As regional head Kristen Rutledge watched the weather forecast in Tampa last week, she knew she needed to get a plan in place, and quickly. Hurricane Ian was approaching the gulf coast of Florida and emergency officials warned everyone to prepare for the worst.
“I talked with Bob Lloyd, and he told me to put my catastrophe plan in place, so that’s exactly what we did,” Kristen said.
It didn’t take long for our culture and core values to shine through, as associates in Tampa and company-wide raised their hands to help. Thanks to the right people, plans and processes, Bayside Arbors and Mezzo of Tampa Palms were ready for whatever Mother Nature delivered.
“Whatever it takes – that was the mentality,” Kristen said. “When we face these kinds of problems, our core values really come through strong. I’m super proud of the team and the company I work for.”
Partners Jen Moreno and Carl Williams ran point on the preparations in the days leading up to Hurricane Ian. We boarded up windows at Bayside, moved our outdoor furniture and urged residents to follow mandatory evacuation orders.
“We’ll be fine,” Jen said. Her positive mindset was infectious as associates braced for the weather ahead.
Back at CSO, partner Rodney Johnson made sure vendors were on standby and even had a Bobcat delivered to Bayside Arbors. Partner and VP of training Ashley Smith helped put the right people on deck to travel to Tampa and assisted associates who needed to evacuate their homes.
WATCH: Maintenance team preps for storm
Thankfully, Ian’s track shifted south of Tampa. Our people are all safe and we saw minor damage at our properties.
“We are very fortunate; we got super lucky. Now we’re back to focusing on our business and delivering the customer service our residents deserve and expect,” Kristen said.
Associates from Louisville traveled to Tampa today to help complete all unit walks at Bayside to start inspecting every inch of the property. The goal is to quickly identify any storm damage and complete repairs quickly, making our residents our number one priority. Megan Hedrick, Megan Latham, Mike Jones and Matt Brewer will work alongside our Tampa team until the work is done.
“In times of adversity, our people make the difference,” Bob Lloyd said.
Not only did Bayside prepare for the hurricane, but managers Marc Vo and Mckinney Snyder hit all their goals ahead of schedule.
“We challenged ourselves to hit our goals by the 25th of the month even before the storm hit,” Marc said. “The moment we realized the storm was coming, we were relieved we worked ahead. By having our goals in, we put 100 percent of our focus on customer service, which is setting us up for long-term success here.”
Great work, Tampa!
Mezzo of Tampa Palms
- Alex Pellett
- Kati Reams
- Chrissie Beard
- Richard Kelly
- Robby Barnett
- Austin Patton
- Timothy Brichner
- John Hein
- Pedro Santana
Bayside Arbors
- Marc Vo
- Ashley Mckinney Snyder
- Wesley Griffeth
- Jose Arias
- Jason Scott
- Kobi Sittman
- Echo McNeiley
- Jimmy Stastny