PHOTO PROVIDED Staff members of SERVPRO of Williamsport/Montoursville and their families work on a recent Williamsport Grand Slam Parade float.

Many are aware of SERVPRO as a restoration company, tackling projects, big and small, but what some may not know is that the Williamsport-Montoursville branch of the national leader is a purely local operation.

“The franchise has been locally owned and operated since 2002,” said Ben Boyles, commercial sales and marketing manager, who came aboard last year.

“It’s one thing I try to remind our customers and commercial accounts. We’re a small business here in Lycoming County,” Boyles said, stressing that owner Ben Kimble, who also owns Kimble Realty, is onsite everyday, helping to run the company.

With 28 employees making up seven different crews, SERVPRO offers a wide variety of services, Boyles said.

“We have many fires and properties that we’re restoring and reconstructing. We have lots of water damage, sewer backups and mold remediation and reconstruction, and we do carpet cleanings every day,” he said.

No job is too small, including things like cleaning out dryer vents.

“If someone just doesn’t know how to do it, we’re happy to stop by and take a few minutes to clean out their dryer vent,” he said.

“Every day is different, and it really becomes fascinating,” Boyles said.

“And we have the resources to become a large company if we need to,” he said, adding that additional crews are available from nearby locations should they encounter a job too big for their personal workforce.

“We don’t normally find customers on good days. When they call us, they need help, and at the end of it, these homeowners are just so grateful that we are there to help,” Boyles said.

“Our crews are friendly, they’re customer-oriented and we’re compassionate about these homeowners that are in need,” he said.

“And when we get a thank you card, we pass it around to our guys and girls, and that really warms our hearts,” Boyles said.

Though the point of any business is to make money, Boyles said they are focused on who may need the help more urgently, and not necessarily who will bring them the biggest profit.

“That focus really goes a long way with our customers, because they see we’re not selling them on extra services. We’re not pushing them to spend more money with us,” he said.

Additionally, SERVPRO helps their customers navigate the sometimes murky waters of the insurance claims process.

“It’s complicated, a bit difficult and a little overwhelming, so for us to be able to help them understand what’s going to happen now, and here’s what you can do and just taking that off of their plate is such a relief,” he said.

“We love the end product, that from start to finish, our crews and our company can go and help them from day one to that final day where the homeowner can move back into their home, and it’s perfectly restored and reconstructed,” Boyles said.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Debby, SERVPRO oversaw clean up projects at more than 160 properties, including an elementary school that saw over four feet of water in its basement.

“We were able to gather a large team and get them back operational in 11 days for their first day of school, something our team was proud of accomplishing,” Boyles said.

The company is also often called upon to assist in police cruiser and prison cell clean ups, Boyles said, adding that they are more than happy to assist any first responders. The company currently works with 90 fire departments within the territory it covers.

A company initiative Boyles is particularly excited about is a sustained initiative known as Hydrate Our Heroes, a social media bottled water donation campaign that saw over 400 cases of bottled water donated to over 40 local fire departments this summer.

The plan is for the campaign to continue with donations to the remaining fire departments not covered in the first go round.

Continuing a push of community outreach, Boyles was able to secure the first placement of a company float in the ever popular Little League Grand Slam Parade.

“It was a lot of fun,” he said.

“We wanted to have all our crew there, but they weren’t able to attend because they were out on jobs, working all hours of the night, helping our customers that were flooded, since the parade was right after the hurricane,” Boyles explained.

“So we got a few of our family members, my daughter and a couple of her friends and a couple wives and husbands of our office staff to walk with us and help out,” he said.

“It turned out really nice, and we made it onto WNEP-16, so it was cool to see us get that kind of exposure,” he said.

“It’s big for our community to have the World Series here, and for us to support that is important. We also support our little league teams here in Montoursville,” Boyles said.

With winter’s impending entrance, Boyles anticipates an uptick in both work and hiring during what he called their busiest time of the year.

“We have frozen pipes, lots of flooding and water damage and a lot of fires from furnace malfunctions, so we’re ramping up our hiring,” he said.

“We’re always hiring, and always open to new people and people willing to help us out. We’re still hiring technicians, restoration technicians and crew chiefs that are ambitious and like to work,” Boyles added.

“We’re pretty laid back and try to have a good time working together and we have a great team. It’s a good company to work for,” he said.