This issue marks the fourth anniversary of R&R’s Women in Restoration award, again supported so strongly by Violand Management Associates. Each year we award one deserving restoration diva the top honor out of dozens of nominees. In 2019, nearly 40 women were nominated for the award—and each have at least 10 years of experience in the industry.

I want to tell you about my father-in-law. In 1988, he started his business in his garage with his best friend shortly after high school. He sold that plastics injection molding company several weeks ago, for what I would guess is a handsome sum, and is now just two years from retirement after slowly phasing out of the company.

It’s been a busy weather start to 2019 for restorers across the U.S. In the Northwest, there was the deep freeze; the Midwest has been experiencing record-breaking and deadly flooding and before that some major snow and ice storms; some of the Central States – and Georgia – have seen deadly tornadoes. And that was all just through the month of March.

If you are like me, some mornings you arrive in the office with the best of intentions to get things done, and before you know it, half the day is gone and you’ve spent a whole lot of time doing a whole lot of things that aren’t on your to-do list. 

When Restoration & Remediation was created more than a decade ago, the purpose was pretty obvious: education for property loss contractors. Today, the brand has grown from a solely print magazine into a wide-ranging print and digital brand with nearly 20,000 monthly subscribers and a large online presence through our website, eBlasts, and social media pages.

I’ve had the privilege of getting to know the restoration industry from a few different angles over the last year, wearing a few different hats. Each hat has given me some fresh perspective and understanding of the daily life of you all, restorers.

Recently, I had the privilege of listening to Jerry Seinfeld’s latest comic routine. Yes, in case you’re wondering, it was absolutely hilarious! He opened by telling the audience how proud he was of all who attended.

It feels like just yesterday the R&R team, and some event staff at BNP Media, got together for the first call to discuss launching a brand new event in the disaster restoration industry. After months of careful research and planning, we are now less than one month away from the inaugural event. Booth and exhibitor space sold out early, and attendee spaces are filling up.

As I’m writing this article, Hurricane Florence is about two days away from making landfall in the Carolinas. According to CNN, if Florence stays the course, it will be the furthest north on the East Coast that a Category 4 storm has ever made landfall. Currently, the storm is nearly 550 miles wide, making it larger than the State of Michigan. More than 20 million people are in her path.