“Right now, optimistically, with luck, we’ll be in the new office at this time next year. If we weren’t expanding the office, it would go a lot faster, but we’ll be pouring a new foundation and that will slow it down because of the subcontractors that will be needed to do it all. Approval of the plans and working through the processes with various county entities can be tedious at best, so we’re geared up for it. We’ll be very proactive, letting the architectural firm and the attorney deal with the processes. We’re pushing because time is money. We’re paying on the mortgage at the old property and paying rent on the space we’re currently using.”


Tey did lose a little business. Hall says, “A few people said they didn’t want to contact us because they knew we’d have our hands full. And while we did, we really needed all the orders we could get to cover the additional expenditures related to the fire.”


Lessons Learned While the GO team has handled the situation well, in retrospect there are things they could have done differently and are now implementing. Teir major points are listed below.


Sometimes the cleaning company leaves your place a mess, choose wisely. Te reconstructed offices will definitely not have carpets.


Data must be backed up in two locations. Two physical sites some distance apart may be okay as most IT companies will have the offsite server protected from fire or water or whatever. But a major flood or hurricane or tornado can cover a broad area. We were fortunate to have arranged for cloud backup prior to the fire.


We had renewed our replacement insurance policy between November and August, adding about 20 percent to cover higher replacement costs. We should have invested in more insurance, adding closer to 50 percent, to allow for the building expansion, ADA compliance, the increased cost of building materials, and the cleanup and remediation.


We didn’t have updated documentation of our assets. We’ll now photo and/or videotape ALL of the important things we have. If we think it’s so necessary that we’ve kept it for however long, we’ll document it.


We also relied too much on the third party hired by the insurance company to do the cleanup and documentation. Should we ever need such service again, we will set up our own system and have everything on videotape.


We did not have business interruption insurance, but our downtime was so short we would not have utilized it. We’ll continue to quantify the need for that coverage on the cost-to-benefits ratio.


18


Te biggest investment is in the equipment and we had some redundancy there. Tat’s a waste of capital, especially in the electronics.


It would have been beneficial to have more scanned documents rather than having paper documentation. Moving forward, we’ll set up electronic scanners on each employee’s desk. If we have the electronic file, with the digital backup onsite and cloud backup, we don’t need the paper copy.


We had too much unnecessary stuff. If it’s not needed, we’ll throw it away.


Catching up takes longer than anticipated. We’re planning ahead and will continue to hire professional expertise where it’s beneficial to do so, so we can concentrate our efforts on running our business.


The 90/10 Rule GO is a strong proponent of the 90/10 rule. 10 percent is what happens to you. 90 percent is what you do with it. Challenge or opportunity! It’s all in your perspective.


Strong proponents of the 90/10 rule, GO posted this photo of Risa Demasi and the cat, with the caption, “Te Future’s Bright…”


“We choose to view the fire as an opportunity,” says Hall. “We’re not going to come out of it whole. We’ll survive it, and we’ll also be able to use it to improve, but at a huge cost. Still, we’re excited about what we can accomplish in the reconstruction. Te new office will be much more functional, flow much better, and allow us to hire more people and grow the business.”


Klundt adds, “Te outpouring of concern and offers of assistance from our business partners and customers, other TPI members, the Oregon green industry, even some competitors, was exceptional and greatly appreciated. Tat support is something we’ll always remember and treasure.”


Suz Trusty is co-editor of Turf News. All photos courtesy of Grassland Oregon.


TPI Turf News May/June 2019


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