Senior Project Coordinator, Barbara Millette, helped rally our staff members making this, “a whole company effort.”

After a huge response from our team, we collected around 8 boxes of school supplies! Luis, our Warehouse Lead, helped bring them to the drop-off center. 

“When we walked in with 2 dollies full and still had to go back for another load. Everyone did a double take and they were so grateful for our contribution,” said Millette.

The city and Mayor of Santa Fe Springs thanked us for donating to Department of Services/Family and Human Services Division’s annual Back to School Backpack program. 

We are happy to support our staff’s commitment to give back, partnering with several great charities and organizations that enrich the communities where we live and work.

August 16, 2022—Dave Triepke, CEO with Universal Metro, and Kemp Harr discuss how his LA based commercial flooring contracting business focus has shifted in recent years. Listen to the interview to hear more details.

When you consider that there are more than 250,000 businesses operating in Greater LA, this is a tremendous honor and a testament to the “Ideal Team Players” who make Universal Metro a special place to work. 

The nomination process was rigorous, and included an anonymous profile of the business. Our employees were surveyed about the team atmosphere and their own personal experience working at Universal Metro. 

The overall rankings and winners of various ‘Best Places to Work’ categories were unveiled at an August ceremony and appeared in the August 15, 2022 edition of the Los Angeles Business Journal.

“February 2021 — Challenging times require exceptional leadership, and 2020 showed just how critical that can be. Across the country, young men and women in the flooring industry were rising to the challenge, from establishing safety protocols for staff amid a pandemic to helping their communities’ most vulnerable populations, and their creative and thoughtful solutions drew the attention of colleagues and peers.

Each year, the Emerging Leaders Awards recognizes the outstanding talent of people under 40 like these within the dealer/retailer/contractor sector. And this year saw the largest pool of submissions in the award’s history, which was judged by field veterans Ralph Boe and Paul Friederichsen. Among the winners are a president, vice presidents, managers and directors, all of whom are bringing new perspectives and fresh ideas to the flooring world and shaping the future of the industry.

This year’s winners are as follows:

Jessica Hansen, 34 – Workplace Services, sales and finance manager;

Tyson Merchand, 36 – Great Floors, Spokane commercial division manager;

Matt Bode, 31 – CB Flooring, vice president;

Christian Braid, 39 – Prairie Flooring, co-founder;

Mechelle DeScroches, 37 – Pavillion Floors, director of operations;

Jake Peterson, 36 – Albany Carpet One, store manager;

Palmer Johnson, 35 – Johnson Floor and Home Carpet One, vice president

Andrew Marden, 35 – CFS Interiors and Flooring, account manager;

Victoria Turkich, 26 – Universal Metro, Estimation Lead

• Earned a bachelor’s degree in construction management from California Baptist University
• Has worked at Universal Metro for nearly 12 years, having started when she was in high school as an executive assistant
• Has supported tens of millions of dollars in successful bid-ding efforts
• Developed new standard operating procedures for her team, including a communal bid calendar, a project backlog data entry system and the standardization of estimation resources
• Supports business development and specification efforts and researching customized solutions with vendor partners

Erin Wyatt, 38 – Paradise Carpet One Floor and Home, director of sales ”

To read the article, honoring Victoria and other winners, see more here: https://www.floordaily.net/floorfocus/2021-emerging-leaders-young-professionals-are-making-a-big-difference-in-the-flooring-commun

It’s worth noting that in 2017, Universal Metro’s President, Grant Petruzzelli, also won this notable award.  Victoria’s win marks the second time that a Universal Metro staff member under 40 years of age has been recognized for their leadership in the flooring industry by Floor Focus Magazine.

Universal Metro’s Commitment to Health and Safety amidst COVID-19 Pandemic

March 19, 2020

Dear Valued Clients and Industry Partners,
In our commitment of service, we want to provide you with an update about how Universal Metro is responding to the Coronavirus (COVID-19). Above all else, the safety and wellness of our team members and the continuity of the services we offer are of the utmost importance. We’re in this together, and we’re here to support you.

Our Leadership Team is navigating the news of the day, making informed decisions that will keep our business strong throughout this crisis and beyond. We are working with manufacturers, suppliers, financial institutions, service providers, and even lobbyists in government to ensure we are prepared for what might come next. We are feverish in this approach and creating new opportunities along the way, and while circumstances remain fluid, our dedication and commitment to support you remains unwavering.

Each member of our team serves as an advisor for all your floor covering, moisture mitigation, and substrate remediation needs. As you navigate this new challenge, continue to lean on our Account Managers to pursue answers to your questions, as we’re dedicated to finding solutions that will push your projects forward.

Beyond those efforts above, we also want to highlight what we’re doing to validate our commitment to health, technology use, and service, as we strive to deliver on our promises.

HEALTH + SAFETY

The health and safety of our associates and their families, customers, and the communities where we operate is paramount. At our offices, visitor restrictions have been in place for over a week, and all Universal Metro locations are doing their part to limit the spread of the virus, shifting our workforce to remote capacities, either at home or in the field. Our associates are encouraged to avoid in-person meetings, leaning on communication platforms, video conferencing, and other tools to effectively collaborate about upcoming work.

Per the statewide “Stay at Home” Order (California Governor’s Executive Order N-33-20), we’re identifying “essential” work, and wherever that work is performed, we’re honoring “Social Distancing” requirements. Doing so is increasingly difficult out in the field, as our work is generally in close proximity to fellow team members and other trades. As such, we ask for
patience as our team strives to push projects forward safely. We’re relying on our clients to provide direction about newly adopted safety measures, and we’re continuously encouraging our team to do their part; from regular hand washing to protective gear usage, like masks and gloves when possible. We’ve dedicated staff to maintain logistical needs like load outs and shipments with attentiveness for safety. In doing so, we’ve reduced driver’s contact and access to communal facilities, and are limiting exposure to materials, from the time they’re received until load out.

TECHNOLOGY

Our technology platforms are robust and support continued operations in and out of our office environments. They avail us to communicate shared information like project requirements and deadlines. We maintain remote desktop capabilities, a secure VPN contingency, and a strong cloud platform to support our operations. We’re encouraging all meetings to continue, leaning on services like Zoom to collaborate. We’re also trained most of our mechanics out in the field to lean on technology to limit any unnecessary travel and contact.

CUSTOMER SERVICE + PROJECT MANAGEMENT

• We’re working around the clock at various project sites to meet the needs of our clients whose work is “essential” and most at risk, ranging from healthcare facilities to affordable housing units, food service kitchens to pharmacies. If your project can benefit from off-hours work, please start the conversation.

• With over 150 mechanics, we are meeting labor demands. If you have a need to escalate manpower to push your project forward, your Account Manager can discuss those options with you further.

• We are supporting our healthcare providers to shore up Infection Control risks, like heat welding and self-coving repairs, leaning on our deep inventory of sheet vinyl, rubber, and linoleum finish supplies to patch areas repurposed for patient care, in the midst of the crisis.

• For specific project needs, we’re receiving material well in advance of the installation to reduce risks to supply chain breakdowns. If you’d like us to explore Material Stored options for your project, your Account Managers can navigate potential options with you.

• We are engineering solutions with local suppliers, identifying flooring finishes and sundry options that are both readily available and accessible, should supply chains be compromised per California’s “Stay at Home” Order, shipping carriers need cause for “essential” work shipments. Please help us identify those.

• We are collaborating with our bank to secure more capital to help healthcare providers in this fight. Funds have been set aside to help our healthcare providers with temporary healthcare facilities or conversions. If we can assist you in that effort, please bring those opportunities to our team.

• As an extension of our traditional service offerings, we have even been asked by healthcare providers and general contractors to assist with cleaning and infection control efforts, due to our vast experience in healthcare environments. If we can be that extension for you as well, please don’t hesitate to ask.

• We are coordinating with facility managers and general contractors to operate in accordance with newly adopted safety policies. If your policies have changed, please send our team any guidelines that you wish to be followed so that we can help you pursue compliance for our teams out in the field.

• We’re navigating Federal, State, and Local Health Orders to identify impacts to installations and/or deliveries of material. California’s “Stay at Home” Order will have an impact on nearly every project. We are pursuing written clarification from those projects deemed “essential”. If you anticipate any delays, we can explore cost impacts to help you budget appropriately. At Universal Metro, we will continue to utilize best practices to keep our team members and our partners safe. We want to support our client’s needs through this challenging time, and we can assure you that we’re in this fight with you.

If your facility is going to close or if your project will be delayed due to COVID-19, we ask that you contact your Account Manager immediately. We can discuss what options might be available to help you keep your project on track. Should delays could create burdens outside of our control, we’ll help you navigate those impacts.

Thank you for your business and your continued support. We take our commitments to you and your projects seriously, and we’ll do our part to help you throughout this crisis. Please contact us if you have any additional concerns.

Sincerely,

David Triepke
CEO

Grant Petruzzelli
President

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