The American Policyholder Association is a nonprofit watchdog organization that promotes integrity, honesty and best practices in the property loss adjustment sector of the insurance industry. In this episode of Ask the Expert, Executive Director Doug Quinn talks about the APA’s work advocating for policyholder benefits and promoting solutions in insurance coverage, the insurance claim process, and the repair and rebuilding process for policyholders across the U.S.

Barry Rice, a Certified Safety Professional with over 20 years of experience, is the Environmental, Health and Safety director for Signal Restoration Services’ family of companies that includes Signal, US Roofing and PuroClean. In this episode of Ask the Expert, Rice discusses the importance of safety, as well as best practices for employee health and safety, in this particularly high-risk field of restoration.

In this special episode, Diana Rodriguez-Zaba, president of ServiceMaster Restoration by Zaba serving Chicago and the surrounding suburbs, shares her story and insights. She is the winner of R&R’s seventh annual Women in Restoration Award and rose to the top of an impressive list of 46 nominees. All nominations were reviewed by a panel of judges based on journey and experience in the industry, job growth and future reach, industry and community involvement, and awards and certifications.

Brett Lawton is CEO of Lawton Construction & Restoration, located in Newcastle, Calif. The family-owned, second generation business has grown substantially since Lawton became CEO in 2006. In this interview, Lawton talks about scaling, growing as a leader and finding the company’s niche as a mid-sized service provider in a competitive, increasingly consolidated market. He also discusses offering general construction and restoration services, and the value of an executive team.

Mili Washington, standards director with the IICRC, joins us to provide a 101 on industry standards. She discusses their importance, the value of ANSI accreditation, the rigorous and lengthy process of developing a new standard, the business case for embracing IICRC standards, and advice on implementing standards within your restoration or cleaning business. She shares a highlight reel of IICRC standards in the works.

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.