SERVPRO becomes big around the nation in disaster restoration

7/3/2018 (Permalink)

Members of the SERVPRO of Whitemarsh/Doylestown franchise. Photo by Gene Walsh / Times Herald Staff

Copied from an article in the Times Herald Newspaper

By GARY PULEO
gpuleo@timesherald.com">gpuleo@timesherald.com

Posted: 09/07/11, 12:01 AM EDT | Updated: on 09/07/2011

WORCESTER - When it comes to “Dirty Jobs,” Mike Rowe has nothing on Andreo DiPrinzio. He may not be the star of his own TV show, but the owner of SERVPRO of Whitemarsh/Cheltenham gets a major rush from diving in to the muck and the mold when a large-scale cleanup job is in order. Clearing the decks after one of Mother Nature’s virulent tantrums is what brought DiPrinzio and his “minutemen” to the Poconos in late August. Lightning had severely damaged the roof of Swiftwater Elementary School, and SERVPRO’s job was to reinstate a normal environment in time for the first day of School on Aug. 29. It was the kind of disaster restoration that DiPrinzio thrives on, he admitted by phone after a few days of being knee-deep in the wreckage. “I love this stuff,” DiPrinzio said. “I got the call on Monday from the host office, so you just have to react. We call ourselves the “minutemen’ at times like that. You tell your wife and kids, I don’t know how big the project is or how long I’ll be gone. In my industry you have to take these things when you can because you’ll be lucky to go on two of these a year. Last year alone I worked in six states and was personally on the road for two months. We’re working against the clock to get this Swiftwater job done,” he added, “And if we have to ramp it up to a third shift, we will.”

SERVPRO of Whitemarsh/Cheltenham, which DiPrinzio launched 15 years ago, is part of a nationwide system of more than 1,500 franchises, which includes DiPrinzio’s second location, SERVPRO of Doylestown. Though the Whitemarsh/Cheltenham designation signifies SERVPRO’s geographical territory, DiPrinzio runs his flagship operation from a family property in Worcester called Abruzzi Farm. “If the host office gets a job, no one can handle a big job with 200 people that you need done in five days, so they call in the franchises,” DiPrinzio said. “It looks like all the work here is being done by SERVPRO of Monroe County, but technically there are close to nine franchises all working together on this building.” The Swiftwater project, which DiPrinzio estimated would cost $1 million, was not the typical “bread and butter” job that SERVPRO deals with on a regular basis, he noted.

“A typical job is between $3,000 and $5,000,” said DiPrinzio, who also owns DiPrinzio Building & Development Co. “A pipe breaks in your house from the hot water heater and pours water all over the floor. We’ll come in and cut up the carpet and spray for mold and mildew. Most other outfits just come in and suck water and don’t get involved in the construction, but because of my home building I contract out other repairs to my own company to take care of the whole job.”

Besides fixing up monumental messes, SERVPRO is also cleaning up in the numbers game as well. The company was recently recognized at a national convention for hitting the million-dollar mark in revenue. “It was the third time we went to a million dollars,” said DiPrinzio, a Bishop Kenrick graduate. With the Swiftwater Elementrary School project still in full swing, his services were being booked to mend destruction in the wake of Hurricane Irene. “I got an email from an insurance company that said we will pay you to mobilize so that once the hurricane hits you can start serving us exclusively for any damages that we have,” he said. “After 15 years my back is broken, and you won’t see at a small $2,500 job. I’m personally committed to going to the large losses now. It’s what I give to my company, for lack of a better word.”