And the Winners of Our Maintenance Appreciation Competitions are…

In September, we celebrated our Maintenance Teams. They are truly the backbone of our communities and bare many of the responsibilities involved in keeping a happy community. Often behind the scenes, they are the unsung heroes that are constantly improving our sites. Aside from the individual acts of recognition that each property set up for their team, RAM held a companywide competition. We wanted to hear from you why your team deserved to win our first annual High Maintenance Award or Top Shop Award.

The High Maintenance Award required a nomination detailing how the maintenance team in its entirety go above and beyond the every day job duties requested of them. We wanted to know what made them stand out.The Top Shop Award required a nomination as well as photos to show an enviable maintenance shop that is consistently clean, organized, and safety conscious.

So without further ado…

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 2015 High Maintenance Award is presented to the Peachtree Commons Maintenance Crew.

Peachtree Commons is a large 218 unit community that Royal American began managing in 2013 and it wasn’t in the best shape. A rehab of the interior of the units had been started and initially was contracted out. At some point in the process of the rehab, the owner requested that everything be completed in-house with the exception of the flooring. All of these changes were expected, while also maintaining the community, managing the grounds, turns, service requests, etc. With a lot of hard work and dedication from the management and especially the Maintenance team, the rehab was successfully completed in early spring of this year, 2015!

An anecdote to this story that is near and dear to our hearts and we feel is important to mention is that the landscaping was also completed in-house with our Porter, Francene Nemeth. Francene was a very special woman who did a wonderful job to always maintain the landscaping and grounds to the highest degree at Peachtree Commons. Regional Manager, Tara Platt said, “I wanted to make special mention of Francene because she was a vital part of the maintenance crew and has recently passed. The team is devastated and they are missing her greatly. She was truly a key member of the team.”

The nomination Submitted on behalf of Peachtree Commons Apartments by their manager Karen Johnson is below:

To whom it may concern,

I am nominating my Maintenance Team for Outstanding Maintenance of the year.

Al Bolton is the Maintenance Supervisor here at Peachtree Commons. He leads the team with such strength and admiration. He himself “Never” takes off. He is always the last to leave. He strives to lead his maintenance team in the direction of success, and he does that very well. We have a property of 218 units. The Maintenance team never lets me down nor our residents and future residents. The team has made such a big difference here at Peachtree Commons where our community is becoming the most improved property in Pensacola and of course RAM! Without a strong dedicated team as they all are, we would not be able to reach our goals, hold resident retention, and keep a good reputation. The hard work that is put in here at Peachtree by my #1 Maintenance should receive recognition and be praised by the entire RAM family. Our Motto here is “RAM ROCKS” and we treat our residents and future residents like they deserve! Great Customer services!!! A place where you will feel your problems are very important. “Whatever it takes” we will take care of you!!

Congratulations Peachtree Commons! We are so proud of you and the amazing work you do!

Our second honor was bestowed to Lake Butler for “Top Shop.” Lake Butler Apartments is a Rural Development/Section 8 property with 48 units. Andy Cain has been the Maintenance Supervisor since March 2014. He previously worked at Lake Butler Apartments and had to leave due to personal reasons and was able to return in March of 2014. (Not sure if it can be said but Andy beat throat cancer to come back to work with RAM)

He has done an awesome job at Lake Butler Apts. He is the only maintenance person there and he handles all of the responsibility very well. Not only does he handle the job duties at Lake Butler Apts. he also is willing to go and help at other properties when the need arises. The Maintenance Supervisor, Andy Cain, keeps the community shop in pristine condition. As you can tell from the photos, there is not one thing out of place and there are labels as far as the eye can see. This is imperative in the instance that someone other than Andy need equipment in an emergency, as well as highly helpful in ensuring a safe shop! We would like to extend our sincerest congratulations and highest appreciation to Andy for all his hard work. You can find his nomination below.

Nomination for Andy Cain with Lake Butler for Top Shop

Good morning,

I would like to nominate my Maintenance man, Andy Cain. He single handedly keeps the grounds and community looking good. He is always organized and his shop always looks great. I can walk into the shop and find anything. Andy is safety conscience and always puts safety first. He is dedicated and believes in doing things right the first time. I can honestly say that when Andy has finished a unit, I can do a move in inspection in the next five minutes. That means everything is clean, well maintained and ready to go. I appreciate my maintenance person and could not do my job without him.

Thank you,

Betty Jacobs

Community Manager