A Jewish Proverb: The Fox and the Vineyard

An old Jewish proverb tells this interesting story:

A sly fox passed a lovely vineyard. A tall fence surrounded the vineyard on all sides. As the fox circled the fence, he found a small hole in the fence, barely large enough for him to push his head through. The fox could see the luscious grapes in the vineyard and his mouth began to water. But the hole in the wall was to small for him. So what did the sly fox do? He fasted for three days until he became so thin that he managed to slip through the hole.

Inside the vineyard the fox began to eat to his heart's content. He grew bigger and fatter gorging on the sweet grapes. Then he became very thirsty. Going back to the hole to make his exit, he discovered he was now to fat to get out! What to do now? He fasted for three more days just to become small enough to squeeze out, nearly dying of thirst.

Turning back to the vineyard as he headed to find water he said "What value are you to me? Just as I entered so I leave.

Solomon said something similar, just as a man comes into the world, so he leaves it. It's what we do in between that counts.

Keith Barnhart - Estimator

My Trip to Maui

You might notice a theme in our blog-Hawaii vacations. Our Champion Construction Systems, Inc office is full of travelers and while we like to do water damage, we love to travel. By something of a coincidence, many of us have recently traveled to or will soon travel to Hawaii.  My trip was last month and I have to agree with Nick Sharp, it was amazing. (Larry Banach went in the first part of February and we are still waiting on his post) I wanted to share some highlights.

-Humpback Whales. We were in Maui during the peak of the Humpback Whale season. In fact we even went to the Whale Festival! This is what I learned--Humpback whales migrate to Maui's warm waters from November to March to have their babies in the warm, shallow and safe waters. They don't eat while they are here and lose 1/2 of their body weight. Once the calves are ready, they migrate back to Alaskan waters where they normally live. These whales are an endangered species so it was really special to have the opportunity to see them. Although you wouldn't know they are endangered because they are everywhere. We took this picture from our backyard

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Water Damage Restoration - What's In a Name - Part II

Part II - Yesterday in 'What's In a Name' we explored the most common customer last names that Champion has had the privilege to work for over the last decade, and SMITH took the prize. On the flip side, our customers communicate with a number of Champion employees throughout their project, and keeping all of us straight can no doubt be a challenge especially considering we have a Gary, a Jerry, a Larry, a Mary, and a Jeremy. Not to mention an M. Brown and M. Smith.

Greg Ahlstrom - Accounting Manager

Water Damage Restoration - What's In a Name - Part I

Part I - One of the 'little things' that makes our industry and our jobs intriguing is that our customers are individual homeowners, so we have come across thousands of different first names, last names, and combinations of names. Of course, we all know some of the most common last names. Over the length of more than a decade having assisted thousands of people, these are Champion's most common customer names: Anderson 23 times, Moore 31 times, Brown 33 times, Jones 38 times, Williams 48 times (did you know that one was common?), Johnson 50 times, and the winner is Smith 70 times.

Greg Ahlstrom

What Makes Champion Different?

I recently sent out a short survey through email and asked my co-workers, "What do you think sets us apart from our competitors?"

Here are some of the replies I received.

Brett Bishop, Mitigation Crew Leader: "We offer the World's Fastest Drying!"

Larry Banach, Construction Manager:  "The people."

Gary Anderson, General Manager:  "Champion is a close knit, family based organization comprised of individuals that truly care about giving their customers the best service experience available in our industry."

Jerry Quarles, Estimator:  "As a family owned & operated business, we have grown large enough to have the ability to help many families within a large coverage area while we have maintained small town values, never viewing our customers as a “number” but, rather, as a neighbor in need."

What do YOU think makes us different? Tell us what you like about our company and what you would like to see different.

Spotlight on Chloe

It’s Chloe Hudson's turn to be interviewed for Champion’s Spotlight.

Chloe has been with Champion since 2001.  She is on the contents crew, so if you ever experiece a fire damage, more than likely Chloe will be coming to pack out your house.  Now, let’s get to know Chloe:

What is your favorite snack? Popcorn.

 

What is your favorite piece of clothing?

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There’s a New Fire Chief In Town!

Born and raised in Greensboro, North Carolina, Fire Chief Johnny Teeters brings 38 years of experience to the Coweta County Fire Department. Chief Teeters helped Greensboro improve the city’s ISO fire insurance rating from a seven to a one. We had the opportunity to briefly interview Chief Teeters. Here is what he had to say.

How do you like Newnan?
I think it is great, it is a little more rural than I am used to. It is like going back to a slower time. I have loved every minute here so far.

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