Newsletter Featured Facility
Sande Chaffin Facilities Director
Girl Scouts of Central Texas
What is the name of your facility?
The Kodosky Service Center headquarters for Girl Scouts of Central Texas, a 46 county Girl Scout Council with 8 service centers and 5 camps and over 30,000 girl and adult volunteer members.
What is the total square footage managed?
This building is 23,000 sq feet
What sets your facility apart from the competition?
As a non-profit organization, our facility houses staff but also has space for the activities we provide the girls in our council and a retail shop for Girl Scouts and Girl Scouts of Central Texas logo products. We conduct day camps at the facility during the summer. Our robotics teams meet at our building. We have a full service computer lab for our girl members. We have meeting space we make available to other non-profit organizations at reduced rates.
Describe the single biggest challenge within your facilities?
Our biggest challenge is the funding for deferred maintenance at our properties.
What is your corporate view on sustainability?
The National Girl Scout Program Portfolio is designed to help girls develop as leaders and build confidence by learning new skills. It offers girls three different programs in the Leadership Journeys series It's Your Story Tell It!, It's Your World Change It! and It's Your Planet Love It! . Each series has separate books and awards for each grade level and a corresponding adult guide. As we teach girls the practice of sustainability, we also implement it in our structures as much as possible through energy efficient lighting and recycling programs. Many of the buildings at our camps are over 40 years old, but water reclamation systems are in the planning stages. We consider it a requirement for any new construction.
When a customer enters your facility, describe the experience you want for them.
Our customers are the girls of our Council, the adult volunteers who make the Girl Scout experience possible and the donors who provide the funding for the wonderful opportunities we provide girls. We want our customers to feel welcome and to see an attractive, well maintained facility that represents the Girl Scout brand, has a staff ready to assist them and uses resources wisely.
Newsletter Featured Associate
Brenda Booth Business Development Manager Corporate Floors - Austin - San Antonio - Dallas
Core Competency:
Corporate Floors is the industry leader for sustainable flooring solutions. Corporate Floors provides: Carpet and textile care Installation of Flooring products Hard surface maintenance and restoration Saniglaze, grout and tile restoration Schutz, alternative to stripping and waxing Lift Installation Carpet Reclamation National Account Management
Primary Job Function:
As a Business Development Manager, my responsibilities include prospecting new business opportunities while maintaining current business relationships.
Always Looking for the Best Solution for a Facility.
Average Day:
That s the Beauty of my Job! There is No Average Day! Ever! I interact with many customers to find the right solutions and tailor a plan to meet their budget.
Type of Clients:
Our portfolio of clients consist of primarily Facility Managers in Healthcare, Legal, State, Government, Insurance, High Tech, etc. That s what makes my jobs so interesting Austin has a conglomerate of industries to choose from that need our products and services.
Percentage of local/regional/national:
I primarily work with clients from Austin to Waco but Corporate Floors services customers on a local, Regional and National level. We are part of the MilliCare , Saniglaze and Schutz Franchises.
How Long:
I have been with Corporate Floors for approx. two years. Corporate Floors was established over 20 years ago and has several years experience within our organization that works closely as a team.
Interesting Story:
Being in the service industry, there are so many interesting things that occur when working with customers especially after hours.
One time that stands out is when our technicians arrived at a very large job to clean their facilities carpet and the elevators were locked WHILE the Techs were In the Elevator!!!!!!! Stuck for several hours until security was notified.
Another one, we received a call to come remove an odor from a bldg. A LARGE family of skunks decided to build their home under a bldg. and decided to spray AT ALL AT Once!!!!!! We are great a removing stains and ODORS!!!!!!!
Best Lesson learned from a Client:
LISTEN, LISTEN and LISTEN
Always listen to what your customer wants and then repeat what you heard back to them to make sure everyone is on the same page. Communication is key! What they tell you they want may be completely different than what they are expecting to get.
How is Business Right Now?
Excellent! Corporate Floors is experiencing a phenomenal growth in product installation, maintenance, recycling, in all of our markets throughout Texas.
Challenges:
Our biggest challenge is finding the Best Technicians to join our team. We are always looking for great members to work with us as our business continues to increase in all areas.
Personal Stats:
I am married to Jim Booth and we have two great (yes I said GREAT Teenagers) Our son, Garrett is 16, Our Daughter, McKinley is 15. They both attend Lake Travis High School and Garrett plays tennis, runs cross country and mountain biking. McKinley is a Cheerleader for Lake Travis and is involved in FFA raising a PIG (strange combo). My hobbies are attending all Lake Travis events and UT Sporting events with my family and friends.
Quote:
Life It tends to respond to our outlook, to shape itself to meet our expectations
Richard DeVos
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