Keeping business strong while the power is out
BY BRIAN BANDELL
South Florida Business Journal
After being hit by two strong hurricanes last summer, Eastern Metal Supply’s two facilities in Palm Beach County were closed for two days, leaving the company scrambling to deliver aluminum to customers throughout Florida.
“We send 30 tractor-trailers a day out of these two facilities,” said Bill Weeds, the company’s head of quality assurance. “When the power goes out, it stops us.”
Eastern secured a 100-kilowatt generator from the Americas Generators in Miami to regain a “barely operational” capacity, Weeks said. They had computers and could manufacture, but there was no air-conditioning for the large warehouses.
“The owners realized that this wasn’t something we wanted to go through again,” he said.
The company has since purchased generators to serve on standby to fully power its West Palm Beach and Lake Worth facilities in the event of a power outage. Even when there aren’t hurricanes, the backup systems keep work flowing through the shorter blackouts, which occur fairly frequently in Lake Worth, Weeks said.
Power generation is something every business should consider in their disaster preparedness plans, said Mike Stone, spokesman for the Florida Division of Emergency Management. Businesses that offer essential services, such as gas, food and health care, have a greater need for a backup power system, he said.
Homebuilders, businesses purchasing generators
Compared to last year, A&A has doubled its year-to-date sales through August, Gilbert said. There’s much more interest from both businesses and builders that make generators and impact-resistant glass standard on luxury homes.
"West palm beach is really the Mecca for us now," he said. "Coral gables is also picking up. We’re really busy from St. Lucie County down.”
Gilbert recommends choosing a propane or natural gas generator because the fuel is easier to deal with and more readily available in homes than fuel for diesel generators. A&A’s average generator costs $3,000, which usually reaches $8,000 with installation and fuel. Buying a generator for a large home can run from $15,000 to $20,000, he said.
Before buying generators, businesses need to make sure they can fit near their offices, said H.J. Frank, co-owner of Boca Raton-based Personalized Power Systems, a unit of Personalized Air Conditioning. The units can be 3 feet wide by 8 feet long and weight 1,100 pounds. They also make lots of noise.
Personalized Power handles the zoning for its clients. City zoning or building departments need to be contacted. If it’s a standalone building owned by the company, there’s usually no problem, Frank said. An office condo would have to go through the landlord for a waiver. Leased out facilities, especially those without much space, have a difficult time obtaining approval for a fixed generator.
To target new business, Personalized Power tracks leads with dozens of architectural firms around Florida to encourage them to incorporate space for generators into their designs.
Dentist Ronald Fisher had his Delray Beach office designed with space for a generator, which he bought in November. He is more concerned with rolling brownouts than hurricanes.
Boca Air Conditioning owns its office / warehouse complex in Boca Raton and had a generator installed between hurricanes Francis and Jeanne last summer. After the first storm, the company battled along for a week without power and without phones.
Co-owner Mary Jane VonStetten sat in a 35-degree warehouse, trying to direct 12 workers on the road from her cell phone without a computer to pull orders or give them directions.
“It was like having your hands tied,” she said. “Having this generator as a business is a lifesaver.”