Interview: David Hammond, CEO

David Hammond

CEO CSI International

What were the most complex COVID-19 challenges you had to navigate?

We had to renegotiate every single contract with every client because every client’s needs changed. We managed to make the adjustments that fit their needs. Now that people are reopening, those needs are still changing. There is more attention being paid to Day services because of the touch points, ensuring all those touch points are getting cleaned much more frequently. We do a lot of electrostatic spraying/disinfection and use the Clorox 360 system. We’re now working toward getting our GBAC (Global Biorisk Advisory Council) certification as a GBAC service provider and will be one of the first companies to be a Certified Service Provider. Several buildings and airlines have opted for the International Sanitary Supply Association’s GBAC building or corporate certification to ensure they are sanitizing the right way. We have to have at least 5% of our workforce trained in proper sanitation procedures. We anticipate this certification requirement will become permanent down the road, considering sanitizing regulation is in the works after the observation that several companies out there are not doing it the right way. We’re positioning ourselves at the forefront of the sanitization game.

What are your near-term goals?

Our growth goal for 2021 is 12%. We remain on target to continue to meet or exceed that goal. Bids were put on hold over the last year and we’re now starting to see things start to move. Whether they had good or bad suppliers, companies are well aware of the critical necessity of effective janitorial services to restore consumer confidence. Every month is a different renegotiation of every client contract. We will continue to provide the flexibility and nimbleness required to meet our clients’ needs and help them through these trying times. We are completing the GBAC Certification and also will be finalizing our ISO9001 Certification as we also service many cleanroom environments. ( ) 2.2 million. By 2070, Broward County will count 2.7 million people, a 25% increase compared to 2020 figures.

That suggests that Broward County will maintain its place on Florida’s demographic leaderboard for the next 50 years, ensuring a continuous driver for real estate demand across its residential, commercial and industrial segments for the next five decades.

Added to that, Broward County benefited from the COVID-19-triggered in-migration from densely populated areas such as the Northeast toward sunnier, less-crowded areas. Not even COVID-19 was able to stop home value appreciation in the region, with the average value of middle-tier homes in Broward County standing at $312,818 in April 2021, a 9.1% increase over the previous-year period, according to Zillow Homes. In the city of Fort Lauderdale, the average price was $381,677, a 9.0% jump. Home values have been appreciating nonstop since 2012, after the market recuperated from the housing bubble of 2008-9. Houses in the region have appreciated 44.9% in the last three years, nearly doubling the national average of 25.8%.

The gains witnessed since 2017 have played a major role in making the post-recession price weakness a distant memory in Fort Lauderdale. The real estatefocused website realtor.com reported that as of April 2021, Broward County’s sale-to-list price ratio was 97.92%, meaning homes sold for just 2.08 percent below asking price, on average. Fort Lauderdale has stood to benefit the most from the positive spillover effect of Miami’s ongoing construction boom.

Located just 30 miles south of Miami, Fort Lauderdale has benefited from excess real estate investor dollars developing commercial real estate or snatching up land for new residential development. The Venice of America’s attractiveness stems from its strong economic and demographic fundamentals. Pre-pandemic, the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance’s Economic Sourcebook and Market Profile 2019 laid out the details of the region’s strengths. Looking at the city of Coral Springs as a benchmark, it had a median household income of $73,559; a total population of 132,483 people with a median age of 36, five accessible airports, three accessible highways, one accessible seaport, a 3.3% unemployment rate, a labor force of 74,491 people, 48.6% of which have a college degree and a AAA bond rating by S&P.

Residential The Miami Association of Realtors and the Multiple Listings Service (MLS) reported in February 2021 that total home sales in Broward County had increased ( )