The Marine Toys for Tots foundation was started back in 1947 by Major Bill Hendricks and has grown ever since. In 1995 the Secretary of Defence approved the Toys for Tots as an official activity of the U. S. Marine Corps and an official mission of the Marine Corps Reserve. Since the inception of the Toys for Tots program, they have distributed more than 400 million toys to more that 188 million needy children. Click here for more history about the of this program.

Brian Rist stated ” We are excited to be a part of such an honorable and noble program and look forward to supporting the Marines efforts for years to come.”

Brian Rist, President of The Smart Companies said “It was a shame to see someone’s dream fail due to the construction crash a few years back and we wish him the very best in the future. We are also excited to see this project come to completion after so many years. We are proud to be a part of this project and look forward to the opening next year. The completion of Zoomers is more than just another tourist attraction, the completion also means additional jobs for locals, a boost to the local economy and a place for families to spent time together.”

The Smart Companies will be providing Hurricane Protection for the entire complex. Manufacturing of the shutters will begin in December and the installation will begin in early January.

Along with their facility tour, the students will be meeting with Parker Bradtmiller, the Technology Director of The Smart Companies. During Parker’s presentation, he will be discussing some of the technologies used to help facilitate The Smart Companies work flow process. The discussion will also cover topics such as programming languages, open source technology and virtual servers.

Here’s how it worked; each building had a collection jar and each employee was encouraged to donate the changed in their pockets. This is when we decided to have a little competition between buildings, at first it was just a “lets see who raises the most” game, however the plan quickly changed. The next “rule” was; for every penny that is in your jug, one cent would be taken away from your total (all monies still going the cause), so everyone started putting pennies in the other buildings jar. Now this went on for about a month and the buildings were always within a few dollars of each other.

Now, this past Friday is when game strategy came into play, Here is how the last 5 minutes played out: building 2 thought they would be tricky and get a box of pennies from the bank and place it in building 1′s collection jar, it was a full $25 worth of pennies. Then, not wanting to lose, President Brian Rist donated $80 worth of pocket change. Plant 2 thought they were goners after this, however with a last minute rally, Plant 2 collected an additional $45.

Now it was time to wait as all monies were counted and a winner announced. Minutes seemed like hours and hours seem like days, waiting for the announcement. And the winner is: Plant 2

Plant 2  – Raised a total of 112.05 – 15.43 (pennies) = 96.62

Plant 1 – Raised a total of 127.95 – 43.74 (pennies) = 84.21

Plant 3 – Raised a total of 52.25 – 0.65 (pennies) = 41.6

Brian Rist is quoted as saying “I am very happy with the efforts and proud of everyone for raising almost $300 for breast cancer research.”

That was the implied message of the National Middle Market Summit held Oct. 6 at Ohio State University.

The summit called attention to a recent study showing that midsize firms – those with annual revenues of $10 million to $2 billion – are recession-hardy job-creators.

However, because they are so diverse – many are privately held – they’re often less-known to government business advocates, financiers and the general public.

“If we paid more attention to midsize companies, all of us would be in better shape,” said Brian Rist. He’s president of The Smart Companies in Fort Myers, whose core business is hurricane shutters, but which recently branched out into energy-saving products. The business employs 107 people and has $12 million in annual sales.

Rist says companies such as his are too big to qualify for many small-business-oriented programs – and too small to capture politicians’ attention.

On the plus side, that tends to make midsize companies “a little extra resourceful,” Rist said.

There’s strength in numbers: In 2010, Rist’s company and seven others with ties to the Southwest Regional Manufacturers Association – banded together to score a $383,000 state training grant.

“It really comes from the associations, that I learn about these training opportunities,” Rist said. “And, training is everything.”

On a national level, here are some highlights from that study of midsize companies:

- Eighty-two percent survived the recession; barely 50 percent of smaller businesses did not.

- From 2007-10, midsize companies added 2.2 million jobs. Big businesses cut 3.7 million jobs.

- Eighty percent of the midsize firms expect to grow in 2012.

- One in four big businesses was a midsize company five years ago.

The Smart Companies, Inc.

d/b/a Storm Smart

RE: Garage Screen Installation and Installers

Dear Mr. Rist:

I would like to take this opportunity to let you know how professional and courteous our installers were during out somewhat drawn out installation process. Dave and Travis did a great job installing the screens and their workmanship is unmatched. They are true artists in this trade. These two gentlemen were a pleasure to meet and deal with during our installation. Dave and Travis are true assets to your organization. I would very much appreciate if you would kindly provide them both with a copy of this correspondence.

Sincerely,

Julia

The first image is of the Florida International University entry. Some of the innovative technologies use on this house were: cross ventilation, canopy shades, ductless air conditioning sensors and timers to provide system automation. An interesting idea arose while looking at the canopy shade system, this system could not only be used for sun shading, but also security or storm protection.

The Middlebury College house uses a solar array of 30 panels that can produce as much as 7,900 kWh annually. Triple pane windows were used on this house to achieve a 0.53 heat gain coefficient. In addition, the house uses a solar hot water system. This system uses sun light during the day to heat water that runs through evacuated tubes. The Smart Companies uses similar technology in their Solar AC system.

Purdue University used large, stylish overhangs to reduce summertime sun from shining directly through the windows and allowing the lower, winter sun to shine through, helping raise the room temperature. One of the unique features of this house is the heat pump hot water heater. This system uses the ambient air inside the house to help heat the water.

Storm Smart Industries

I recently had a problem with my Storm Catcher Hurricane fabric and had to get it replaced. Having accomplished this successfully, I want to take the opportunity to thank you and your staff for the BEST CUSTOMER SERVICE THAT I have ever personally experienced or seen. I am a retired Financial VP for a Billion $+ international industrial manufacturing business so I think I have some ability to assess good service.

My Storm Catcher screen was purchased about five years ago from Florida Hurricane & Solar Protection of Sarasota to protect my lanai area in addition to the purchase of Lexan shutters for the remaining windows. After realising that I had a problem on the day prior to leaving for the North for the summer, I had some difficulty getting connected to the right person at the supplier to see if I could get a replacement screen. When I was told to call the manufacturer directly, I sensed there was going to be a problem in resolving it to my satisfaction. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

My initial contact was with a gentleman named Zeke who suggested I talk to Maria. After I explained who I was and the situation, she without hesitation agreed to a replacement under the warranty. She did indicate that I would have to bring the screen to Fort Myers to be used as a template and would make every effort to have it ready for me in 2-3 days as I was flying from Cape Cod to Florida specifically to get this resolved.

I first arrived at your office/plant on Tuesday August 30th. As I was taking the screen out of my trunk, an employee came by and asked if he could assist me. I said I didn’t need help but he insisted on at least opening the facility door. Once inside, I was well taken care of by the receptionist and shortly by Maria. As I was leaving the office, another lady asked if I had been taken care of satisfactorily. I knew I was in good hands. As I was about to drive away, I spotted yourself (having seen your picture in the foyer). I told you how happy I was with the service. I was still anxious about getting the final product as agreed to and on time but with high expectations based on what had just occurred.

On Thursday morning at 7:30 am, Maria called and said the Storm Catcher was ready. I drove to your facility and met with Maria who gave me the replacement product. Again, Maria and each person whom I saw asked if I had been cared for satisfactorily. Later that day, I reinstalled the new Storm Catcher at my home with full product and time satisfaction.

Your product is great. Installation is as simple as it could be. Your organization is fabulous.

Thank you and I wish you and your employees continues success.

Respectfully yours,

Mr. Webb