3 minute read
BUSINESS MATTERS
The Success Series: SERVPRO
STORY BY BRITTANY SMITH PHOTOS BY JAKE ARTHUR & BRITTANY SMITH
Chris Teeters wanted to start his own business. A youth pastor turned storm team chaser and eventually a franchise consultant for ServPro, he had come to know a great deal about the industry and the business. He knew he could be successful given the right opportunity and location as a ServPro owner. Still, he wasn’t sure a business investment in Tallapoosa County would be the best fit. After all, he and his wife knew very little of Alexander City. So when the opportunity to invest in the business of his dreams arose in Alexander City, he knew a visit would be the tell.
“When we came to check out the business, find out why it wasn’t working for the other guy and find our way around the area, we could see that Alex City is really growing,” Teeters said. “The economy is growing here, and from a ServPro perspective, from a restoration perspective, this is a very under-serviced area. And so we felt very fortunate to be able to buy this business, and we’ve put in a lot of blood, sweat and tears to grow it.”
After many hours of research and visiting the area several times, Teeters and his wife decided that purchasing in Alexander City was a wise investment. They closed on the deal and officially became a ServPro franchise owners on April 28, 2018. The first thing I did was look for a new location since we did purchase from a previous owner, and we had to move the operation,” Teeters said. “So I went to the Chamber of Commerce to speak to Ed Collari, and it just so happened that they had a warehouse available for rent.”
Conversations began taking place, and it wasn’t long before the Lake Martin Innovation Center worked out a deal for Teeters’ business that he could not turn down.
“It was the perfect location for us to start,” Teeters said.
Being at the innovation center was beneficial for Teeters and his crew. It gave them the opportunity to network, and the atmosphere helped create a foundation for growth, he said.
“We were at the hub of the chamber and being there, drinking coffee there, eating lunch there, it really allowed us to get to know the business leaders in town,” Teeters said. “We were there for three years, and every moment of it moved us closer to our goals.”
Teeters recently purchased and moved into a new building because they outgrew the warehouse at the
Cleaning Up
ServPro was called immediately to clean up schools after storms flooded classrooms on May 4.
~ Chris Teeters
innovation center.
“If you look at that space in comparison to the 10,000–square–foot warehouse that we just moved to in April of this year, it is a testimony to how much the business has grown,” Teeters explained.
“We are the disaster guys. So, if something bad happens to a house or business, we show up to clean it up,” Teeters said. “We are always on-call. If somebody’s water pipe breaks in the middle of the night and there is water going everywhere, someone has to get out there and handle it.”
For the team, that means taking action, whether it be to stop a leak from a busted pipe and save a bathroom or kitchen or by boxing up an entire home, removing furniture, carpet and flooring and relocating it to the ServPro facility. “We work hard, a lot of nights and weekends, but it’s whatever it takes to get the job done,” Teeters said. “We are certainly grateful for the start that the innovation center offered us, and there couldn’t have been a better location to open the business.”
Making a Difference
Top: The warehouse at the innovation center housed ServPro equipment, including ShopVacs and dryers, until the business outgrew the space; MIddle: ServPro was contracted to clean up the First United Methodist Church after the May 4 fire; Bottom: Teeters' started his business with one emplyee. He now has many.
