Business in flooded city survive with creativity

As if losing his house to the runaway Souris River weren't bad enough, Stuart Collom has another big worry: staying employed.

Minot's prosperity, driven largely by an oil production boom in western North Dakota, had kept the 51-year-old contractor busy laying concrete in basements, driveways and elsewhere until the massive flood swamped 4,000 homes and hundreds of businesses last week. Suddenly, the phone stopped ringing.

So he and his boss at Northfield Construction Co. have been surfing the Web for good deals on industrial-strength power washing machines, figuring plenty of homeowners and companies will need their services when the water recedes and a massive cleanup gets under way.

"It might be a way to make a living for a while. We'll see," said Collom, who's been sleeping on a couch in the office since his house flooded. "I think construction is coming to a grinding halt around here. A lot of the jobs we'd started are sitting under water."

Innovation is proving the key to survival for many businesses in the Minot area, as companies cope with transportation snarls, possible water contamination and other obstacles. From restaurants serving meals with paper plates and plastic utensils because they can't wash dishes to a grocery chain and tire wholesaler shifting inventory to new locations, they are doing what's necessary to keep their doors open. The owners of a golf course even altered the layout so people could keep playing.

"I don't want to lose my accounts to competitors. I have to stay in business," said Monique Jensen, manager of Tires Only, who scrambled to move about 20,000 tires to higher ground before her warehouse in a low-lying area was evacuated. Jensen sells to a network of retailers stretching from Minnesota to Montana and said any lengthy interruption of shipments would be costly.

The rain-swollen Souris peaked over the weekend at its highest level on record. By Monday, it was more than half a foot lower and moving steadily downward, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said it would be mid-July before they would consider the danger over. Corps officials said they were "guardedly optimistic" there'd be no further damage but warned rain could change the outlook.

No official damage estimate has been released, but the cost will be high. Some businesses will feel the pain for years, said David Flynn, director of the University of North Dakota's Bureau of Business and Economic Research, who studied how Grand Forks' catastrophic 1997 flood affected commerce. Some companies got through the initial disaster but never fully recovered and eventually failed, he said.

Enhance Your Power Washing Business With Pressure Washer Accessories :

Once you’ve made the initial investment of a good, powerful pressure washer it will benefit you to take some time to explore all of the pressure washer accessories available. Pressure washer accessories can optimize the list of services you can offer customers and put you ahead of your competitors.

Pressure washer accessories, such as GFCI cords and plugs, brass couplings, hose restrictors, good pressure gauges, winterizing kits, battery boxes, unloader valves can extend the life of your existing equipment. They can also just simply make your job easier and more professional looking.

To expand the list of services you offer, consider adding a sand blaster (medium to heavy duty equipment is available) or sewer jetter (can clean pipes and tubes from 1” –6” in diameter) to your system. Chemical injectors are a necessity when you need the extra cleaning power of chemicals. There are high or low-pressure chemical kits with adjustable chemical injectors. There are metering valves, nozzles for distance or maximum pressure, and systems that save your pump, lance, hose and gun by having the chemicals by-pass them.

Add the service of duct cleaning to your repertoire, and shine above the competition even more. Made to be corrosion-resistant and with self-lubricating bearings, the Swiss made carbide swivel duct cleaner is one great pressure washer accessory. Working with hot or cold water, duct cleaners clean any kind of duct, vent, chimney, or chute. And don’t forget the market for cleaning restaurant hoods and trash chutes and even kegs and barrels.

Some surfaces can be cleaned with pressure and cold water alone, but many cleaning jobs will go faster with (and some downright require), hot water. If you don’t yet have the power of hot water, it should be one of your next pressure washer accessories. There are many types to choose from that can be added to existing cold water pressure units.

If you want to help the environment, there is another good pressure washer accessory to help you do so. The “ wash water filter system ” protects the environment by re-using wash water that has been filtered. When power washing floors, driveways, or any flat surface, this system harbors, collects, and then filters the dirty water. Using portable dams and drain covers, and a closed vacuum, state-of-the-art filter, and holding tank system, this wash water filter set-up makes sense economically and environmentally too.

The PressureWashingBusiness. com Guide to Running Your Own Pressure Washing Business

Profit in Power Washing, How to Start and Run a Pressure Washing Service - A Business Start-Up Manual

Kiplinger's Personal Finance

Quick Cash for Teens, Be Your Own Boss and Make Big Bucks

Venture