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.

Regular maintenance of your hurricane shutters is important to assure that all parts are working smoothly and correctly. Here are some tips to help guide you:

Tip #1: Clean your shutters. It sounds very simple but this is where a lot of damage can be avoided. Use a water hose to spray them down thoroughly.  Start at the top getting into the track’s channel. The channel is the space where the tracking guide or gears reside, depending on your system, which run along the shutter. Make sure to get all the dirt, leaves, spider webs, bee hives, and wasps nests out of those tracks, top and bottom.  Use a  soft cloth or a thin haired brush with a mild detergent, such as Dawn to gently clean the shutter from top to bottom and then spray down again to remove all the soap. IMPORTANT: Do not spray with a high-pressure system. The high pressure may be very damaging to the painted surface.

Tip #2: Lubricate. We recommend our exclusive non-drying Shutter Spray which quickly penetrates through rust and scale to loosen the mechanical and electrical components of motorized and manual storm shutters. Be sure to lubricate tracking, hinges, locks and motor drive systems to ensure free and easy movement. WARNING:  Do Not Use WD-40 on your shutters.  It may do more harm than good.

Tip #3: Consider a Maintenance Agreement. Regular maintenance is vital to ensuring your hurricane protection products will operate smoothly and properly when needed. We offer a 3 year Maintenance Agreement Program which will include annual inspections and service of all your shutters including checking parts for proper operation, adjust as needed, reset limits, clean the tracks and lubricate.  Our Service Department will be happy to customize a plan that is just right for your home or business. For more information, please call John at 239-938-1004.

The Hazelton’s submitted their “Coolest Job” entry by saying:

“There are so many things to love about our new Storm Smart hurricane protection rolling screens. We are thrilled with the system for a number of reasons: They function not only as hurricane protection but also serve as great solar protection during the late afternoon sun on our lanai. We were also able to enjoy sitting on our lanai during the recent heavy rain storm. The job was performed professionally from beginning to end.  From the sales representative T.J., as well as the installation group.”

Is your new Storm Smart Hurricane Protection the coolest job of the month? If so, please tell us about it! Here’s how it works~ if you would like to nominate your home for the coolest job, simply take pictures of your new Storm Smart products or video and send it to cooljobs@stormsmart.com with a short statement on why you think that your job and your installer is the “coolest job of the month!”

We will pick a winner monthly and if you win, Storm Smart will send you a check for $200.00 and we will also reward your favorite installer with a bonus!

The company was built on a core business of hurricane shutters, fabric protection screens and impact-resistant windows.

Now, however, more customers want help reducing their home energy costs, installing solar energy collectors and organizing smart home electronics to control it all, Rist said.

The Smart Companies Inc. launched this month, rebranding the company to bring all of the former Storm Smart business operations under a master company.

“We needed to reflect how much the company has grown and how much our services have expanded,” Rist said. “It wasn’t about getting rid of anything, but marrying them together.”

For example, impact-resistant windows cut energy loss through windows and storm screens can shade a sunny window, allowing the room to stay up to 7 degrees cooler.

A single 24-inch-by-10-inch solar collector can power up to seven roll-down shutters and smart home electronics can allow you to operate them all throughout the house.

Rebranding a business is not an easy decision, but more companies may consider it because they have been shaped and changed by the economy, said Chris Spiro, chief executive officer of Spiro & Associates, a marketing, advertising and public relations firm in Fort Myers.

“You can’t force a square peg into a round hole when the market is changing,” Spiro said.

Carol Conway, president of Cape Coral-based CRS Technology Consultants, said you have to listen to customers to know if your brand makes sense. In 2001, hers said it was time for a change.

“Clients were telling me that Computer Rescue Squad was cute, but limiting and it didn’t truly represent the scope of our services,” Conway said. The company’s services increasing included IT management in addition to tech support.

That resulted in a name change to CRS Technologies, which was further tweaked two years ago when Conway’s staff “held an intervention” and convinced her to update the company’s website, letterhead and logos.

“I had designed a lot of that myself and it was hard for me to admit I wasn’t as cool or contemporary as I thought I was,” Conway said. “Thousands of dollars and tons of anxiety later, it is one of the best things we ever did.”

For The Smart Companies Inc., Rist enlisted Spiro’s help to shape the new brand.

“This was customer driven because the demand for these expanded services came from an underserved marketplace,” Spiro said. “But, there is an amazing amount of equity in the Storm Smart brand.”

So those brands didn’t entirely disappear. Storm Smart Building Systems, Storm Catcher and Go Energy Smart still exist as company divisions, Rist said.

But the company still had to invest in updated signs, letterhead, business cards, fleet branding and web site redesign. By the time he factors in the cost of advertising campaign, Rist estimates the re-branding will cost close to $100,000.

“I believe for the future of this company, this was the right thing to do,” Rist said.

Via News-Press

We recently had “Storm Catcher” hurricane protection screens installed on our patio. We are very pleased with the application and your installer Shane. In fact, our patio never looked so good!  Shortly after, we decided to have the accordion shutters installed on the entire house. Again, Shane’s installation was performed in a very professional manner and to our satisfaction and not to mention what a nice young man he is.

I thought you might like to know I still have a letter from you dated May 30, 1997 regarding some work that needed to be done on our roof system, which you also completed.

Thank you for the reputable company you are and for the professional people in your employ.

Don & Marilyn J.

Storm Smart has been invited to participate in many of the upcoming events, including Hendry and Glades County. Please join us on Saturday, May 14th from 10am – 1pm at the LaBelle Rodeo Grounds and on Saturday, May 28th from 10am to 1pm at the Clewiston Fair Grounds. We will do our best to help educate you on ways to protect your home and family during these free, fun filled events.

Read more of this article from the Fort Myers News-Press Sunday Business May 1st, 2011 Edition here:

Your installers, Jeff and Randy, were professional and courteous.  And their caulking job is beautiful….even the inspector said so.  From start to finish, the experience was a pleasure. “

Diana S. ~ Cape Coral, FL

Storm Smart Customer & Installer Win Cash From Storm Smart

Fort Myers, FL- December 8, 2010- Storm Smart Industries recently chose a winner for their “coolest jobs” contest, Mary and Cliff Wood of Fort Myers, Fla and Storm Smart installer, Shane Wise.  Mary and Cliff won $200.00 cash as well as their installer, Shane Wise. The checks will be presented by President of Storm Smart Industries, Brian Rist on Thursday, December 10 at 3:00 p.m. at the Woods household.

The “Coolest Jobs” contest was started to allow Storm Smart a chance to reward their customers for choosing Storm Smart as well as the hard-working installation team.  “Serving our customers is the most important aspect of the business,” said Brian Rist, President of Storm Smart Industries, “ it was great to see all the pictures of the new jobs and the praise from our customers for our installation staff!”

The contest started in July of 2010 where new customers of any Storm Smart products could submit pictures of their installed products on line at http://www.stormsmart.com. Customers were also asked to write a brief write-up about their experience with overall installation of the products and why their job was the coolest job!

“We were very happy with Shane Wise and how clean he left the job site,” said Cliff and Mary Wood, winner of coolest jobs,” Shane and Storm Smart products are of the highest quality and have added so much to the security, safety, sun protection, value and beauty of our home!”