“Hometown is more than just a name. It embodies the way we do business,” said Andrew Barkis, owner of Hometown Property Management.
This core business philosophy is as strong as ever following rigorous yearly business evaluations and retreats held by Barkis and the Hometown Property Management Team.
Barkis firmly believes in continuing with the strong business practices that have worked so well for Hometown over the years, but three different long-term goals have emerged, all encompassed under the theme of stewardship: community work, green initiates, and enhancing the relationship with tenants and owners.
“I have always had the corporate philosophy of giving back time, talent, and treasures. Financially, we allocate 5% in direct support back to community. Some examples of groups we support are North Thurston Public Schools Foundation, Boys Scouts of America, Boys and Girls Club, and Safeplace, to name a few. We look and see where the need is and we plug in,” Barkis said.
“I also believe that while it is great to be able to write a check, it is even better to devote the time and talent piece, and so, as a company, we do a lot of volunteering,” Barkis said.
Last year, Hometown became involved with Rebuilding Together Thurston County whose mission is to bring volunteers together to improve the homes and lives of homeowners in need. Hometown sent employees out with Rebuilding Together, and they spent a day devoted to home improvement projects.
Barkis also created a team for American Cancer Society Relay for Life, and they joined the United Way Day of Caring. “In Thurston County we are so blessed to have fantastic service organizations to partner with, and I have such a fantastic team who want to give their time. They want to give back,” Barkis said.
Green initiatives were the next component of the Hometown stewardship plan. Hometown recently changed all of their computers to Energy Star certified, just one of several green initiatives that the company has put into place.
Hometown continually looks to see how they can participate in the efficiency movement. First, they looked internally. “We asked, ‘How can we lower our environmental footprint?’ When we bought our building we worked out a green lighting plan with Puget Sound Energy (PSE), and100% of the power we buy through PSE is Green Power, an option available to individual homeowners and businesses,” Barkis said.
In addition, they worked with the Thurston County Chamber to become recognized as a Green Business; they have an extensive recycling program. “We compost food waste and continue to implement conservation measures right down to refilling our ink cartridges,” Barkis said.
Hometown’s corporate philosophy of stewardship also translates to owners and tenants of their housing. “We started to work with Puget Sound Energy to conduct energy audits, a service where they come in and check on the efficiency of a home at turnover. We can then offer the tenant better savings by lowering utility costs,” Barkis said.
For homeowners, Hometown works with Thurston Energy to get a Thurston Energy HomePLUS Energy Evaluation Package. Thurston Energy will test the home and give feedback and an energy efficiency score (numerical Energy Performance Score, EPS) that describes the home’s current energy performance and a follow-up consultation to discuss the most cost effective energy savings and improvement plans.
“We can provide the owner with a course of action to implement and make the home more efficient. The tenant then will know that the house has been audited and can receive the EPS,” Barkis states. “We are working to make this part of the monthly turnover practice,” he said, but admits that they are still working out the administrative details of a company wide implementation.
Some of the stewardship practices Hometown implements are more focused on clients. Take their First Day Kit as an example. When a tenant moves into a Hometown property, the First Day Kit is waiting for them on the kitchen counter. It is a survival kit for those first few hours or days of moving into a home, complete with toilet paper, hand towels, a bar of soap, laundry detergent and granola bars. Everything you need for the first day.
Barkis said, “We are constantly striving to improve systems, customer service and the renter’s experience. Moving is one of the most stressful things people undertake, potentially moving from all parts of the country to Thurston County. We try and minimize the stress. We want to make the experience a good one.”
1600 – 4th Ave East
Olympia, WA 98506
360.456.7368
