Oklahoma is now more than an old time musical to us with the opening of a branch in Oklahoma City. We have 2 employees slated for this branch.  Nathan Curby will move from San Antonio. Josh Fisher, a current resident, has completed his training in Sterling and begun working in the market. In addition to what's happening in OKC, we've got more folks heading west to help. Jesse Wheatley has left Baltimore to go to Dallas/Fort Worth, and Deron Wells is leaving Rockville, bound for San Antonio.  As Regional Vice President Jeremy Jenkins said, "We've received project opportunities from carrier clients with our continued growth to support both the residential and commercial sectors in these markets. Jenkins has expanded geographically to provide its restoration services in 4 locations in the Southwest this past year."

The Management Group had a two day meeting where we spent time discussing how we do our jobs. We introduced some new control measures and discussed our approach to topics like recruiting, training and estimating. We also heard from Dr. Maggio, a clinical psychologist and national consultant in the field of disaster mental health and Critical Incident Stress Management. His expertise has been employed during 9/11, Katrina and recently at the Columbia Mall shooting. He serves with organizations as diverse as the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association's Rapid Response Team to the World Bank in Washington, DC. Dr. Maggio's understanding of people impacted by trauma and the needs of those who are assisting in recovery spoke directly to the task you face each day when handling insurance claims. We hope to incorporate his expertise into more training for all.  (See group photo below.)

At the spring meeting there was focus on our Mission, Vision and Values, and functioning daily with a servant's heart. I recently attended a conference in Colorado where the speaker said "you will know you're living out your values when they inflict pain." With the 8 values of honesty, trustworthiness, servant attitude, teamwork, excellence, expertise, genuine care for others and commitment to family, I often feel pain when making decisions. These can be tough to live by, but so important to adhere to. I would like each of us at Jenkins to hold each other accountable to maintain our structure.

We have been busy.  Really busy! We've done more work in Mitigation and Core Claims in 2014 than ever before. We continue to operate at an exceptionally fast and spirited pace.   Our team brings dedication and passion to their work every day and this is greatly appreciated!  Thank you!

Tracy Riddle