BETTER TOGETHER - Houston Intranetintranet.amitx.com/intranet/library/pdf/ami_nsider/Better Together... · BETTER TOGETHER A publication for ... 556 Homes Division: Louisiana

FALL 2014

BETTER TOGETHER A publication for associates of FirstService Residential

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Just one year ago, FirstService Residential came together in a way that was completely unprece-dented. Almost twenty individual brands came together as one unified team. Sharing best practices as a company to deliver better service.

One brand. One Voice.

Milestones 1

2014 Goals 3

Value-Able Associates 4

New Clients 5

Who’s Who 7

First in Service 8

Fashion Show 9

Announcements 10

Training/HR Corner 12

Inside this issue:

35 YEARS! On June 19, 2014, FirstService Residential celebrated 35 years of business in Houston. Originally known as Association Man-agement, Inc. (AMI), the company was co-founded in 1979 by Glenda and David Regenbaum, who are originally from South Africa. What started out as a two person office has grown to a company with 165 direct and 340 on-site employees serving nearly 300 communities. FirstService Residential commemo-rated the anniversary with a luncheon for associates. The Honorable Anise Parker, Mayor of the City of Houston made a special appearance and honored the Regenbaums and FirstService Residential for their contributions to the City of Houston. “I’m always happy to solute Houston businesses that grow and thrive. They and the com-pany have supported an initiative that is very im-portant, not just to me, but young people all across the City of Hou-ston and that is our Back to School Fest” stated Mayor Parker. Mayor Parker presented the Regenbaums with a proclama-tion, “The City of Houston commends David and Glenda Re-genbaum for contributing to our city’s economic vitality and extends best wishes for a memorable anniversary.” “It is gratifying to have served the communities and their resi-dents for the past 35 years. We look forward to continuing to do so for the foreseeable future”, said David Regenbaum.

BETTER TOGETHER FirstService Residential

FALL 2014 ∞ PAGE 2

300 Strong With hard work and dedication we have reached 300 associations! On August 21st FirstService Residential held a celebration in honor of this important milestone. The FirstService Residential

Houston timeline was revealed, it portrays our growth as a company and highlights our great-est achievements thus far. We also held a photo contest consisting of each division taking a

group photo with the theme FirstService Residential and the number 300. Very creative photos were submitted, so much so that the Executive Council could not chose only one winner, but decided to reward the whole company instead! We look forward to reaching many more mile-

stones together as we continue to AIM HIGH.

2014 Goals

New Associations—With 3 months still left in the year we have already surpassed our goal of 34 new associations! As of Sep-tember 1st we now how have 38 new asso-ciations! We have provided 105 proposals so far this year ensuring that our numbers keep rising.

New Office Locations Katy—We are moving forward with our Katy office opening. Goldie Hassan has been promoted from Resource Manager to Director of Katy! Louisiana—Thanks to Tresa Little’s new role as Business Development for Louisiana we now have 3 new associations in Shreveport with more already in progress. To support our residents there, fsresidential.com now includes a Louisiana webpage.

Connect 4.0—A Connect representative visited our office on September 10 & 11 and met with our executives and training de-partment to get started on the Connect in-tegration.

Corporate Office Renovations

Completed - Accounting Area

Completed - Timeline of FirstService Residential Greater Houston. Located by Human Resources.

We reached our goal!

Before

After



2014 GOALS



VALUE-ABLE ASSOCIATES

Carmen Reyes was nominated for em-

ployee of the month by one of her team members for living up to our values daily by helping out other team members and dedi-

cating time to offer great service to her associations.

BJ Weidenfeld has worked diligently

to fill multiple vacancies as quickly as possible within the company. She is

skilled at sorting through hundreds of resumes and selecting excellent candi-

dates.

Debbie Berry owns it! FirstService

Residential was asked to participate in the CAI Hurricane Seminar. CAI established a panel of industry experts. Debbie graciously accepted the task of representing condos on the panel

and did an amazing job.

Jennifer Murillo is regularly

checking to see if anyone needs anything in the Woodlands

office. On her own she found a great piece of furniture for the

supply cabinet and re-organized the entire front desk area.

Danielle Slott goes to every Board

meeting that she is able to and she works very hard to “Build Great Relation-

ships” with her Boards.

Shannon Morgan has been a

great addition to our company. He took on a great task in addressing

all of our IT issues and getting them resolved very quickly.

Heinz Schaffner goes above and be-

yond to cater to the wants and needs of others. Heinz is a excellent manager and definitely a star player on this team . He not only aims high but he inspires others

to do the same.



NEW CLIENTS

Associates who refer an

association will receive 25% of the

1st month’s management fee!

Sixth + Brushy by RPD Presidio Fee, LLC Austin, TX 24 Units Division: Austin Community Manager: Camille Belcher Start Date: 11/1/14

Malaga Forest by Malaga Homes Shenandoah, TX 36 homes Division: The Woodlands Community Manager: Leanne Gradel Start Date: 7/1/14

Westgate Grove by Momark Development Austin, TX 61 Units Division: Austin Community Manager: LeAnn Hilton Start Date: First closing Fountains at Jacobs Reserve by DR Horton The Woodlands, TX 154 Homes Division: The Woodlands Community Manager: Devyn Harris Start Date: 11/1/14

Woodshore by DHK Development Angleton, TX 300 Homes Division: Developer Community Manager: Syd Talley Start Date: 6/13/14

Commercial Association of Bella Terra by RYKO Development Katy, TX 32 Units Division: Commercial Community Manager: Laura Bradley Start Date: 8/13/14

Pine Country of Tomball by Russell E. Brown and Ronnie Matthews Tomball, TX 68 Units Division: Woodlands Community Manager: Ashleigh Kern Start Date:9/1/14

Harmony Commercial by Johnson Development 156 Units The Woodlands, TX Division: Woodlands Community Manager: Devyn Harris/ Kelli Sandell Start Date: 6/19/14

Towne Lake Estates Pearland, TX 218 units Division: Pearland Community Manager: Justin Vidaure Start date: 7/20/14

ParkWest Residences Austin, TX 45 Units Division: Austin Community Manager: Camille Belcher Start Date: 6/21/14

Remington Brownstones The Woodlands, TX 29 units Division: The Woodlands Community Manager: Heinz Schaffner Start date: 9/1/14



NEW CLIENTS

Associates who refer an

association will receive 25% of the

1st month’s management fee!

Stone Ridge Office Park

Spring, TX 6 units Division: The Woodlands Community Manager: Derek Eikenberry Start date: 8/4/14

Woodgrove Office Park The Woodlands, TX 48 units Division: The Woodlands Community Manager: Ashleigh Kern Start date: 9/1/14

Preserve Office Park

The Woodlands, TX 36 units Division: The Woodlands Community Manager: Derek Eikenberry Start date: 8/1/14

Through our valued relationship with Southern Home Builders:

Timber Ridge Office Condos Grand Ridge Office Condos The Woodlands, TX Katy, TX 36 Units 78 units Division: The Woodlands Division: Commercial Community Manager: Derek Eikenberry Community Manager: Laura Bradley Start date: 7/1/14 Start date: 7/1/14

Legacy Shreveport, LA 657 Homes

Riverbrooke Shreveport, LA 183 Homes

Savannah Place Shreveport, LA 556 Homes Division: Louisiana Community Manager: Brenda Snider Start date: 10/1/14

Cheswood Forest by Chesmar Homes Montgomery, TX 169 units Division: The Woodlands Community Manager: Ashleigh Kern Start date 9/1/14

Harrell Park by Habitat for Humanity Houston, TX 111 Homes Division: Kingwood Community Manager: Sarah Lee Start date 9/1/14

Boulevard Green by Pelican Builders The Woodlands, TX 94 units Division: The Woodlands Community Manager: Leanne Gradel Start date: First closing



WHO’S WHO

One of our goals for this year was to remodel the cor-porate office, this project was mainly a task for Admin-istration. The administrative division members worked together to request bids from different vendors, direct the work, and coordinate inner office moves, all in a way that would not interfere with day to day opera-tions. The work was done well and on time thanks to their great organizational skills. Apart from big pro-jects like these, Administration has many functions. From the beginning of this year they used Welcome-link to process 9,200 requests for closings. Every year around this time they are busy processing more than 330 Statement/ Coupon orders and insuring that all budget information is turned in on time so that our residents and owners have enough time to pay their assessments. We can go to them to update vendor information, as well as Q&A’s, and our Iron Mountain inventory. They keep our office and our association records clean and in order.

ADMINISTRATION

Pictured Above (Top to Bottom): Sarah Teran-Asst. Office Manager, Candice McDowell-Admin. Assistant, Jaklin Tawfik—Office Manager, Michael Corn—Mail Specialist, Salome Martinez - Building Maintenance

RESOURCE CENTER

In 2010 The Resource Center was established with its mis-sion being “1 Call + 1 Person = Your answers”. Ever since that year homeowners have been able to talk to a live per-son and get answers to their questions, sometimes without ever being transferred. This year alone the 12 resource agents have handled a total of 100,317 calls. Such calls re-quire providing residents/owners account and property information, opening service requests, dispatching contrac-tors, and helping to handle inquiries for Resale Certificates/Condo Questionnaire’s by the use of Welcomelink. The Re-source Center agents work with the training department by spending 1-2 days with all new employees them to the types of questions and concerns that our residents have. We have received very positive feedback from these asso-ciates who agree that it is a very important part of their training.

Pictured Above (Left to Right): Boaz Arch - Director of Administration, Cristin Kaeble,- Resource Center Manager Agents: Shane Stollmack, Michelle Bright, Lisa Hill (Top), Maria Canuto (Bottom), Elco Jackson (Top), Silvia Magana (Bottom), Maren Grimes, Natasha Wilson, Tyrona Howery, Top Right Corner: Elouise Allen - Kingwood, Jenn Murillo - Woodlands



FIRST IN SERVICE

Mayor’s Back to School Fest

FirstService Residential once again partnered with the City of Houston and 20 Houston Region ISDs in this year’s “Back-to-School Fest”. This program bene-fitted an estimated 25,000 students and provided them with school supplies and other necessary items to start the school year off right. FirstService Residential committed to raise a minimum of $35,000 for this program and with the help of our vendors we exceed our goal with a grand

total of $38,311.00! We also participated in the event and had our own booth. Volunteers such as Ayesha Khan, Andjela Tomic, Carmen Reyes, Mi-chael Corn, Cynthia Hermes, Staci Tucker, Lexie Hahn and Lourdes Faudoa helped pass out treats to the students and sign up families for a Kindle Fire drawing. Mr. & Mrs. Regenbaum and Rolando Coronado also helped out at the booth. It was a great privilege to help send thousands of healthy, prepared children back to school for the 2014/2015 academic year.

ALS ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, is an activity involving dump-

ing a bucket of ice water on someone's head to promote aware-

ness of the disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and en-

courage donations to research. The challenge dares nominated

participants to be filmed having a bucket of ice water poured on

their heads and then nominating others to do the same and do-

nate to the cause. Our very own Woodlands team started the

challenge and many of our associates accepted it! The account-

ing team collected a total of $465 for ALS and participated in the

challenge. Way to go!

KIDS’ MEALS ON WHEELS The mission of Kids’ Meals, Inc. is to end hunger among children

by delivering nutritious meals to the doors of children in need,

free of cost, every weekday, year round. They provide healthy,

home-delivered lunches to hungry children under the age of five

who live in poverty. FirstService

Residential associates volun-

teered to prepare sandwiches,

pack lunches, and sort groceries.

Thank you Jasmine Carr, Maria

Canuto, Tyrona Howery, Raj

Amolenda, Mike Winkler, Sa-

rah Lee, Maria Shaw, Charlie

Norton, Raquel Rodriguez,

Mark Legge, Eva DeLaRosa,

Calandra France, Goldie Has-

san, Sarah Teran, Michelle Arri-

azola, Lexie Hahn, Staci Tucker,

Lisa Hernandez, Michael Corn,

Cristin Kaeble, Sunny Davis,

Carmen Reyes, Wendy Tran,

Andjela Tomic, Robin Buchheit, Shane Stollmack, Eileen Ready,

Jeanenia Coleman, Denise Sumlin, Joshua Keys, Sherri

Boughton, and Brenda Beltran for volunteering!

Kindle Fire Winner!



& DOs

FASHION SHOW

DON’Ts

Avoid wearing flip

flops, leggings, short dresses, low-cut

blouses, sleeveless shirts, hoodies, cropped pants

without a matching jacket, t-shirts, boat

shoes and men’s shirts with no collar.

Dress professionally

and always wear a smile

DRESS CODE

August Pearla McLean—3 Years Joseph Hernandez—2 Years Bobbie Ortega—5 Years Ana Arreola—Fuerte—7 Years Yazmin Suarez—2 Years Steven Carpio—1 Year Linda Webb—23 Years Reina Perkins—1 Year Maren Grimes—1 Year Maria Acosta—1 Year Syd Talley—12 years Judy Taylor—5 Years Jaklin Tawfik—4 Years Armando Contreras—2 Years Goldie Hassan—5 Years Krystle Keller—7 Years Jennifer Meador—7 Years

September Lucean Kuykendall—10 years Ron Cloer—6 years Joshua Taglia—6 years Theodore Lopez—1 year Lauren Luca—2 years Georgene Buenger—12 years Ashleigh Kern—3 years Elizabeth Slaughter—6 years Lynn Byrne—12 years Estella Uresti—30 years Staci Tucker—2 years Devyn Harris—4 years Elise Campagna—7 years Estella Uresti—30 years

October Mandy Lopez– 2 years Cole Bradshaw—1 Year Varatip Hang—11 Years Belinda Vela—5 Years Debbie Berry—6 Years Erica Perkins—2 Years Theresa Arriazola—1 year Candace Wagner—1 year Alex Taylor—17 Years Thomasene Smith—8 Years Leanne Gradel—2 Years Evelyn Wiley—1 Years Charles Clark—9 years Aly Long—3 Years Daniel Perez– 1 year Kris Bradshaw—2 years

November Luanne Weinberg - 9 Years Camille Belcher—6 Years Lil’ Brown—29 Years Tyrona Howery—1 Year Megan Lacy—1 Year Lexie Hahn—1 Year Kelly Nguyen—7 years BJ Weidenfeld—2 Years Calandra France—1 Year Jennifer Ponce—2 Years Jennifer Sailer—3 years Sarah Teran—2 years

December Ruth Beegles—6 Years Royce Billiot—1 Year Jeanenia Coleman—1 Year LeAnn Hilton—1 Year Mike Jones—1 Year Emily Jurecka—1 year Candice McDowell—2 Years Ginger Becker—11 Years Sherri Boughton—2 Years Heinz Schaffner—9 years Elouise Allen—1 Year Jasmine Carr—1 Year Makisha Chevis—2 Years Michael Zadorozny—7 Years Alicia Scott—2 years

ANNIVERSARIES



ANNOUNCEMENTS

New EmployeesNew EmployeesNew Employees Denise Sumlin—On-Site Manager Sunny Davis—Commercial Manager Miral Patel-Financial Specialist Cynthia Santos—Service Specialist Maria Rosales—Financial Specialist Nathaniel Griffin—Inspector Miles Phillips—Office Manager Shannon Morgan—Senior IT Specialist Wendy Tran—Service Specialist Danette Locher—Service Specialist Elco Jackson—Resource Center Agent Dominique Williams—Financial Specialist Michelle Bright—Resource Center Agent Eva DeLaRosa– Administrative Assistant Jason Anderson—Financial Specialist Valerie Romero—Service Specialist Cynthia Taplin—Service Specialist Thomas LaRochelle—IT Specialist Jorge Gil—Service Specialist

Brenda Snider—On-Site Manager—Louisiana Justin Vidaure—Community Manager Misty Gailey—Service Specialist Sara Frederick—Service Specialist Meys Ivey-Business Development Representative Amanda Moody-Community Manager Rochelle Sula—Commercial Manager Bilawal Ahmed—Financial Specialist Kashif Matin—Financial Specialist Travon Wallace—Financial Specialist Paige Buchheit—Service Specialist Alexis Tovar—Service Specialist Natalie Marroquin—Receptionist Michael Murillo—A/R Coordinator Geovany Jimenez—Cashier

Welcome!

Thank you all for another great year!



ANNOUNCEMENTS

BIRTHDAYS

8/1 LeAnn Hilton 8/5 Alfreda Raymond 8/7 Kerry Holmes 8/9 David Regenbaum 8/10 Ron Cloer 8/13 Kashif Matin 8/20 Terri Kirpatrick 8/21 Pearla McLean 8/21 Diego Mendoza 8/25 Dominique Williams 9/1 Susan Canon 9/3 Cassandra Ruiz 9/4 Maria Shouthall-Shaw 9/5 Cynthia Hermes 9/6 Erma Davis 9/7 Lisa Hernandez

9/8 Kelly Nguyen 9/10 Belinda Vela 9/20 Michelle Buchanan 9/23 Lexie Hahn 9/26 Khoa Phung 9/26 Staci Tucker 9/27 Lauren Luca 10/3 Rochelle Sula 10/4 Debbie Berry 10/10 Roy Mendoza 10/12 Leanne Gradel 10/13 Brenda Snider 10/17 Lynn Byrne 10/20 Jon Clark 10/20 Sharina Wallace 10/20 Travon Wallace 10/21 Royce Billiot

10/22 Salome Martinez 10/26 Theresa Michelle Arriazola 10/28 Jennifer Sailer 10/31 Steven Carpio 11/1 Maren Grimes 11/4 Cynthia Santos 11/5 Emily Jurecka 11/5 Megan Lacy 11/1 Lisa Hill 11/12 Robin Buchheit 11/12 Harriet Tunick 11/13 Jennifer Meador 11/15 Mike Jones 11/16 Denise Sumlin

11/17 Brenda Beltran 11/18 Candice McDowell 11/21 Ashleigh Kern 11/24 Jennifer Ponce 11/25 JoAnn Richardson 11/28 Ruth Beegles 12/3 Sherri Boughton 12/3 Cole Bradshaw 12/12 Miral Patel 12/13 Paige Buchheit 12/13 Thomasene Smith 12/15 Michael Zadorozny 12/17 Carmen Reyes 12/17 Jason Zermeno 12/19 Justin Vidaure

Happy Birthday!

NEWLYWEDS

Shaqueena McClain married Brad Harvey

on February 1, 2014

WELCOME TO THE FAMILY

Royce Billiot’s new baby girl

Ryleigh Marie Billiot DOB: 7/31/2014 - 5 lbs 2.8 oz,

Jorge Gil’s new baby girl

Viktoria Patricia Gil DOB: 7/8/2014 - 7 lbs, 19.5

Raihan Ahmed’s new baby boy

Ezaan Ahmed DOB: 6/10/2014 - 7 lbs, 15 oz

Michelle Jaimes’s new baby boy

Grey Jaimes DOB: 7/8/2014 - 6 lbs, 7 oz.

Steven Carpio’s Twins

Lola & Michael Carpio DOB: 9/11/2014

5 lbs.8 oz. & 5lbs 11 oz.

Krystle Keller’s new baby girl

Tennysen Claire DOB: 5/29/2014 - 7 lbs, 15 oz Kelli Vestal

married Ben Sandell

on March 28, 2014



TRAINING / HR CORNER

Coordinate with your team members and please plan your PTO days

accordingly

Referral Bonus

When you refer a new employee, you will receive $150.00 at the time of hire and $150.00 after the employee has been here for 3

months for a total of $300.00.

Current Open Positions, Location

Service Specialist, Houston

Contact HR for more details.

Kids’ Meals on Wheels Schedule

November 12, 2014 December 3, 2014

Sunny Davis Jeanenia Coleman

Carmen Reyes Denise Sumlin

Wendy Tran Joshua Keys

Andjela Tomic Sherri Boughton

Robin Buchheit Brenda Beltran

Shane Stollmack

Eileen Ready

FirstService School of Professional Development

Upcoming Dates: Tuesday, October 21, 2014 Taxation

Tuesday, October 28, 2014 Physical Property Maintenance

Tuesday, November 25, 2014 Assessment Collection *No courses in December*

Cultivate your Growth…

In the interest of establishing consistency in the pro-fessional development of community manager, the Manager Training Program has been established. The intent is for new managers to complete these courses below within approximately the first 90 days in the role of community manager.

Time Class Module Dates

8:30am-12:30pm Financials 10/1/14

9:00am-10:30am Jenark 10/8/14

9:00am-11:00am StrongRoom 10/16/14

9:00am-10:30am WelcomeLink and Q&A 10/22/14

9:00am-10:30am Insurance 10/29/14

9:00am-11:00am Physical Property 11/5/14

9:00am-10:30am Meeting Prep and Follow Up 11/12/14

9:00am-10:30am Conduct of Meetings 11/19/14

8:30am-12:30pm Creating Budgets 12/3/14

8:30am-12:30pm Budgets II 12/10/14

Documents

BETTER TOGETHER - Houston Intranetintranet.amitx.com/intranet/library/pdf/ami_nsider/Better Together... · BETTER TOGETHER A publication for ... 556 Homes Division: Louisiana