Brian Brandenburg

Mike Pohl and his friend Jim O’Callaghan started a carpet cleaning company in 1986. They added restoration and focused on mitigation only, complete removal , clean up, dry-out, and prep work, ready for construction. As a matter of integrity, they wanted to avoid any potential conflict of interest, only removing what was actually needed so as to not inflate any construction costs. In 2017, they decided it would be easier for their customers if ACR added construction services too, allowing them to have one trusted company to work with after a disaster.

Brian came from the insurance world, joining ACR 16 years ago. Starting in an entry level position, Brian has worked his way up to VP of Operations. Many employees have been with ACR for a long time which is unusual in this industry that experiences a lot of turn over. ACR’s success starts with Mike and Jim. They provide the freedom and grant the ability for employees to make decisions in real-time based on their experience. The construction team is the newest team, and since their work is quite different, this addition was a big change.

There’s been more growth in the last two-plus years than in the previous ten! This has brought changes for onboarding new team members, adding new systems, all to handle the growth. Originally, the divisions were very separate teams. Now there is a lot of cross training which has been very helpful.

One family experienced a substantial fire. During demolition there was a small box with a little match inside. The team decided to set it aside. At the end of the job, the project manager returned the little box. Turns out it was a special gift that her husband had given her so many years ago. The family was appreciative and the team was moved.

When ACR decided to add construction, working with Syscon and Sage 100 Contractor to learn over/under billing, track costs and time, was so helpful. Syscon was a great resource to learn these new processes and tools, a big help.

ACR has received two Phoenix awards. In one case, a local restoration company brought ACR in to use their special techniques, saving a unique wood floor in an historic building.