emergency Planning With SERVPRO

4/12/2021 (Permalink)

Need an emergency plan? Call today!

An effective emergency plan is the key to recovering from a disaster. But what does one look like? We put this video together to explain.

Watch here.

Transcript:

Many disasters can be prevented, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't plan in case something does happen.

In this section, we're going to talk about Emergency Ready Planning.

Emergency Ready Planning helps you to make a lot of decisions before anything happens so that if their disaster does occur, you're going to be ready to react quickly and intelligently and save yourself a ton of time, money and headaches.

Storing and Accessing Your Emergency Plan

First things first: you have to figure out how you're actually going to store your plan.

For most people, it makes sense to have many printed copies of their plan available throughout their property. You can put them in nice, conspicuous places like this fancy little SERVPRO padfolio.

Or, and I recommend this, you can also store them online. Digital copies, especially on the cloud, can be accessed by anyone anywhere. So if you or your facilities manager, or your wife, or your best friend, or whoever is on vacation in Aruba they're still going to be able to get the information they need to respond in case of fire, water or really any kind of disaster.

Basics of Emergency Planning

The first thing that you'll collect for your emergency ready plan is the basics. Who is the main contact? The main stakeholder at your building? Are there several? What's their contact information? What's the address? Take some pictures of the exterior as well and give first responders details on how they should access the building and where they should park.

Vital Details of Your Building

After that, it's important to collect some other details about how a first responder might have to go about their job. What year was the building built and last renovated? Who are the tenants? What's the square footage? How many floors are there? Is there a generator? Are there blueprints? Things like that, anything you would want a firefighter, police officer, paramedic or emergency responder to be aware of.

It's important to note all building access points, especially in case some are blocked by the disaster. You should also detail how that access is controlled. Is there a key, a fob, a code? Who has access to those?

You should also detail all stairwells and elevators. This is helpful for both emergency egress and for loading in any equipment that first responders might need.

Locating Your Utility Shutoffs

It's also important to note the locations of all of your utilities and their shutoffs. First, note your electricity shutoffs and breaker panel locations. These could be useful, especially if using high draw equipment in emergency response.

Knowing how to operate your sprinkler systems is a huge plus in case of emergency. On the very slight chance these systems operate accidentally, you're going to need to shut them off quickly. More likely, they're going to operate in case of emergency and knowing how to shut these off, and shut them off selectively, is very important to preventing any further water damage than what's needed to extinguish the fire.

You should also note the location and shutoffs for various alarm systems. Documenting how and where to access this not only allows you to turn these systems off and on, but it makes it easy for necessary parties to access them during and after an emergency.

You should also know where your modems, servers and any other it equipment is located in your building.

Documenting Your Chain of Command

Last, but certainly not least, you should write down all emergency contacts as well as the chain of command that you'll need to follow in case of emergency. Who's allowed to make decisions? Who should be contacted if an emergency takes place? Which vendors do you trust to call in? Documenting everything from your preferred plumber to your insurance carrier is vital. We're not going to go through everyone here, but we can send you a copy of that list.

Next Steps

We covered the basics of emergency ready planning, but it's important for you to know that every plan should be customized for what you, your employees, the janitor you hired last Tuesday, whoever needs to know in case of an emergency. Don't be afraid to get a little creative with it.

If you need a hand getting started, call SERVPRO of The Southtowns. We do these every day and we'll be happy to help you out, show you examples, whatever.

Now we're going to talk about fire prevention. If a fire actually happens, what happens next? How do the systems in your building react to keep you safe? ABJ Fire Protection is going to go into a little bit more detail about that

The Master Minds of SERVPRO of The Southtowns

11/29/2017 (Permalink)

The Strong Six meeting with Lyn and Thom.

Every successful business is backed by strong, talented leaders. At SERVPRO of The Southtowns ours are known as the Strong Six. They meet monthly to discuss progress, growth and tackle and challenges that may arise. Our managers have over 45 years of experience between them!

Travis Braun-Operations Manager. Travis has been with SERVPRO of The Southtowns for 11 years. He started as a technician and now oversees our operations. He works closely with our technicians and insurance companies to make sure the proper work is being done and documented to make the claims process as smooth as possible.

Chris Ferguson-Production Manager. Chris also started as technician and has been at SERVPRO of The Southtowns for over 14 years now. It was a natural transition for Chris since he is now responsible for getting estimates, seeing projects from start to finish and updating our clients in emergency situations.  

Tracie Hebdon-Office Manager. Tracie started with us in 2011 and has been a wonderful addition to our team. As the office manager she oversees the office, as well as the jobs schedule and runs job improvement meetings.

Emily McNulty-Marketing Manager. Emily is working on her sixth year with our company and is a marketing wizard. She sits on the BOMA Buffalo Board of Directors, as well as serves as the Treasure for the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce. Emily keeps us involved in our community. She also educates and advises the Insurance and Property Management Industries.

Dan Duggan-Construction Manager. Dan is also working on his sixth year with our company and oversees the in-house construction. He is involved with clients on a daily basis by getting estimates, helping his crew and meeting with inspectors.

Taylor Braun-Training Supervisor/Fleet Supervisor. Travis has unofficially been at SERVPRO of The Southtowns for years, but officially became the Training/Fleet Supervisor about four years ago. He is responsible for new hire training, annual re-certifications and training, and building company protocols (ex. Safety Procedures and Emergency Action Plan).

The Team you want in your home

10/24/2016 (Permalink)

SERVPRO of The Southtowns company picture

A beautiful morning to update our annual company photo! Our SERVPRO of The Southtowns team are heroes every day to families and businesses in the Western New York community.

The team you want in your home or work, because making it "Like it never even happened," ONLY happens here!

"This team is the best team ever! Very proud of all our employees! I love coming to work everyday because of this team!! They give there ALL to make it "Like it never even happened"." - Lyn Braun

We continue to grow year over year and are so proud to be helping families and businesses in the Western New York community after fire and water damage. This is where we call home and you are our neighbors and families.  

Happy Boss' Day!

10/24/2016 (Permalink)

Happy Boss's Day to Thom and Lyn Braun

Happy Boss' Day to our awesome leaders here at SERVPRO of The Southtowns.

Thom and Lyn enjoyed a family style lunch prepared by the staff to celebrate!

The Braun's have owned SERVPRO of The Soutthowns in Hamburg since 1995 and with a focus on customer satisfaction and continued growth, have created the largest SERVPRO franchise in Western New York.  

Thom and Lyn's dedication is shown through their daily involvement in each job that comes into our company as well as their commitment to growing employees through education and promotion.  

Happy Boss's Day to all the Bosses out there who lead by example and create work environments where people can be proud to be part of a winning team. 

Thom and Lyn Braun, to many more years of success. 

Hamburg Chamber of Commerce

9/6/2016 (Permalink)

New Hamburg Chamber of Commerce logo.

Have you seen the new Hamburg Chamber of Commerce logo? We are very excited about the changes and growth in our community and the new logo is a reflection of that growth. 

The Hamburg Chamber of Commerce serves as the voice for success of the local business community, gathering the support of many to speak as one.

The Hamburg Chamber of Commerce works with local business, the community, and government to help Hamburg grow and prosper. Since 1927, the primarily volunteer businessmen and women of the Chamber have been serving the Town of Hamburg and its incorporated villages of Blasdell and Hamburg.

Our Marketing Manager at SERVPRO® of The Southtowns, Emily McNulty, is proud to serve on the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors as the Treasurer as well as Chair of the Digital Marketing Committee. 

Watch for the new Hamburg Chamber of Commerce launching soon, with advanced business services and user friendly features.  

American Red Cross at SERVPRO

2/17/2016 (Permalink)

The American Red Cross film crew at our corporate training facility.

We are pleased to have American Red Cross utilizing our corporate training facility today to create a "Home Fire Preparedness" education video.

Here is a link to find out more:

http://www.redcross.org/news/article/Home-Fire-Preparedness-Campaign-Stretches-Across-US

Celebrate President's Day

2/15/2016 (Permalink)

Celebrate Presidents Day - February 15, 2016

Officially known as “Washington’s Birthday” to this day, President’s Day falls on the 3rd Monday of February. Due to a move in 1971 (as part of the Uniform Monday Holiday Act) to create additional three-day weekends for the country, the celebration was scheduled from President’s Washington’s actual birthday (February 22nd) to fall every 3rd Monday of the same month.

Aside from George Washington, William Henry Harrison, Ronald Reagan, and Abraham Lincoln also celebrate their birthdays in February. Although there still are states that celebrate the actual birthdays of past presidents, the nation as a whole now honors all US Presidents during President’s Day. 

Braymiller Market has a new Owner!

2/4/2016 (Permalink)

Braymiller Market's new owner - Stuart Green

Congradulations to Stuart Green, long time insurance professional, is the new owner of Braymiller Market. We love supporting local businesses! Stop in to meet Stuart.

Braymiller Marekt - 6936 Gowanda State Road, Hamburg, NY

Continuing Education Class

4/22/2015 (Permalink)

New York Insurance CONTINUING EDUCATION 

Presented By:  MikAnd, Inc.

Provider # NYPO-100291 Course # NYCR-237788

Sponsored by: SERVPRO^® of the Southtowns   

Date:  May 6^th, 2015

Breakfast Served Promptly: 8:30 AM – 9:00 AM

Time:   9:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Topic:  “Property Fire & Smoke Damage Loss Mitigation”

Location: J&M’s West End Inn

340 Union Street, Hamburg, NY 14075

Credit:  3 hours for PC, BR, C3, PA Licenses

Complimentary Breakfast Included

What Will You Learn?

• The material costs of fire damage losses in the State of New York.
• Cause of fires and preventative measures.
• The effect of fire and smoke on structure surfaces and contents.
• The factors that determine restoration and salvage.
• The testing processes necessary to determine restoration vs. replacement.
• The processes utilized to restore smoke-damaged walls, floors, hardwood, and carpet and fabrics
• When ancillary services, including move-outs, dry cleaning, duct cleaning, and specialty restoration processes, are required.
• How to deal with the in-shock, difficult, or uncooperative insured.
• How commercial Disaster Recovery and Emergency Response plans can reduce fire loss costs for both insurance carrier and insured.

Registration Required