Hurricane Gustav Hits Gulf Coast

Gulf Coast residents were struck by another natural disaster when Hurricane Gustav reached land Sept. 1. The hurricane came a little over three years after Hurricane Katrina touched down in the same region.

Preliminary estimates conducted by independent insurance agencies expect damage to covered properties to range from $2 billion to $10 billion, lower than the $41 billion in damage that was caused by Katrina, according to The Associated Press.

The disparity in damage was noticeable for Don Kattengell, vice president/general manager of National Building Services and Maintenance, New Orleans.

“Most of the damage was wind damage,” says Kattengell. “There was no flooding or mass devastation.”

The wind damage has caused Kattengell’s employees to clean up the parking lots of buildings, remove the water from leaking windows and clean around doors where some water might have leaked in.

Before the hurricane had touched down, residents were encouraged to evacuate their homes until the storm subsided. The first residents were being allowed back into New Orleans on Sept. 3.

Before evacuating with his family to Dallas, Kattengell drew on his experience from Katrina, bringing his contacts list with him and finishing up other office work.

“I took all of our records with us,” says Kattengell. “Payroll was done on Friday and all of our bills were sent out before the storm.“

Though the damages were less than Katrina, the storm left over a million homes and businesses without power over three states. Officials said it could take up to a month to fully restore power, according to the AP.

Cleaning System Highlights Measurement

KaiScience has produced a new open-systems approach to cleaning that uses measurement as the foundation.

Integrated Cleaning and Measurement (ICM) will look to enhance cleaning systems such as day cleaning, team cleaning and zone cleaning and utilize measurement as the basis for incorporating products and processes.

The cleaning industry is a “silo-oriented universe” where everything is compartmentalized as separate practices, says Allen Rathey, KaiScience director. This system is about producing quality from the ground level and combining different parts from the whole industry, according to Rathey.

The program will measure air, water and surfaces for specific particles, microbes, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other chemical contaminants. Building service contractors, facility managers and public health scientists will take the measurements. These professionals will use ATP devices and other devices to measure the presence of soil or dust in certain areas.

With the results, members within the ICM system can provide measurement data and the productivity of certain methods opposed to others. The data accumulated from one facility can be shared with others to crosscheck data and other notes.

The information can be used as a negotiating chip when dealing with certain members of companies.

“The data gathered from the measurements is a powerful tool when sharing data with upper management,” says Rathey.

For BSCs, having measurements that provide solid data is the most appealing part of ICM.

Kevin Pannebecker of Sparkling Image of Eastern Missouri, Bridgeton, Mo., likened the program to a baseball player’s batting average. The numbers tell the truth to how well the player is succeeding. Data provided by the measurements will display the best cleaning practices.

The program also has features that will benefit specific parts of a BSC’s organization.

Marketing and customer service will benefit the most from ICM, says Pannebecker. The data can be used to bring in new customers and showing the cleaning success his company has achieved will help retain customers .

To further elaborate on the ICM, the International Executive Housekeeping Association will be hosting a symposium on the subject in Erlanger, Ky., from Oct. 22 to 24.

Mergers & Other Moves

• KBM Building Services, San Diego, is merging with Knightly Building Services LLC, Spring Valley, Calif. Under the agreement, Knightly will become a division of KBM and its management team will remain in place. Additional terms of the merger were not disclosed.
• Vonachen Services, Peoria, Ill., acquired Diversified Service for Industry (DSI), Streator, Ill. DSI is a janitorial service provider that operates in northern and central Illinois, southern Wisconsin, and eastern Iowa. DSI will continue to operate in Streator. No staff or management changes are planned.
• K-tech Kleening Systems, Inc., has acquired First Choice Cleaning Services, Appleton, Wis. The acquisition of First Choice is K-tech’s fifth acquisition in recent years.